Research is at the heart of all we do at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. As one of the nation's foremost multidisciplinary centers devoted to the study of children from infancy to adolescence, our scientists are committed to conducting research and evaluation studies that improve children's lives, support families, and inform public policy.
Learn more about our current projects by clicking on the links below. Change the project end date to view completed projects. And to stay up to date on news and events related to our work via social media, visit our Project Digital Directory.
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TACSEI worked to identify, disseminate, and promote the implementation of evidence-based practices in order to improve the social, emotional, and behavioral functioning of young children with or at risk for delays or disabilities.
This validation study of North Carolina's tiered quality rating and improvement system (TQRIS) included two phases. Phase I involved collection of data to inform the development of alternative TQRIS models. Phase II involved the conduct of classroom observations, director interviews, surveys of teachers, and child assessments to examine whether the test model developed in Phase I is related to program and classroom quality and to child outcomes. Findings will inform possible revisions to NC's TQRIS.
The goal of this project is to expand implementation capacity in the staff group of the NW Regional Comprehensive Center. This goal will be accomplished by presentations of current knowledge regarding implementation best practices, science, and policy; practice-based mentoring and coaching regarding the use of implementation principles as applied to current and ongoing work of the NW RCC; and assessments of implementation skills and outcomes at RCC, SEA, and LEA levels.
This project tests the efficacy of an innovative group-based model of intervention for Toddlers and Families Together to target the early core features of ASD with the goal of improving maternal health and child developmental outcomes. Specific aims include examining the effects of TAFT on caregiver outcomes of stress, coping, support and interaction style; examining the effects of TAFT on children's engagement, behavior regulation, joint attention and play; and examining caregiver and child characteristics affecting optimal treatment outcomes.
The Trohanis Technical Assistance Projects group is dedicated to improving the availability and quality of services, and ensuring optimal outcomes, for very young children with, or at risk for, disabilities and their families. We assist states and local agencies that provide early intervention and early childhood special education.
The mental health of children in the United States is a national emergency, with notable and accelerating rates of anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Recent research suggests exposure to natural environments (green spaces) reduces risk for these disorders, alleviating stress, restoring emotional and physiologic resources, providing opportunities to build regulatory skills through risky play and physical activity, and reducing harm from environmental stressors, such as heat.
Drawing from 18 years of observational, survey, and medical record data gathered from The Family Life Project, a population-based study of 1,292 children born in low-income, rural communities, the project will derive new, remotely-sensed, geospatial measures of types of greenspaces around children’s residences, and integrate these measures with extensive child, family, and home data from 2 months to 16-18 years of age to address critical questions about the types and timing of green space exposures that offset risk for anxiety, depression, and ADHD.
This grant provided support for an Administrative Core and four research cores: Behavioral Measurement Core, Data Management and Statistical Analysis Core, Developmental Neuroimaging Core, and Subject Registry Core. These four research cores provide cutting-edge, high-quality, and cost-effective support for this integrated, multidisciplinary program of MRDD research.
The purpose of this project, in partnership with Mathematica-MPR, is to understand the landscape of program structures and supports for mental and behavioral health in Early Head Start/Head Start for children, families, and staff. To accomplish this, efforts will include engagement with experts; conceptual model development; study design and measurement development; data collection and analysis; dissemination of findings; and archiving data.
In collaboration with the Lastinger Center, FPG proposes to evaluate the effects of a literacy matrix (LM) for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years. This project will evaluate educator data as measured by metrics collected as part of the Flamingo LMS. In addition, should student data be made available, these data will be examined to determine student growth following educators' completion of the LM.
The University of Montana’s Center for Children is seeking support to develop capacity in best practices of implementation science to support sustainability of their implementation of PAX Good Behavior (PAX GBG) in relevant staff in participating centers, and regional and local education agencies. To support development of internal implementation capacity, the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) will provide virtual training, coaching, data collection, and consultation supports.
The goal of the URC-CONNECT project is to examine if a clinical evidence-based instructional approach used in teacher education affects teachers’ practice in the classrooms and children’s learning. The project is working with School of Education faculty at UNC-CH to pilot CONNECT Module 6: Dialogic Reading Practices in an undergraduate course with pre-service learners.
The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute is partnering with EL Education to submit a proposal to the Research Partnership for Professional Learning. This project aims to implement EL Education's math professional learning to support teachers in transforming how math is taught and experienced by students, particularly students identifying as Black, Latino/a, and/or experiencing poverty.
The DCFW Implementation Support Project for the DHHS Child Behavioral Health Leadership Team and its component projects proposal creates an implementation science, practice-based approach in support of a multi-tiered policy/governance, program (e.g., EBP) support, and delivery system across North Carolina. The Impact Center expects to work alongside and receive directions from DCFW Leadership, embed implementation science best practices within the team, its projects, and support system partners where directed.
The DCFW Implementation Support Project for the DHHS Child Behavioral Health Leadership Team (federally funded component) and its projects continues to build on the existing partnership that the Impact Center has with the CBH team at DHHS. The partnership creates an implementation science, practice-based set of activities and capacity building efforts in support of a multi-tiered policy/governance, program (e.g., EBP) support, and delivery system across North Carolina.
Beginning July 01, 2023, the Impact Center will continue to work alongside and receive directions from DCFW Leadership, embed implementation science best practices within the Team, its projects, and support system partners where directed.
This project builds on the existing partnership that the Impact Center has with the DHHS Child Behavioral Health team. The partnership creates an implementation science, practice-based set of activities and capacity building efforts in support of a multi-tiered policy/governance, program (e.g., EBP) support, and delivery system across North Carolina. Beginning July 01, 2024, the Impact Center will continue to work alongside and receive directions from Division of Child and Family Well-Being (DCFW) leadership, embed implementation science best practices within the team, its projects, and support system partners where directed.
The goal of this project is to validate the Early Communication Indicator for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ECI-ASD) using a robust and representative multi-site sample of well-characterized children with autism spectrum disorder to determine the psychometric features of this instrument and its ability to detect change over time.
We are partnering with MDRC to conduct a quality study that will address important early childhood education (ECE) research and policy by addressing questions about which aspects of ECE quality have the largest impacts on child outcomes and the extent to which those aspects of ECE quality can be improved through intervention.
Through the Vermont FirstSchool Partnership, FirstSchool staff at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will help educators in Vermont make substantial gains in understanding and implementing the content and process of the FirstSchool approach to transforming PreK-3rd grade.
This research project evaluated the effects of a social skills training package comprised of group teaching strategies, applied behavior analysis, and video-based instruction delivered to adolescents with autism.
Virginia's Evidence-Based Practice Initiative is seeking support for capacity development in best practices of implementation science. Multiple agencies within the state of Virginia are collaborating in their efforts to foster and facilitate the use of evidence within their local communities. The collaborating state agencies include the Office of Children Services (OCS), Department of Social Services (DSS), Department of Education (VDOE), Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services (DBHDS), and Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS). A state leadership team comprised of representation from these various state agencies has been formed to design and lead the initiative. The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN; http://nirn.fpg.unc.edu) and partners within the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute propose providing a blended model of training, coaching, and consultation supports to support the implementation of the Virginia Evidence-Based Practice Initiative through a Transformation Zone approach. Equity will be centered and explicitly attended to in all aspects of services provided.
Working with Washington DSHS ITEIP on activities to improve its accountability structure, ensure consistency statewide with the provision of early intervention services and implement of evidence-based practices to successfully achieve child and family outcomes under Part C of IDEA.
The purpose of this project was to provide consultation to Wake County Smart Start to develop a plan for a county-wide service integration of home-based services for young children and their families.
