The Child Development/Early Childhood Education Ph.D. provides students with rigorous education, research, and teaching experiences that will prepare them as professionals qualified to work in universities, private research firms, and public policy institutions. Students are mentored by outstanding faculty as they gain experience and expertise in teaching and research. Students have opportunities to gain college teaching experience and skills, present research at scholarly meetings, and publish research in scholarly journals. Education and research focuses on development within the contexts of family, school, and community, with a particular emphasis on early childhood. Active faculty research projects that graduate students are involved in study quality of early childhood programs; public policy in family and children's services; rural children's health and welfare; effectiveness of interventions designed to improve early childhood program, children's language and literacy, school readiness, and social and emotional development; nature education in early childhood; synchrony in parent-child interactions; parents' goals about their children's development; early childhood teachers' attachment, beliefs, and practices; and development of children enrolled in Early Head Start.

Requirements: This is a 90 credit program that can be completed in approximately 4-5 years. All students take foundational coursework in research methods and developmental and relational content, but the program is designed to be flexible and tailored to students' interests and needs. Students may transfer in graduate coursework from other institutions as approved by their supervisory committee. The Ph.D. handbook explains all the details.
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Graduate Faculty: Our program includes seven full-time graduate faculty who are active in research and teaching. We also work closely with faculty in allied fields such as special education, psychology, counseling, communication, and anthropology. Faculty members are:
Dr. Susan Churchill
Dr. Soo-Young Hong
Dr. Carolyn Pope Edwards
Dr. Helen Raikes
Dr. Michelle Rupiper
Dr. Julia Torquati
Dr. Pauline Zeece
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Research Opportunities:
The College of Education and Human Sciences (CEHS) has made a strong commitment to research, teaching, and outreach focused on young children, and research on early childhood education and intervention is one of the four themes of the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools. We have many ongoing projects and laboratories in which graduate students take part, such as:
The Getting Ready Project
Rural Language and Literacy Connections The Midwest Child Care Research Consortium

• Phase 1 (2000 to 2004) Quality Rating System in Nebraska (QRS)
• Phase 2 (2004 to present) Studying a quality rating system (QRS) for Nebraska

Early Head Start Evaluation Project
The Role of Tribal Child Care Programs in Serving Children Birth to Five
Ruth Staples Child Development Laboratory
Parent Child Conversations
Teacher Attachment Study
QUINCE

The Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies offers excellent research facilities, including the Ruth Staples Child Development Laboratory which has a pull-out research room equipped with digital video equipment that records to DVD. Classroom based research focusing on preschool aged children is also facilitated by observation booths that are also equipped with digital video recording equipment.
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