Early Childhood News

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JOBS
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Part-time RA position open at BU's Child Cognition Lab

Project Description:

The Child Cognition Lab at Boston University conducts research projects with children and adults. We are currently engaged in a large-scale, federally funded research project examining young children’s understanding and learning of complex biological concepts. We are seeking a highly motivated and research oriented R.A. to work on this project. The ideal candidate would be interested in how children learn, science education, and applied psychological research. The roles of the position include recruiting participants, processing data, and helping run participants both in lab and outside of lab settings. This part-time paid position is for 20 hours a week. It would be perfect for someone interested in acquiring further experience before applying for graduate school in developmental psychology or a closely related field.

Necessary Qualifications:
· Positive, outgoing, and friendly demeanor
· Intellectual curiosity and ability to learn quickly
· Interest in developmental psychology research
· Willingness and ability to work in a fast-paced, intellectual environment
· Strong organizational skills, detail-orientation and conscientiousness
· Knowledge of experimental design
· Experience working with children in some capacity

Preferred Qualifications:
· Experience working in a research lab
· Interest in biological education
· Familiarity with SPSS

We are looking for the ideal candidate to begin at the start of January 2012. Send your resume and cover letter outlining how you meet the requirements for this post to Dr. Natalie Emmons at nemmons@bu.edu.




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CHILD/ADOLESCENT CLINICAL INTERVIEWER/RESEARCH ASSOCIATE POSITION

Brown Medical School, Providence, RI

Brown Medical School, Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine is seeking a licensed CLINICAL INTERVIEWER/RESEARCH ASSOCIATE to administer structured diagnostic interviews (K-SADS, SCID) to parents and children/adolescents and longitudinal clinical follow-up assessments as part of a new research study focused on biomarkers of adolescent depression risk. Position also involves providing clinical supervision to study staff, project coordination, and working within a multidisciplinary team. Opportunities for participating in research including authoring and co-authoring manuscripts, and submitting grants also offered. Experience with structured interviewing with children/adolescents and adults, experience in a research setting, supervisory and interpersonal skills strongly preferred.

The Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, directed by Michael Carey, PhD, has a history of over 25 years of conducting innovative research involving inter-disciplinary, behavioral approaches to the prevention and treatment of disease. Research in the Centers includes some combination of laboratory-based, clinical, and community approaches.

To apply and for questions, please contact Laura Stroud, Ph.D., 401-793-8194, lstroudri@gmail.com.



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CONFERENCES
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ECE Leader's Guide to Effective Staff Development - How to Get Your Money's Worth, by Karen Nemeth
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM EST
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/656878368



2012 National Child Care Policy Symposium
Child Care and Education: Unequal Opportunities
March 6-10, 2012
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill
Register by December 30 for early bird reduced rates
http://www.naccrra.org/conferences/symposium/2012/2012-nps.php



Development of Executive Functions Workshop
19th-20th April, 2012
Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Submission deadline: 9th January 2012
http://www.fss.uu.nl/defworkshop/



42nd Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society
May 31 - June 2, 2012
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Deadline for submissions: 15 December 2011
http://www.piaget.org/



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RESOURCES
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2011 HOLIDAY SAFETY TIPS
American Academy of Pediatrics
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/novtips.cfm



Zero to Three Journal Article
Challenging Behavior and Expulsion From Child Care: The Role of Mental Health Consultation
http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/32-2_Perry.pdf?docID=12901



Gene X Environment Interplay: Genetics, Epigenetics, and Environmental Influences on Development
Guest Editors: Kay L. Wanke, Ty Partridge, Toni Antonucci
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hrhd20/current



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GRANTS
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Injury Science REU Program Announcement

The Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP) at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, announces 10-week paid summer research internships for undergraduate students. CIRP is a leading multi-disciplinary center engaged in collaborative research implementing real world applications. The Injury Science Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site program (sponsored by the National Science Foundation) will provide students with mentorship and hands-on research experiences in the fields of engineering, behavioral science, public health, epidemiology, population science and statistics as applied to pediatric injury science (i.e., prevention of injury; secondary prevention, post-injury/traumatic stress).

The program will provide students with a stipend, housing at the University of Pennsylvania if needed, and a contribution toward travel expenses.

CIRP is accepting applications from January 3 to January 31.

Visit http://www.research.chop.edu/programs/injury/about_cirp/reu.php for more information and to apply.

Contact Carol Murray murrayca@email.chop.edu with questions.



