Projects
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 projects—current and completed—by clicking on the links below. 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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NC Early Intervention Technical Assistance and Professional Development Support (NC EI-TAPS) Project
The following specific activities will be conducted for the purpose of producing the legislatively mandated annual report from Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) regarding the North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten Program:
Extraction of data from NC Pre-K administrative databases provided to FPG by NC DHHD/DCDEE. This will occur on a monthly basis.
Cleaning of monthly data extracts in collaboration with DCDEE staff.
Compilation of the cleaned monthly data extractions into a longitudinal database that preserves the time-specific status of the NC Pre-K system.
Analysis of extracted data according to guidance of the legislation requiring annual reporting on the NC Pre-K system.
Preparation of the legislatively mandated material in draft report format.
Analyses and additions to draft report as directed by DCDEE (within the resources provided by this contract).
Ongoing communication with DCDEE regarding report content, progress of work, and requested revisions and edits to report draft resulting in production of a final report.
The project team will complete three tasks at the request of the North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education: (1) provide context for analyses in previously submitted report; (2) continue data management of NC Pre-K data extracted from state data systems; and (3) collect information related to preschool operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Impact Center at FPG’s Implementation Capacity for Triple P (ICTP) projects are currently supporting the scale-up and expansion of Triple P System of Interventions in North Carolina. In the proposed project, the ICTP project team embedded in NC Triple P Support System will provide direct implementation support to ten NC Triple P regions to aid and support local, regional, and state partners’ scale-up of Triple P. The ICTP project team will collaborate with PCANC and Triple P America to align Triple P support system so that multifaceted, yet well-coordinated supports are available to statewide partners. Furthermore, ICTP teams will continue providing implementation science guidance to the NC Triple P Partnership for Strategy and Governance (PSG) and the Triple P NC Learning Collaborative (NCLC). Lastly, the ICTP project team plans to develop online implementation learning resources and/or communication products to facilitate greater application of implementation science and best practices for Triple P scale-up and continue to identify opportunities to enhance Triple P quality and outcome monitoring for improvement at community and state levels.
The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) will convene, facilitate and support a network of New York state school districts to address the systemic implementation vision of high-quality math instruction. Initial partners include Buffalo Public Schools, Yonkers Public Schools, and Rochester City School. The project’s primary goal is to support a cadre of districts within the state of New York through a reflective planning process focused on implementing a system’s vision for high-quality math instruction. The project’s long-term vision is to create capacity within each respective district to sustain its systems for achieving its vision for high-quality math instruction and desired outcomes for students, instructional staff, and the community.
Milton-Union Exempted Village Schools is seeking support for the use of implementation science practices and tools for their district and school improvement efforts in early literacy. To support development of implementation capacity, the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) will provide virtual and onsite training, coaching, and consultation supports for the district and school leadership and implementation teams.
The overall goal of this project is to improve services, program management, and child outcomes for preschool children in the Exceptional Children Program in all Local Education Agencies across North Carolina through the development of a statewide system of professional development and support. Activities provide support for local coordinators and staff who serve preschool exceptional children through training, technical assistance, follow up, networking, and opportunities for collaboration.
The NCIC-TP project is a collaborative effort to help counties in NC successfully and sustainably implement the Triple P system of interventions. The project began in 2014 with a two year implementation evaluation of Triple P. Data from that evaluation, along with emerging evidence from implementation science and best practice, is the foundation of the information, learning, and implementation support resources offered by NCIC-TP to NC counties interested in or currently scaling-up Triple P.
The purpose of this project was to conduct a statewide needs and resources assessment concerning the status of children under 6 in North Carolina. The study focused on the numbers of children in various types of child care, the quality of their care, and the numbers of children not in an early childhood education setting.
The evaluation of the North Carolina Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Grant Transformation Zone will examine the extent to which the TZ communities have been able to enhance their capacity to improve the quality of their early childhood systems, including policy, practice, and infrastructure changes to support successful implementation of evidence-informed practice.
FPG provides support and expertise to successfully implement the North Carolina Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge grant. FPG helps support the overall management of the grant, provides leadership on the Early Childhood Integrated Data System project and on the Transformation Zone activities and expertise about implementation science, and as well as other content expertise as needed.
This project conducted a pilot test of the proposed North Carolina school readiness assessment system with a sample of 1,000 kindergarten children and 500 elementary schools across NC. This assessment system gathered information about the condition of children as they enter school as well as schools' capacity to educate all children who enter public kindergarten.
This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Nuestros Niños program on the language, literacy, math, and socioemotional outcomes of Spanish-speaking English language learners during the pre-kindergarten year and to examine the extent to which the effects of the pre-kindergarten intervention are maintained at entry into kindergarten and 1st grade.
