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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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 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.
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 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.
The JOIN for ME program is a pediatric weight management intervention that can be delivered in community settings, with potential for national dissemination. We will package the JOIN for ME program to increase acceptability and feasibility for delivery in low-income communities and test implementation in two novel settings: the housing authority and the patient-centered medical home. The revised JOIN for ME package will be tested in a rigorous implementation study.
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.
The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) is partnering with Casey Family Programs (CFP) to integrate principles and frameworks of implementation science into their ongoing technical assistance and strategic support of jurisdictions to achieve better outcomes for children and families.
The National Implementation Research Network will partner with the Division of Child Welfare to develop a process and pilot to bring predictive analytics as a practice model to address reentry of children/youth to foster care. The desired outcome of these efforts is to reduce the number of children/youth requiring subsequent child welfare involvement and/or reentry into foster care.
The Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Child Welfare has partnered with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s National Implementation Resource Network, Casey Family Programs, and Eckerd to develop and pilot a predictive analytics plus coaching practice model to address reentry of children/youth to foster care.
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute will conduct a rigorous evaluation of Pennsylvania's state-funded pre-k program Pre-K Counts to determine whether the program is achieving its goal of building the necessary skills and competencies that enable three- and four-year-olds in Pennsylvania to be kindergarten-ready.
Four postdoctoral fellows will receive training in two research areas: intervention programs for children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Response to Intervention (RTI) for children with special educational needs. The primary focus of the training program will be on the development and evaluation of intervention research.
This postdoctoral research program will provide postdoctoral fellows with extensive research training in special education with a focus on the knowledge and skills needed to evaluate the efficacy of interventions and instructional practices for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The overarching goal of this program is to prepare four fellows (with 2 years of training each) to conduct high-quality special education research related to children and youth with ASD.
The purpose of this work is to develop a comprehensive and effective PreK Monitoring System for the Integrated Support for Learning, PK-8 Division at the Vermont Agency of Education. This new monitoring system will build upon existing monitoring systems and procedures to assess the quality of the state’s early learning and development programs. It will go beyond current systems to focus on all the components of a quality prekindergarten education program across the many types of settings in which prekindergarten education is offered in Vermont.
Exposure to heavy metals in utero, such as arsenic, may have negative effects on health and neurodevelopment of offspring. In North Carolina, arsenic has been found in the drinking water, making this an important public health concern. This study will be the first to examine the way in which arsenic exposure may alter the microbiome of pregnant women and their offspring.
The primary project goal is to prepare working professionals from diverse backgrounds to become interdisciplinary, collaborative leaders in early childhood special education implementing culturally responsive and evidence-based practices for facilitating the successful inclusion of young children with disabilities and their families in high need schools and community based programs.
The primary purposes of the project are to a) design and conduct a descriptive survey study the provides information about preschool special education programs and practices; b) conduct an evidence review of efficacious practices appropriate for preschool children with disabilities enrolled in special education programs; and c) design an impact evaluation study of practices that promote language, literacy, and socio-emotional skills for preschool children with disabilities.
The purpose of this project is to conduct a process evaluation of North Carolina’s Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program that will examine service integration and coordination and collaboration among agencies serving families with young children in seven NC communities.
The NIRN will support the Permanency Innovations Initiative project by providing training and technical assistance based in implementation science and practice to refine, problem-solve, and strengthen the use of innovations to improve the safety and permanency outcomes of children and families.
This project will provide training and technical assistance to Long-Term Foster Care Grants in planning and implementing their innovative intervention strategies aimed at reducing the time in out-of-home care for long waiting children engaged in the child welfare system.
Promoting Academic Success (PAS) brought together networks of schools, communities, and families to promote systems change within local contexts to improve the academic and social-emotional outcomes of young boys. PAS focused primarily on two groups of boys, African Americans and Latinos, in systems where these groups of boys are disproportionately underperforming.
Developmental disparity exists between infants and toddlers raised in poverty and their peers growing up in more affluent families. Programs serving poor infants and toddlers typically focus on the overall level of child care quality with less attention paid to the effectiveness of specific activities taking place in the classroom. This study will develop and evaluate a set of activities for early childhood educators to use to promote the early communication and self-regulation skills of poor infants and toddlers.
The purpose of this project is to develop and test an intervention to support the development of adolescents' self-regulation skills during the middle school years. The Self-Regulation Skills for Success (SRSS) intervention will adapt and integrate strategies from existing evidence-based programs guided by a theory of change that intentionally targets self-regulatory processes in need of support and development during early adolescence: immature cognitive controls, increased emotionality and stress reactivity, and responsivity to peers.
The NPDC will work with professionals from the Centre for Autism Research in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to establish and promote the provision of high quality programs and the use of evidence-based practices for learners with ASD and their families. The contract will support intensive didactic and site-based professional development in the United States and regular follow up and site visit in Saudi Arabia.
This project conducted a process evaluation and short-term outcome evaluation of Miami-Dade County's Quality Counts initiative, a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS)and professional development initiative.
