This page provides details about current research projects 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.
Pedagogy of Play
Pedagogy of Play is an ongoing research collaboration with Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero and the LEGO Foundation. The purpose of this cross-cultural project is to understand and promote playful learning in school contexts for children in early childhood through secondary school.
Institute Affiliate: Megina Baker
Impact of Home Visits on Child Neurodevelopment in South Africa
A cluster-randomized trial testing the impact of a parent support intervention delivered during monthly home visits by community health workers in South Africa.
Institute Affiliate: Peter Rockers
The Nuestros Niños Professional Development (NNPD) Program
An experimental study to assess the efficacy of the NNPD, a two-year program that includes an integrative approach to teacher professional development and a research-based, systematic intervention component aimed to promote language, literacy, and social-emotional development, and mathematics learning in pre-kindergarten Spanish-English bilingual children.
Institute Affiliate: Dina Castro
Impact of Community-Based Parenting Groups on Child Development in Zambia
An ongoing cluster-randomized controlled trial testing the impact of community-based parenting groups on child development in Zambia. Groups meet every two weeks and receive a curriculum focused on child health, nutrition, and play-based psychosocial stimulation.
Institute Affiliate: Peter Rockers
Parents Advancing Toddler Health (PATH)
PATH is a randomized controlled trial of parent coaching interventions for the families of toddlers with sleep and behavior problems in the Boston area. The aim is to identify what intervention approach is best for engaging families and enhancing child outcomes.
Institute Affiliate: Amanda Tarullo
Growing Together
Seeking to address the needs of women with opioid use disorder and their infants, the Growing Together Study is a two-armed pragmatic randomized controlled trial for pregnant women receiving prenatal care at Boston Medical Center’s RESPECT clinic. We are testing the effectiveness of BRIGHT, an evidence-informed home-based therapeutic parenting intervention. The study aims to assess whether BRIGHT is more effective than the control arm in improving mother-child relationships, infant social-emotional development, and parenting capacities while reducing child maltreatment.
Institute Affiliate: Ruth Paris
Success at Scale: CASITA in Lima, Peru
Impact of a community-based intervention to support positive parent-child interactions and improve neurodevelopment for very young children ages 6–20 months who are at risk for delay.
Institute Affiliate: Martha Vibbert
Intercultural Bilingual Education for Shipibo Children in Peru
Examines teachers’ conceptualizations of interculturality and bilingual education in intercultural bilingual education schools serving Shipibo children in Lima and Ucayali, in the Amazon region of Peru. The study also explored the extent to which teachers’ conceptualizations are reflected in their classroom practices. This is a research collaboration with faculty at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
Institute Affiliate: Dina Castro