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Jumpstart for Young Children is pleased to announce the release of the
Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 2011-2012 Research Grant Competition.
This research program provides small grants ranging between US$7,500 and
$10,000 for promising research that addresses significant questions on the
processes and impact of Jumpstart for early language and literacy
development and social-emotional development. The intent of such grants is
to provide researchers with the opportunity to investigate the influence of
Jumpstart (1) on the lives of young children who live in low-income and
high-stress communities, and (2) on adult volunteers who implement the
Jumpstart program. For the 2012 grants awards, researchers must submit
proposals by *February 20, 2012*. Up to three grants will be awarded each
year.

Additional information on Jumpstart, the RFP process and supporting
research can be found on Jumpstart’s website www.jstart.org or by clicking
on the following link: Research Grants Program Information
Center http://www.jstart.org/site/PageServer?pagename=WhatWeDo_InfoCenter



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Parents @ Symposium 2012 Scholarship Application

We are excited to announce that NACCRRA will be hosting the Parents @ Symposium program again this year!

Parents play a key role in helping Members of Congress understand why child care laws need to be strengthened. Our previous Parents @ Symposium programs have been incredibly successful in motivating parents to be more involved in advocacy and we have seen parents have a real influence on policymakers’ decisions. We would like to invite all Child Care Resource & Referral member agencies (CCR&Rs) and State Networks to sponsor a parent advocate at NACCRRA’s National Policy Symposium, March 6-10, 2012.

NACCRRA will be providing a limited number of $750 scholarships to help underwrite the cost of sponsorship. We are putting together a great program to help ensure that your parent advocates are strong additions to both your Day on the Hill visits with Members of Congress, as well as parent advocacy leaders when they return to your state following Symposium. As a reminder, we are looking for parents who both want to be a leader and have a story to tell (i.e.- affordability, availably or quality of care).

Please visit our Parents @ Symposium webpage (http://www.naccrra.org/conferences/symposium/2012/2012-parents-symposium.php) to learn more about the program, including:
• How to Find a Parent Advocate
• Local Outreach Tips for Fundraising
• Sponsor a Parent Advocate Application

Please review the materials, including sponsor responsibilities and complete the application by the deadline on Friday, January 13, 2012. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Kim Kober, Parent Network Associate, at Kim.Kober@naccrra.org.



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ADVOCACY
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Become a member of Winning Beginning NY today!

Do you value the opportunity to weigh in on matters of policy at the state and federal level with just the click of a button?
Would you like to continue to support these efforts or become even more involved in the coalition’s work?

Then you should become a member of Winning Beginning NY!

We rely in part on membership dues to accomplish our goals and to provide:
• Executive and Legislative Agendas and materials to support advocacy and lobbying
• State budget analysis
• Urgent e-mail blasts and timely e-newsletters to mobilize our members, supporters and citizens across the state
• Organization of and support for our regional networks

If you would like to officially join Winning Beginning NY, please fill out a membership agreement that affirms your commitment to ensuring high-quality early care and education for all children - and mail it in with your dues.

http://www.winningbeginningny.org/documents/wbny_membership_dues_agreement_dec2011.pdf

Thank you for your generous support!

Sincerely,

Jenn O’Connor, Winning Beginning NY



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OUTREACH
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YOU'VE BEEN WORKING HARD - GET THE TAX CREDITS YOU DESERVE!

Families in New York:

Whether or not you owe income tax, you could get thousands of dollars in tax credits. You could qualify for:

Up to $2,100 from the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, up to $2,310 from the New York State Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and up to $1,733 from the New York City Child Care Tax Credit.

Up to $5,751 from the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, up to $1,725 from the New York State Earned Income Tax Credit and up to $288 from the New York City Earned Income Tax Credit.

Up to $1,000 per child from the federal Child Tax Credit and $330 per child from the Empire State Child Tax Credit.

More families than ever are eligible for these credits this year.

To get these credits, you must file a tax return.

Find out where you can get FREE help with your taxes by calling the IRS toll-free at (800) 906-9887 or go to www.irs.gov. You can also contact the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance at (518) 457-5181. To find out where to get free income tax preparation assistance, call AARP Tax-Aide toll-free at (888) AARPNOW or (888) 227-7669. New York City residents call 311.

For more information about the Tax Credits Outreach Campaign contact the Early Care & Learning Council at (518) 690-4217 or go to http://www.earlycareandlearning.org

For more information on the federal and state child care credits, visit the National Women’s Law Center at http://www.nwlc.org/.

THE EARLY CARE & LEARNING COUNCIL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER
TAX CREDITS OUTREACH CAMPAIGN
2012 TAX FILING SEASON



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Social Emotional Consultation Evaluation

Social-Emotional Consultation in Infant and Toddler Child Care Programs: Final Evaluation Report

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Samantha Wulfsohn

Executive Summary

Background
Social-Emotional Consultation in Infant and Toddler Child Care Programs was a statewide demonstration project to promote healthy social-emotional development, prevent problem behaviors, and treat developmental disorders of infants and toddlers in early care and learning environments. The project was coordinated by the Early Care & Learning Council and funded by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services between January 2010 and June 2011 through a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Four communities were selected as demonstration sites including Syracuse, Putnam County, Westchester County, and New York City. Each site provided on-site mental health consultation to child care or home visiting programs that serve infants and toddlers. A collaborative model was developed to include representatives of child care councils, Regional Infant/Toddler Resource Centers, Early Head Start, county departments of health and mental health, and/or provider agencies with a focus on infant and toddler development. A child development organization provided training and technical assistance to the four sites. The following six evaluation questions guided the evaluation activities.
1. Are infants and toddlers who are involved in the consultation showing improved social-emotional behaviors?
2. Are the parents of infants and toddlers who are involved in the consultation satisfied with services?
3. Do the child care providers who are involved in the consultation have improved knowledge and skills?
4. Does the social-emotional consultation increase child care program quality?
5. Is the consultation instrumental in improving cross-system collaboration in I/T social-emotional development?
6. What are the training needs and outcomes of consultants and other partners involved in the project?

Methods
The evaluation sample consisted of multiple groups of programs and individuals from the four sites involved in the project. There were a total of 12 participating child care and Early Head Start programs, 752 infants and toddlers, and 165 caregivers and home visitors across four sites. A mix of observation tools, surveys, interviews, and focus groups were used by the central evaluation team and the local partners. A case tracking program was used to record and transmit data on child and family consultations, programmatic consultations, and Ages & Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE) scores. Teachers and home visitors who participated in the project were asked to complete an evaluation survey at the end of the consultation process. Child care directors were interviewed at the beginning and end of the project. Parents of infants and toddlers in participating child care centers were asked to complete a satisfaction survey towards the end of the project. Training services provided by the training organization were evaluated through background and training/supervision evaluation questionnaires that were distributed at the end of large group trainings and reflective supervision sessions. On-site focus groups were held in each of the four sites with different stakeholder groups. All of the instruments were developed and reviewed with the involvement of the advisory committee including the local representatives.

Results
The number of times a consultation type was selected among the given options for child/family consultations and program consultations in each community was analyzed. The most frequently selected consultation type across communities was “consult to director and/or owner” (22%), which was followed by “consult to teachers(s)” (17%), “conduct observation” (17%), “other” (14%), “consult to parent(s)” (13%), “modeling in classroom or socialization group” (8%), “train in formal workshop” (6%), “referral or collateral consultation” (3%), and “EI to CPSE transition” (0.3%).

Three of the four sites had data on follow-up ASQ:SE scores. As shown in the following table, average ASQ:SE scores between initial and follow-up assessments in those sites showed a three point decrease from 23 to 20, which indicated an improvement in social-emotional behaviors and development of the children. In five of the six age groups, there was a reduction in the average scale scores.

Parents who received consultation were asked to rate their satisfaction with the services. Among the 51 parents from the two sites who completed an evaluation survey, nine parents, five from one site and four from the other, indicated that they received consultation services. 99% of the responses (82 out of 83) agreed or strongly agreed with the positively stated qualities of consultation services.

In the pre-post phone interviews, program directors from the four partnerships commented on knowledge and skills of their staff. Of the 11 items from the survey, there was an increased rating for 7 items, no change for 1 item, and a decrease for 3 items. The top three items with the biggest increase were 16 “Teachers feel comfortable referring a child and family to social-emotional development services,” 18 “Teachers feel competent and confident in their ability to respond to behavior that worries them,” and 13 “Teachers communicate regularly with parents about their infant/toddlers’ strengths and needs.”

Consistent themes emerged from the focus groups and interviews demonstrating how teachers and home visitors benefited from the consultation. The following areas were impacted by consultation according to teachers, directors, partners, and lead contacts: (1) Responding to individual children, (2) General classroom and program practices, (3) Professional relationships, and (4) Teacher and home visitor professional self-worth. Participants in the focus group consistently pointed to two notable program impacts: (1) Referral system within program and (2) system support and recognition of the infant/toddler years.