The National Implementation Research Network within UNC-Chapel Hill's Frank Porter Graham Institute will support Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) to develop a team of leaders and coaches' capacity to use an instructional fidelity observation tool, the Observation Tool for Instructional Supports and Systems (OTISS), to identify and align supports needed to achieve academic success for every student in every school.
The purpose of this project is to establish the psychometric feature and instrument useability of a practitioner-administered observer impression scale assessment of preschool children’s peer-related social competence. The ratings for this scale are based on three 5-minute observations of preschool children engaging in social interaction with their peers. The information may be used for general assessment for all children, screening for children who may need support in establishing positive peer social competence, and progress monitoring. At the end of this project, a fully developed, psychometrically verified, and practical assessment of preschool children’s peer social competence, suitable for scaling up for program use, will be available to early childhood programs and practitioners.
The purpose of the Ohio Alternative Response Project is to: 1) seed and develop the capacity of a state implementation team to support the statewide implementation of AR and 2) develop coaching skills of child welfare supervisors and build the capacity of the state to provide ongoing consultation and training on coaching for the AR model.
Through the OJJDP FY 2021 Juvenile Justice Reform Initiative, the Impact Center at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (subcontractor and partner) will support Westat as the prime applicant, along with other project partners, to advance state level juvenile justice systems toward the adoption and delivery of evidence-supported practices stemming from a full system review, recommended modifications, capacity building where needed (or desired), and enhanced performance of chosen reforms.
OJJDP Juvenile Justice System Enhancements is a three-year broad systems improvement project. It is designed to advance state level juvenile justice systems toward the adoption and delivery of evidence-supported practices stemming from a full system review, recommended modifications, capacity building where needed (or desired), and enhanced performance of chosen reforms.
The goals of this project are to develop online modules that translate EBPs for children and youth with ASD identified in a recent review of the intervention literature into engaging self-learning modules and resources, and to monitor, revise, and evaluate completed modules for use, quality, usefulness, and relevance by monitoring access by learners, reviewing evaluation by users, and soliciting feedback that can contribute to needed revisions. Access to these learning materials is free.
This research will evaluate outcomes of a center-based model of intervention for toddlers with ASD. The results will provide practical information to families of toddlers recently diagnosed with ASD as well as to service providers.
The aim of this research project is to investigate the relationships among housing stability, health and well-being, and climate change vulnerability. Findings will be shared with our community-both with people who experience homelessness and housing instability and with organizations and agencies working to serve those populations. The goal is that the research findings will advance racial and economic justice, not just in Orange and Durham Counties, but throughout the United States. As a nonprofit working toward systems change, these findings will influence the day-to-day programmatic work that CEF does and help to influence how CEF can use its person-centered approach while simultaneously steering members toward specific measures that increase stability.
The Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PATTN) EITA is seeking support for the capacity development of their systemic support staff in best practices of implementation science to support implementation of evidence-based practices with their participating early childhood providers. To support development of internal implementation capacity, the National Implementation Research Network proposes providing virtual training, coaching, and consultation supports.
Lancaster-Lebanon IU13 is looking to improve implementation efforts through monitoring district plans. To support the development of implementation capacity, the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) proposes providing a blended model of training, coaching, and consultation support.
Black families of children with disabilities face additional stress and difficulties because of their multiple marginalized statuses, particularly within the intersection between racism and ableism. These parents and caregivers may be tasked with teaching and conveying messages to their children about how to navigate social settings, like school, as a Black child with a disability. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2018), among students ages 3 through 21 served in special education, less than one-fifth are Black/African American (17.7 percent), but Black/African American students with disabilities account for more than one third (36.6 percent) of individuals who experienced disciplinary removal.
Ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) practices have been found to mitigate the effects of such discrimination on children’s development. They are defined as verbal and nonverbal racial communication between families of color and their children about cultural heritage and pride, preparing youth for racial bias, and promoting healthy distrust of the dominant racial/ethnic group. ERS practices promote academic engagement and achievement and serve as a protective factor among Black youth amid racist discrimination. Yet, little is known about what these practices may look like for Black children with disabilities as ERS practices have typically been studied among able-bodied children.
Ultimately, findings from this study seek to serve as a resource to educators, researchers, and policy makers who work with or on behalf of Black families and their young children with disabilities to aid them in developing best practices that are rooted in anti-racism, anti-bias, and equity.
This project provided one of two interventions designed to promote children's early literacy development for the National Even Start Classroom Literacy Interventions and Outcomes study.
The National Implementation Research Network is partnering with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services to integrate principles and frameworks of implementation science into their ongoing technical assistance, strategic support, and evaluation and monitoring of 23 local communities implementing evidence-based home visiting models with state and federal funds.
