Our Institute aspires to leverage the expertise of participating BU entities (such as research labs and centers focused on young children, and academic departments) to shape and support research and practice that improves the lives of young children and their families.

This page provides details about innovative practices in the early childhood field by members of the Institute. Please use the links or contact info provided if you would like to learn more about the research.

If you would like to engage with other practitioners in the early childhood field, join our Slack community.

 

Masters of Arts in Leadership, Policy, and Advocacy for Early
  • Scheduled to begin at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human
    Development in Fall 2022. This program prepares early childhood-focused professionals such as clinicians, advocates,
    policy-makers, administrators, researchers, and educators to work with and on behalf of young children (birth-8 years) and families across a range of sectors and disciplines.
  • Institute Affiliate: Ellie Friedland
    Neighborhood Villages
    • Neighborhood Villages envisions a future in which all families have access to affordable, high-quality early education and care. In service of this vision, we advocate for early education and care policy reform and implement innovative, scalable solutions that address the biggest challenges facing early education and care providers and the families who rely on them.
    • Institute Affiliate: Megina Baker
      The Guatemala Literacy Project
      • The Guatemala Literacy Project, through the International Literacy Association, provides mini-conferences to large groups of Guatemalan teachers twice a year, and sponsors an International Literacy Conference in Guatemala every two years.
      • Institute Affiliate: Ellie Friedland
      SPARK Program (Supporting Parents and Resilient Kids)
      • SPARK is a program of BMC’s Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics devoted to providing easily accessible specialty care services and culturally-responsive behavioral health care to young children and their families.
      • Institute Affiliate: Martha Vibbert
        CEIPA, Program for child laborers
        • CEIPA: The Ecumenical Center for Integrated Pastoral Ministry (Spanish acronym CEIPA) receives consultation and professional development in Guatemala for educators and human rights workers including CEIPA’s alternative elementary- secondary education programs, and training in Theatre of the Oppressed for these educators and the human rights workers in other parts of the organizations programming.
        • Institute Affiliate: Ellie Friedland
        Universal Baby
        • Universal Baby uses video, mobile technology, and social media to put the science of infant brain development directly into the hands of parents and caregivers around the globe, by modeling local examples of responsive and nurturing caregiving in any cultural context, language, and community setting.
        • Institute Affiliate: Martha Vibbert
        Integration of Drama and Movement Across the Curriculum
        • Wheelock curriculum integrates drama and movement across the curriculum including Theatre of the
          Oppressed, an interactive political theatre work based on Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, throughout work
          with college students, educators, and children.
        • Institute Affiliate: Ellie Friedland