Congratulations to Chris Campbell!

Chris Campbell, CYFS Student Affiliate and doctoral student in Developmental Psychology at UNL, received a dissertation grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children & Families entitled “Adapting an Evidence-Based Intervention to Improve Social and Behavioral Competence in Head Start Children: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Teacher-Child Interaction Training.”

The primary objective of this 2-year nearly $50,000 grant is to evaluate the efficacy of an empirically-based, cost-effective, and short-term teacher intervention - Teacher-Child Interaction Training (TCIT) - designed to promote social and behavioral competence in Head Start children and increase teacher efficacy and satisfaction.

Six Head Start teachers and approximately 90 children (and their parents) at three Head Start Centers will participate. This research will provide important information to Head Start researchers, practitioners, and policy makers on the efficacy of a widely applicable and easily disseminated teacher training program to reduce a broad spectrum of social and behavioral problems that could negatively impact preschoolers’ acquisition of important skills relevant to future school readiness and adjustment.