Each of the participating communities was unique and at a different stage of system development with regard to mental health provision and services for infants and toddlers. Despite these differences there were two consistent changes in cross-systems development that emerged from the focus group and structured interviews. First, each site reported that their communities increased their emphasis on the importance of focusing resources and supports to the infant-toddler population. Additionally, all communities reported that they had made new linkeages or had created stronger ties that were likely to be sustained beyond the period of the grant. Eighty-eight percent of the 32 participants at the initial training and 90% of the 10 participants at the mid-year training who completed an evaluation survey indicated that the overall training increased their knowledge and skills to some or great extent.

Conclusions
Results from the evaluation of Social-Emotional Consultation in Infant and Toddler Child Care Programs show that the four demonstration projects were instrumental in improving children’s behavioral outcomes, meeting parents’ needs, increasing knowledge and skills of caregivers and home visitors, enhancing program quality, and creating opportunities for cross-system collaborations. Data from the surveys, interviews, and focus groups, as well as information from other sources provided supportive indication of the overall project’s effectiveness and contributions. Successes, challenges, lessons learned, and limitations of the evaluation provide useful information in the understanding of the results from this evaluation as well as the implications for the future projects.

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., & Wulfsohn, S. (2011). Social-Emotional Consultation in Infant and Toddler Child Care Programs: Final evaluation report. Albany, NY: Early Care & Learning Council. Retrieved from http://www.earlycareandlearning.org/programs/infant-toddler/documents/ExecutiveSummary_FINAL_REV.pdf

Infant Toddler Network Evaluation

New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network: 2011 Evaluation Report

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Rebekah M. Widrick

Executive Summary

Introduction
Beginning in 2002, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services used federal Child Care Block Grant funds to develop seven Regional Infant and Toddler Resource Centers. These Centers, established in the Child Care Resource and Referral agencies across the state, are staffed with Infant/Toddler (I/T) Specialists dedicated to improving the quality of child care for infants, toddlers, and their families. The I/T Project at the Early Care & Learning Council acts as a clearinghouse of best practice for the I/T Specialists. Additional funding allowed for an evaluation of the Infant and Toddler Resource Network and the following four outcome domains were developed by the project team at the Council in consultation with some of the key stakeholders: 1. User satisfaction 2. Increased knowledge and awareness 3. Increased quality of practice 4. Cross-system changes

Methodology
A process and outcome evaluation was implemented through the tracking and evaluation of I/T Specialist activities and through the solicitation of stakeholder feedback. Starting in November 2010, a common data collection system was used across the seven regions in order to evaluate the activities and experiences of individuals who are involved in and/or affected by the Network. I/T Specialists were provided with a set of information tracking forms, evaluation forms, corresponding data entry programs, and instruction manuals to record their activities in technical assistance, training, and capacity building. The content of most of the forms was anchored in The 10 Components of Quality Child Care for Infants and Toddlers. The Network uses these components as their shared definition of quality child care. The data were submitted periodically to the central evaluation team at the Council.

Findings
Technical Assistance (TA) is the leading type of service the I/T Specialists offer, followed by training and capacity building activities. For all TA and training services, 59.9% of the service users were child care center staff and directors. Across the three types of services, the top three most frequently selected components were well trained staff (21.3%), environments (13.9%), and curriculum (11.1%). Over 90% of TA and training users were highly satisfied and gave positive comments. The breadth of basic TA topics and the change in self-rated knowledge before and after the trainings indicated a positive change in Network users’ awareness and knowledge. Formal assessments of TA recipients via standardized environmental rating scale scores and goal progress indices in quality improvement plans show that there is an increased quality of practice in child care programs. Results from the stakeholder surveys and interviews also corroborated the positive findings in satisfaction, learning, and practice outcomes.

Conclusion
The data on the evaluation of the New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network present supportive evidence that the Network is offering a range of services predominantly to the child care workforce by (1) meeting the needs and expectations of the workforce, (2) increasing awareness and building a firm knowledge base in nationally recognized quality components, (3) enhancing the quality of practice in infant/toddler care, and (4) forming and sustaining professional collaborations and working relationships among the major players in the field of infant/toddler care and development.

