LEARNING

UNL Team to Develop Strategies to Promote School Readiness

School readiness is a crucial component to school success. A research team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has received a $5 million grant to develop strategies to enhance school readiness in children from birth to age 5. The University of Nebraska Medical Center and Lincoln Public Schools are project partners in the study, 'Parent Engagement and Child Learning Birth to Five.'

The grant, funded through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a division of the National Institutes of Health, is a five-year project to study the effectiveness of a comprehensive approach working across home and school settings to help children who are at risk for school failure. The project focuses on strengthening the relationships between parents and children, and between parents and their children's teachers and other caregivers.

"The goal is to strengthen and empower parents to become more actively engaged in their children's learning and development," said Susan Sheridan, professor of educational psychology and lead investigator on the grant. Carolyn Pope Edwards is co-investigator.

Blending a number of exemplary models and approaches to working with parents and schools, the project capitalizes on the strengths of individual families and of the school programs in Lincoln. Many earlier research projects have studied the roles of parents and teachers, but no project has looked at how creating and supporting partnerships between families and schools can benefit young children across the entire birth to 5 age span, and for both social-emotional and cognitive outcomes, according to Sheridan.

This work is important, she said, because educators recognize that 'getting ready for school' is not just about the child; it is about parent and child readiness, building bridges between parents and educators.

"It's a nice marriage between existing research-based programs and the growing societal epidemic faced by high-risk children," Sheridan said.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES