Below are projects I worked on previously.
Learning to Objectively Observe Kids (LOOK)
- Learning to Objectively Observe Kids (LOOK) is a model of early childhood mental health consultation. LOOK uses individualized teacher consultation to improve teachers’ capacity to understand children’s behavior in the classroom. LOOK consultants support teachers’ use of simple and effective strategies to improve children’s classroom engagement, self-regulation, behavior, and social skills. Strategies include modifying transitions and routines, building relationships, offering choice, and using cues and visuals. Funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, our team at UVA and the University of Miami conducted a randomized controlled trial during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years to test the effect of LOOK in over 100 preschool classrooms in Miami, Florida.
Banking Time
- Banking Time is a relationship-based intervention designed to improve interactions between teachers and children who are perceived to display disruptive or challenging behavior. During Banking Time sessions, teachers meet individually with students for a short period of time on a regular basis. These sessions are child-led, during which teachers observe and narrate what the student is doing, label the child’s feeling, and develop relationship themes such as “I am interested in you”, and “You are safe with me.” During the 2022-23 school year, our team conducted a randomized controlled trial in elementary classrooms to test the effect of Banking Time on exclusionary discipline, including the effect on reducing racial discipline disparities.
STREAMin3 Curriculum Implementation Pilot Evaluation
- The STREAM: Integrated, Intentional, Interactions (STREAMin3) is a comprehensive curriculum model for early childhood settings serving children birth to five. The curriculum model focuses on the development of five core skills (Relate, Regulate, Think, Communicate, Move) that form the building blocks for later learning and six STREAM skills (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, Math) to prepare children for kindergarten. The model includes a variety of activities and routines, coaching, assessments, and professional development for teachers of children from birth to age five. STREAMin3 was piloted in over 100 classrooms across Virginia from 2019 to 2021. Read our implementation evaluation report here.
Exploring The Roles Of Pattern And Spatial Skills In Early Mathematics Development
- The Children’s Learning Lab at Vanderbilt University focuses on how children learn early math skills and related concepts in preschool. You can learn more about this specific project here.
Helping Families Cope with Stress
- This project focuses on supporting families with a history of depression, with the goal of preventing depression among children and teens in these families.
