Funded Projects

Research that shapes the future

The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families & Schools is an interdisciplinary research center in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Early Learning Network Lead

Project Information

Principal Investigator: Susan Sheridan
Co-Principal Investigator: Lisa Knoche
Funding Agency: ED-IES
Award Date: December 22, 2015
Theme: Early Education & Development, Rural Education & Communities
Project URL: N/A

For more information please contact Susan Sheridan at ssheridan2@unl.edu.

Abstract

The Network Lead will provide a dynamic and intentional suite of coordination, collaboration, and communication activities that extend the impacts of the entire Early Learning Network and help advance our ability to close the achievement gap for disadvantaged children as they transition from preschool through Grade 3.

Our goal as Network Lead is to provide a comprehensive suite of activities that (a) enhance the impact of individual and collaborative efforts across the Research and Assessment Teams and (b) create a variety of pathways that effectively transfer the Network’s findings and products to practice communities and policy contexts.

To achieve our goal for the Network, we will:

  • Provide the technical and programmatic leadership and administrative infrastructure needed to ensure the Early Learning Network functions efficiently and effectively in support of the Institute’s goals for early learning from preschool through the early elementary grades. 
  • Implement a suite of Network-wide activities that (a) create a collaborative research environment and provide meaningful opportunities for members of the Research and Assessment Teams to interact around established and emerging research, (b) provide support and technical assistance to recipients of Preschool Development Grants and (c) advance the professional development and research training of postdoctoral research associates and graduate and undergraduate students. 
  • Develop an integrated communications and engagement strategy to facilitate broad dissemination, promotion, and uptake of the Network’s findings, evidence-based tools and strategies, and best-practice recommendations across the range of early childhood education stakeholder communities, including school-based practitioners (e.g., PDG grantees and other practitioner audiences), other researchers, and policymakers.