Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research
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Cynthia Cress,
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Cynthia Cress is the Alan T. Seagren Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
She specializes in language development and disorders, early intervention and augmentative communication. She teaches classes on preschool language disorders, linguistic diversity, communication assessment and intervention for children birth-to-3, and communication assessment intervention for persons with severe disabilities and autism.
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What is the future direction for your early childhood research?
"My research for the past 10 years has been to develop assessment and intervention strategies for young children with disabilities who have very limited communication skills — to identify and promote development of those skills. My future directions are to expand those assessment and intervention strategies to older children who still show these earliest communication strategies, and to build a bridge between early intervention and later communication services. Too often, children and adults with significant disabilities fall further and further behind their peers in their communication skills, and educators and therapists can be at a loss in knowing how to serve them in these early skills."
Are there any new research projects or activities you are starting on?
"I am submitting a new grant to expand my pilot assessment for early communicators of any age, to develop norms and demonstrate the efficacy of this assessment at detecting treatment change for a variety of early communication approaches. Part of this process involves a partnership with the Hanen Centre in Toronto, to test the efficacy of the More Than Words program for very basic communicators with autism. Additional projects test the efficacy of my own intervention approach, the Tempt-Trigger Intervention, at helping children and adults develop partner-directed communication skills."
How can effective collaborations enhance the research enterprise?
"Collaborations enable us to see similar research questions from a variety of different perspectives, and recognize barriers — as well as strategies — that might not have been apparent from one perspective alone. Also, collaboration is essential for higher education and grant writing success, so building networks of people addressing related topics in early childhood provides avenues for the development of larger and more effective research strategies to address the problems we face."
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Here are recent publications from NAECR researchers:
Rebecca Brock, Psychology, UNL
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Would you like to see your work featured here? Contact us at
naecr@unl.edu
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Omaha World-Herald features new STEM exhibit
A late-December article in the Omaha World-Herald showcased the Omaha Children's Museum exhibit, "Super Sports: Building Strength, Sportsmanship and Smarts."
The story highlighted how children learn STEM concepts through play.
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Bridging Research and Practice
Do you want to translate your research into a positive impact for the field?
As a leading publication for early childhood professionals, the
Child Care Exchange magazine
seeks to provide a bridge linking research and practice — and to share it with students and professionals at all levels.
Nominate your own previously published research, or the research of a colleague or graduate student.
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Staff in CYFS are available to assist with your
proposal development
for these or other funding opportunities.
Please contact
Lisa Knoche
if you are interested in discussing funding opportunities for your research.
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Spencer Foundation Small Research Grants
The Small Research Grants program aims to support smaller scale or pilot research projects that have budgets of $50,000 or less. Proposals are encouraged from scholars across a variety of disciplines in an effort to fund field-initiated education research.
The next deadline for applications is
Feb. 1, 2019
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University of Nebraska Core Facility Grant Program
The University of Nebraska is extending a grant program to encourage faculty researchers across all four campuses to employ NU core facilities in their research projects. The program’s aim is to help researchers generate data that strengthens grant proposals, resubmissions and peer-reviewed manuscripts.
Faculty members from all ranks are eligible to submit proposals if they did not use core facilities or associated technology platforms in fiscal year 2017 or 2018. Applicants may request $5,000 per facility, or up to $9,000 total if they use more than one facility.
Proposals are reviewed on an ongoing basis.
New awards will not be made after
March 31, 2019
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Administration for Children and Families: Early Care and Education Research Scholars Grants
The ACF Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation is considering funding Child Care, Head Start, Family Strengthening and Behavioral Interventions graduate student dissertation grants in 2019:
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Head Start Graduate Student Research Grants
Six awards are expected, each of $20,000 to $25,000.
Application due date:
April 2, 2019
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Child Care Research Scholars Grants
Six awards are expected, each of $20,000 to $25,000.
Application due date:
April 2, 2019
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Behavioral Interventions Scholars Grants
Four awards are expected, each of $20,000 to $25,000.
Application due date:
April 14, 2019
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Family Strengthening Scholars Grants
Three awards are expected, each of $10,000 to $25,000.
Application due date:
May 30, 2019
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National Institutes of Health: Reducing Health Disparities among Minority and Underserved Children
This NIH initiative encourages research that targets the reduction of health disparities among children, including a focus on ethnic and racial minority children and populations of underserved children.
Specific targeted areas of research include bio-behavioral studies that incorporate multiple factors that influence child health disparities (biological, lifestyle factors, environmental, social, economic, cultural and family influences); studies that target the specific health promotion needs of children with a known illness and/or disability; and studies that test and evaluate the comparative effectiveness of health promotion interventions conducted in traditional and nontraditional settings.
The closing date for applications is
May 7, 2020
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New!
Division for Early Childhood's Annual International Conference
on Young Children with Special Needs and their Families
Call for Papers
Oct. 1-4, 2019
Dallas, Texas
The theme for this year’s conference is “Dreaming of a Bigger Tomorrow: Building our future through collaboration and partnerships.”
Quality proposals will demonstrate meaningful, effective and sustainable collaborations across research, policy and practice to increase learning opportunities for every child, family and community through everyday routines and interactions.
Proposals are due
Thursday, Jan. 31
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New!
Zero to Three Annual Conference
Call for Papers
Oct. 2-4, 2019
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Zero to Three’s annual conference gathers early childhood professionals from all disciplines to explore the most up-to-date research, best practices and policy developments available.
Proposals are being accepted for presentations relevant to children age 5 and younger (including the prenatal period) and their families. Content should appeal to a multidisciplinary group including early childhood educators, mental health practitioners, early intervention providers, trainers, program administrators, policy advocates, etc.
Proposals are due
Feb. 19
.
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National Summit on Quality in Home Visiting Programs
Jan. 30–Feb. 1, 2019
Grand Hyatt Washington
Washington, D.C.
The Ounce of Prevention Fund invites researchers, advocates, policymakers and practitioners to attend the Eighth National Home Visiting Summit on Quality in Home Visiting Programs.
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Society for Cross-Cultural Research Annual Meeting
Feb. 13–16, 2019
Jacksonville, Florida
SCCR is a multi-disciplinary organization that provides members the opportunity to network with scholars from a wide variety of approaches to cross-cultural and comparative research.
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Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders
Call for Papers
June 6–8, 2019
Madison, Wisconsin
Deadline for submission of papers is
Feb. 1, 2019
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Cognitive Development Society
Call for Papers
Oct. 17-19, 2019
Louisville, Kentucky
The Cognitive Development Society aims to provide a unified voice for the wide range of scholars, practitioners, and others who are interested in change and continuity in the intellectual processes that support mental life.
Proposals are due
July 2, 2019
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Is there an upcoming conference you want to publicize? A new publication you would like to share? Let us know!
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Student Research Opportunities
The
Student Research Opportunities
website enables NU faculty to advertise opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students seeking work experience in early childhood research.
Students can browse available positions and filter them by campus location, academic level (i.e., graduate or undergraduate), position type (e.g., assistantship, paid, volunteer) and the age group being researched.
Postings automatically expire after six months, or faculty can select a specific expiration date.
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Find a Researcher
If you would like to be part of the database or know of another early childhood researcher who may be interested, please contact
Lisa Knoche.
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NAECR News archives available
Miss an earlier issue of NAECR News?
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NAECR News will be shared twice a month to inform the early childhood research community across the NU system.
If this newsletter has been forwarded to you and you would like to be added to the mailing list, please email us using the button above.
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