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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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.
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.
The purpose of this project was to work collaboratively with Quality Counts leaders and stakeholders to revise their logic model and discuss issues related to validating Quality Counts.
This project was a randomized control trial of the Partnerships for Inclusion (PFI) model of assessment-based, individualized, on-site consultation. The evaluation study was called QUINCE (Quality Interventions for Early Care and Education). Quality consultants from 24 community agencies in five states (California, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North Carolina) participated as well as 108 child care teachers, 263 FCC home providers, and 710 children.
The purpose of this collaborative partnership is to bring together the expertise of three research centers from top-tier research universities for the purpose of (a) understanding the science behind how racism impacts the lives of young children of color and (b) developing tools to communicate this impact to people who are making daily decisions on behalf of the well-being of children—their parents, educators, clinical practitioners, and policymakers.
FPG will collect data using our Snapshot tablet application during one day-long observation in fifty of the Winston-Salem Forsyth County School District’s pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms. FPG will provide staff development for school and district personnel on the use of Snapshot data and other data for school improvement.
The purpose of this project is to provide DCDEE with expertise in research and analysis related to short- and long-term policy questions focused on young children’s education and development.
Through the Research-Policy and Practice Collaboration, FPG will develop structures to initiate working toward project goals and develop plans for expanding this work to educate/co-create learning between academia and policy practice in service of career advancement/efficacy. FPG will also review research and conduct analyses as directed by the Division to inform evidence-based decision-making at the state level, educate the public, and guide future efforts designed to support young children and families. Finally, FPG will provide coordination support for the B-3 Interagency Council and the B-3 Interagency Council planning team.
The RI-Asthma Integrated Response (RI-AIR) Asthma Care Implementation Program (ACIP) is a comprehensive system of identification, screening, and intervention for pediatric asthma. We aim to demonstrate that RI-AIR ACIP is a replicable, evidence-based, and cost-saving model that improves asthma outcomes for children at most risk, and can be disseminated to other urban communities to address asthma disparities.
The purpose of this multi-organization partnership is to leverage existing collaborations, expertise, and work to bolster all three partnering organizations’ activities to mitigate the impacts of this double pandemic – COVID-19 and racism – on Black families with children, birth to age 5.
The San Diego County Office of Education is seeking support for the capacity development of their county office staff in best practices of implementation science to support implementation of improvement strategies within their differentiated system of support for local education agencies. The National Implementation Research Network will provide a hybrid model of onsite and virtual training, coaching, and consultation supports for identified San Diego County Office of Education staff comprising an implementation team.
The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) will partner with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DFTA) to build the capacity of DFTA staff to integrate implementation science into their technical assistance approach for Wendy's Wonderful Kids (WWK) scaling states to promote effective implementation of WWK and to integrate and sustain the model into adoption services so that intended outcomes can be achieved.
This study examined how selected youth, peer, family, and school factors serve as risk and protective factors for African American youth’s school competence during the transition to high school.
This project will provide support for a process to enhance the curriculum at Northampton Community College by incorporating evidence-based practices and content.
The current project is designed to improve outcomes of juvenile justice youth who have been incarcerated or under community supervision. The Impact Center at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute will provide implementation science and active implementation support training and technical assistance for local juvenile justice jurisdictions to improve their outcomes for youth in confinement and under community supervision.
The Self-Regulation Skills for Success Study (SRSS) is an Institute of Education Sciences funded randomized controlled trial of the Incredible Years© child group treatment program with supplemental intervention supports including recess coaching, teacher consultation and training, and parent education meetings.
The Children's Trust of South Carolina is planning to scale-up the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program system of interventions in several South Carolina communities. FPG's Implementation Capacity for Triple P (ICTP) project team, already working to support a similar statewide Triple P initiative in North Carolina, is providing active implementation support and implementation science guidance to help the South Carolina Triple P project become successful and sustainable.
Southeast Raleigh Promise (SER) seeks to answer the question: “What does it take to improve quality of early childhood programming and workforce in their participating child care centers?” The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) within Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute will conduct an implementation study to answer this question and provide consultation supports in the use of the data collected for continuous improvement purposes.
To support The Duke Endowment’s investments in evidence-based practices across the Rural Church and Child and Family Wellbeing program areas, the project team will engage in several system strengthening activities during the six-month period from January 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2024. Within the Rural Church Summer Literacy Initiative, the project team will (1) support the refinement of the SLI practice model, (2) engage in programmatic coaching with staff at SLI grantee sites, (3) explore future tailored implementation support activities, and (4) provide design and consultation supports for bolstering data collection and monitoring across SLI grantee sites. Additionally, the project team will engage in several start-up activities for a Center of Excellence to support evidence-based programs and practices in North Carolina and South Carolina. These will include leadership engagement and system coaching, organizational development activities, and change management activities.
