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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The Crosswalks project was designed to address a significant early childhood issue – the lack of preservice preparation to work with culturally and linguistically diverse children and their families.
This study will compare the gains and retention of English receptive vocabulary by preschool Spanish-speaking dual language learners (DLLs) after the implementation of a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive (CLR) shared reading intervention. Results will guide the development of evidence-based instructional strategies to improve the quality of services for young DLLs and inform policy for multicultural services to diverse children and families.
Data collected by Educare schools and provided to FPG for the Educare Implementation Study are also pertinent to the Mindfulness & Mastery Grant evaluation conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Under data sharing/confidentiality agreements with each of the sites, these data will be shared across projects.
The purpose of the proposed project is to investigate mechanisms through which peer effects in infant and toddler settings operate using innovative computational and statistical methods. The study will involve secondary analyses of the Educare Learning Network National Evaluation longitudinal data to address questions about peer effects.
The purpose of the proposed project is to investigate patterns, factors, mechanisms, and outcomes of Head Start/Early Head Start staff turnover using a range of advanced analytic techniques such as survival analysis, machine learning, Multilevel Cox Regression Model, and Multilevel Survival Structural Equation Modeling. The study will involve secondary analyses of the Educare Learning Network National Evaluation longitudinal data to address questions about staff turnover. As a subcontractor, FPG will be involved in assisting with any required data sharing agreements, creating custom datasets, and assisting with interpretation and dissemination of findings.
The purpose of this project is to determine the extent to which higher education faculty and programs are currently incorporating an emphasis on relevant frameworks (e.g., Early Learning Foundations, Workforce Competencies) in coursework and field experiences. Higher education and community colleagues will be engaged in a process of identifying the current strengths of early childhood preservice preparation as well as areas for improvement.
The purpose of this contract is to develop the first two of a series of on-line self study learning modules for Part C Service Coordinators. Each interactive module will contain content, activities, video clips as appropriate, resources, self reflection questions, and quizzes.
The purpose of this contract is to support the development of a manual that outlines the processes and procedures for measuring early childhood outcomes for young children with disabilities served by the DE preschool Section 619 program.
NC DHHS’s Division of Child and Family Wellbeing (DCFW) and the Impact Center at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute are partnering to initiate and demonstrate over two years a set of limited intermediary supports focused on the North Carolina Triple P System. Building on the DCFW’s recent set of investments in child and youth behavioral health and conversations between the Impact Center and DCFW about DCFW’s priorities and identified needs, the intermediary supports will specifically focus on: strengthening evaluation activities, system structures and practices, and model fidelity within North Carolina Triple P and generally, accelerating the use of evidence (both research evidence and practice-based evidence) in decision-making and programmatic and support activities.
The aims of this development and innovation project are to develop an interactive decision tree to inform adaptation of Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching (CPRT) for individual students, goals, and activities, and to develop an interactive on-line training and distance coaching model for teachers and paraprofessionals.
The purpose of this project is to further develop and evaluate a computerized assessment of executive functioning for use with preschool-aged children. A combination of Item Response Theory and Structural Equation Models will be used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the computerized battery, as well as to evaluate the construct and criterion validity of the battery.
FPG Investigators conducted work in four areas: definition of the features of an early child development program offer and evidence-based practices associated with the features; development of an implementation strategy; development of a measurement frame; and designing an information capture and documentation process.
The purpose of the Dialogic Reading Implementation Project was to create, implement, and field test a web-based module on the topic of dialogic reading. Project staff organized Doing What Works resources along with other project-developed resources into a module using the CONNECT project’s 5-Step Learning Cycle.
The purpose of this project is to establish the psychometric properties of the District Capacity Assessment (DCA). Specifically, the internal structure and test-retest reliability of the DCA will be developed and a professional paper will be published summarizing the results.
Diversity Learning Table 2 will provide a sequence of professional development on evidence-based approaches to supporting young learners who are culturally, linguistically, and socio-economically diverse to 6-8 states. This will include a face-to-face orientation, a series of four interactive webinars, and individualized technical assistance.
This project is a follow-up with participants in two randomized trials of early childhood educational intervention for children born into poverty.
The purpose of this project is to engage with grassroots and grasstops early education partners to identify and conduct a landscape analysis of active North Carolina policies and regulations focused on young children and their families (birth to age 5) with a focus on policies that show effect or promise in mitigating (or exacerbate) racial disparities in early care and education.
This project involved a multi-site randomized study of two forms of professional development for early childhood teachers: a course to teach effective teaching strategies and an individualized, web-based consultation process.
FPG statisticians will collaborate with Mathmatica Policy Research on a contract with ACF to design a study to provide secondary data analysis of Head Start and other ACF datasets.
The Early Childhood Inclusion Professional Learning Program led by Chih-Ing Lim, PhD. at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Elena Soukakou, PhD., is committed to support the Community Psychology Hub, Singapore in ensuring that the InSP program is implemented effectively to serve young children with disabilities.
The Early Childhood TA Center (ECTA) is funded to support state Early Intervention and Preschool Special Education programs in developing high-quality early intervention and preschool special education service systems, increasing local implementation of evidence-based practices, and enhancing outcomes for young children with disabilities and their families.
The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA Center) funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) built upon the foundation of several OSEP-funded TA centers to improve service systems and assist states in scaling up and sustaining effective services and research-based interventions for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and their families.
The extent to which and how early education reduces achievement gaps related to race and income have not been studied extensively in rural areas in the United States, despite clear evidence that these achievement gaps are even larger in the rural United States and high-quality early education is one of the most effective means to promote educational success for all children.
The goal of this study through the IES-funded Early Learning Network is to understand variations in practices that augment transitions and early learning; determine malleable factors that improve learning environments and promote school readiness and academic achievement for disadvantaged children; and understand the processes necessary for effective transitions from pre-K through grade 3 in rural and urban communities.
An innovative new Early Learning Network has been developed in North Carolina to provide on-site technical assistance to support itinerant teachers and consultants as they work to support the inclusion of young children with disabilities across North Carolina. This project is designed to support the Network’s professional development program with a focus on use of the Inclusive Classroom Profile.
This study will examine the early biological embedding of health and disease risk in young children’s telomeres, a biomarker of cellular aging. We will conduct a novel longitudinal study to examine the effects of prenatal and postnatal early life adversity (i.e., poverty, parent conflict, maternal stress) on accelerated biological aging, including telomere erosion and epigenetic aging clocks, across the first three years of life.
This project leverages and builds upon an existing longitudinal cohort to propose hypotheses that investigate the ways in which early life stress alters well-specified developmental processes to adversely affect neurodevelopment in childhood and increase risk for obesity and other health outcomes. It extends our prior data collection both retrospectively and prospectively in order to amplify and enhance our focus on adverse exposures and health and behavior outcomes.
The Early Literacy Module Project in Singapore aims to design, develop, implement, and evaluate a professional development module that includes early language and literacy resources for Early Childhood Educators (ECE) and Learning Support Educators (LSEd) within the Singapore context. Developmentally appropriate early language and literacy resources will also be developed for ECEs, LSEds, families, and caregivers to use with children with developmental needs or from disadvantaged families.
The goal of this series of studies is to develop recommendations that could be used to inform the next revisions of the ECERS-3, a global early care and education quality measure for children aged 3-5 that examines quality from the child's perspective.
