Early Development Initiative

Children's earliest years lay a critical foundation for future success in school and life. Research shows that children who enter school with a well-developed vocabulary, letter-sound knowledge and math skills do better academically and that children's social-emotional competencies are powerful indicators of later student successes.

With an aim of building knowledge and informing best practices in children's early learning and social-emotional development, an interdisciplinary group of Lehigh faculty has launched the Early Development and Education Initiative in Lehigh's College of Education.

Faculty members say they are committed to conducting research, enhancing the capacity of families and educators to promote children's positive development and establishing community-researcher partnerships to better support children in their homes, schools and communities.

"This work is incredibly important because, as a collaborative group, we bring multiple perspectives that create a richer context for thinking about early development and education," says Robin Hojnoski, associate professor of School Psychology. "This, in turn, promotes innovative thinking about approaches to creating supportive contexts for very young children."

The initiative began to take shape about a year ago as new faculty members brought their research to the College of Education and added to the ongoing work being done.

Hojnoski says the initiative "seemed like a great way to connect all the programs. How do we create a niche?"

Individual COE faculty research interests include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, numeracy and literacy, comparative and international education, parenting, early interventions, parent and teacher practices, behavior disorders, educational leadership and attachment theory.

As part of the initiative, faculty members are combining their areas of expertise to develop evidence-based strategies to support early development and education. The team is exploring options for undergraduate and graduate specialized training, externally funded research, and a variety of community partnerships. The team also will host programming for parents, educators, students and home visitors on the latest innovations.