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., & Widrick, R. (2011). New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network 2011 evaluation report. Albany, NY: Early Care & Learning Council. Retrieved from http://www.earlycareandlearning.org/programs/infant-toddler/documents/FinalEvaluationReport_FINAL_REV.pdf

APA 2011

Children’s Weekend Time Use, Activity Choices, and Enjoyment Across Four Cultures

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Out-of-school time constitutes a major context of social and emotional development for children across cultures. Weekend time as an out-of-school context is particularly important because of its length of duration and availability of activities. Children’s participation and engagement in various weekend activities are influenced by their social, economic, and cultural environments. Because it is not constrained by school attendance, weekend time allows cultural and gender differences in time usage to emerge. As in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory, different layers of environment provide distinct set of activities and interactions for children. Parental preferences and cultural values shape children’s time use, activity choices, and enjoyment of those activities. Time use offers insight on the valued developmental outcomes associated with different activities in different cultures. Parental involvement in children’s activity choices provides information on cultural parenting strategies and socialization patterns. Children’s activity enjoyment is associated with positive developmental outcomes due to activity participation. Relationship between activity choice and enjoyment is valuable in the test of overscheduling hypothesis, which claims that children develop negative emotional outcomes when hurried into many structured activities.

In this study, children’s weekend activities and choices were examined for fourth grade students in four countries. A total of 1,265 children of families from middle socioeconomic status in Bulgaria, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States completed an activity survey asking them to state their typical activity for each of 12 hours on Saturday from 10am to 10pm. Children also reported their enjoyment of each activity and whether it was self- or adult-chosen. Activities children freely entered into each hour field then coded into eight major activity categories, which were watching TV, play, reading for fun, academics, organized sports, extracurricular activities, outings, and routine maintenance activities. Average interrater reliability between different activity coders was .89.

Findings indicated that children across the four countries spent most of their weekend time in self-chosen unstructured activities. There was a great deal of variation across countries in the amount and choice of time spent in different activity types. In the two-way 4x2 ANOVA models, country was a significant factor in all of the eight activity duration outcomes, whereas gender was significant in four of the eight activities. Taiwanese children led other countries in the amount of time spent in academics, extracurricular activities, and watching TV. Children in Turkey spent more time in routine maintenance activities, reading, and outing than children of other countries. Children from the US reported spending more time than other children in play and sports. Girls reported spending more time than boys in routines, reading, and extracurricular activities, whereas boys used more time in play than girls. Girls in all countries spent more time in academics than boys except in Taiwan.

In terms of activity choices, Bulgarian children led other countries in the amount of time spent in self-chosen activities, whereas Taiwanese children had the highest amount of time spent in adult-chosen activities. Girls in overall had more time in adult-chosen activities than boys did. Among the activities, outing and extracurricular activities had higher proportions of adult-choice than self-choice.

Children’s enjoyment of their activities was negatively related to the amount of adult-chosen activities they had (r = .233, p < .001). Even though there was not a moderation effect of country or gender on this relationship, there were some differences between Turkish children and children from other countries.

Results suggest that cultures differ in the available and socially acceptable types of weekend activities as demonstrated by the time spent by children in different activities and extent of parental involvement in children’s activity decisions. It is not surprising that Taiwan, like other Asian cultures, would have higher levels of parental control and authority than other cultures. The finding that Bulgarian children had the lowest level of adult-chosen weekend activities might be due in part to changing parenting models in the post-socialist era providing greater autonomy to children. To a certain extent, the findings about adult-choice and enjoyment support the claims of adherents of the overscheduling hypothesis that free play and less adult control foster optimal emotional outcomes. However, culturally different socialization processes associated with activity choice and participation help shape children’s emotional experiences. The relatively less negative reaction of Turkish children, especially boys, to adult-chosen activities may point to unique qualities of parenting and socialization practices of Turkish parents. Turkish parenting strategies are described as authoritarian as well as caring, a combination which is not easily categorized within major parenting styles. Weekend time provides important developmental niches within which children in different countries experience activities that contribute to their personal and social developmental outcomes.In addition to often-studied American and Taiwanese cultures, this study focused on children in the less researched Bulgarian and Turkish cultures. Offering a cross-cultural comparison of aspects of child development and socialization practices in the out-of-school context, the study produced some findings that challenge strictly categorical and polarized views of cultural processes. It calls attention to the dynamic and complex nature of social and emotional development of children in different cultures around the world.

Keywords: Out-of-school time, weekend activities, children, cross-cultural

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A. (2011, August). Children’s weekend time use, activity choices, and enjoyment across four cultures. Poster presented at the 119th convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, USA.

ECBD 2011

Bronfenbrenner, Urie

Life Dates
1917–2005

Introduction
Urie Bronfenbrenner is a world-renowned developmental psychologist who developed the theory of ecological human development and co-founded the national Head Start program in the United States.

Educational Information
Dr. Bronfenbrenner was born in Moscow, Russia (former Soviet Union) and migrated to the Pittsburgh, United States with his parents when he was 6 years of old. After graduating from Haverstraw High School in New York, Dr. Bronfenbrenner completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology and music double major program at Cornell University in 1938. In his graduate study Dr. Bronfenbrenner received his master’s degree in developmental psychology from Harvard University in 1940 and doctorate from University of Michigan in 1942.

Accomplishments
After his service in the US Army as a psychologist, Dr. Bronfenbrenner served as Assistant Chief Clinical Psychologist for Research in the Veterans Affairs...

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A. (2011). Bronfenbrenner, Urie. In S. Goldstein, & J. A. Naglieri (Eds.), Encyclopedia of child behavior and development (Vol. 1, pp. 299–300). New York: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_437

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory

Definition
Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory is a comprehensive system theory of human development that includes elements from social, cultural, economical, and political contexts in the development of an individual.

Description
In his seminal book The Ecology of Human Development, Urie Bronfenbrenner [3] introduced a new theory of human development that emphasizes interactive processes between the person and the environment. His ecological systems theory proposed that individual’s development in any given area is primarily shaped by the interactions and relationships between the individual and different layers of surroundings. Activities, roles, and relationships of individuals in any setting constitute contexts of development. According to the ecological view, a thorough study of human development can best be achieved by the analysis of these different levels and contexts of person–environment interactions...

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A. (2011). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory. In S. Goldstein, & J. A. Naglieri (Eds.), Encyclopedia of child behavior and development (Vol. 1, pp. 300–301). New York: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_940

NYS AEYC 2011

Evaluation of Early Childhood Social-Emotional Consultation Programs

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Infant mental health, used interchangeably with healthy social–emotional development, is the capacity of children from birth to age three to experience, regulate, and express emotions; form close and secure interpersonal relationships; and explore the environment and learn—all in the context of family, community, and cultural expectations for young children. Social-emotional consultation for infants and toddlers is a specific type of Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation. Consultants providing ECMHC engage in variety of activities such as observing children, consulting with directors and teachers, and meeting with families. Outcome evaluations of social-emotional consultations reported positive findings for children, parents, staff, and program outcomes. The most important consultant competencies for effective consultation are described as knowledge, skills, and experience in ECMH, child development, and early childhood education; positive relationships with staff and families; knowledge of community services and supports; and cultural sensitivity and linguistic competence. Quality of staff-consultant relationships is also reported as a mediating factor between frequency of consultant activities and effectiveness of consultation for children and staff. In New York’s Social-emotional Consultation in Infant and Toddler Child Care Programs initiative, a comprehensive set of data collection activities are underway to evaluate the processes and outcomes of the project.

Keywords: Early childhood, mental health, evaluation

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A. (2011, April). Evaluation of early childhood social-emotional consultation programs. Paper presented at the annual conference of the New York State Association for the Education of Young Children, Rye Brook, NY, USA.

Turkish Student Association

New Year for Turksa

One week before the Spring 2011 semester started at UAlbany, former president of Turkish Student Association (Turksa) Asil Özdoğru handed over the documents and files for the management of Turksa to new president Cüneyt Gözü, who started his new position with the new year. Turksa was started in February 2006 and presided by Asil since then. Unchallenged in any of the annual elections, Asil managed the organization with the support of a host of officers and volunteers. Working in different roles Cüneyt also took part in Turksa from the very first day and served in different roles as treasurer and vice president. With Asil’s graduation, Cüneyt took over the leadership of Turksa to take it to the elections in the summer of 2011 and beyond.

Published online in Turkish Student Association Blog at
http://turksa.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-year-for-turksa.html

FYI 2011

Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) Louis Pasteur, Free Lance of Science


And the very air [student] breathes should be charged with that enthusiasm for
truth, that fanaticism of veracity, which is a greater possession than much learning; a nobler gift than the power of increasing knowledge; by so much greater and nobler than these, as the moral nature of man is greater than the intellectual; for veracity is the heart of morality.

Thomas H. Huxley (1874) Universities, Actual and Ideal

Arched eruption lifted off from The Sun © 2011 NASA