Child Development/Eearly Childhood Education
The Child Development and Early Childhood Education graduate program in the Department is committed to research, teaching and outreach. Course work focuses on holistic development within a social context and from a lifespan perspective.
A Master of Science degree in this area prepares a student for a broad range of roles and employment opportunities. A student can become a teacher, a researcher for a policy maker, a director of early childhood programs, a child development consultant in a state agency, a licensing representative, a director or staff member of a child advocacy agency or an employee in another related field.
The Ruth Staples Child Development Laboratory provides developmental programs for young children, as well as opportunities for observation, study and interaction with children. Graduate assistantships are available for assisting the master teachers and/or director.
Faculty
These faculty have primary responsibility for the coursework required for the Child Development/Early Childhood Education career path.
Susan Churchill, Ph.D., Associate Professor. Research Interests: Child development; Head Start families; Transition to public school; Influence of temperament
Carolyn P. Edwards, Ph.D., Professor, Psychology and Family and Consumer Sciences. Research Interests: Child development and early childhood education; Child care quality; Cultural contexts of child development; International early childhood programs (Italy, China, Korea, Norway); Parental cultural beliefs about children's development.
Mary Gabriel, Lecturer, Child Development Lab. International study of children, families, schools, and communities; Family strengths and resiliency.
Julie Jones-Branch, Lecturer, Child Development Lab.
Jennifer Leeper, Lecturer, Child Development Lab.
Helen H. Raikes, Ph.D., Professor. Intervention programs for vulnerable children, 0-5; Antecedents to language and literacy development; Parent-child and teacher-child relationships and their relations to outcomes; Optimizing parenting practices; Assessment and provision of quality interventions in child care programs.
Michelle Rupiper, Ph.D., Director, Child Development Lab. Research Interests: Developmental changes in verbal and imaginal mnemonic techniques for serial recall; Assessment of preschool children; Quality, compensation and job satisfaction of early educators.
Julia Torquati, Ph.D., Associate Professor. Research Interests: Human development infancy to young adulthood, specifically on process of risk, resilience, and adaptation; Poverty and homelessness; Environmental education.
Pauline Zeece, Ph.D., Professor. Research Interests: Child development; Early Childhood Education; Head Start program evaluation and outcomes.
