CLI’s Research
Research serves as the foundation of all of CLI’s initiatives, programs, and resources.
Our experts are continually publishing cutting-edge research from several fields of study, all focused on improving children’s learning. What we learn from our research informs best practices, services, and resources delivered to schools, teachers, families, and children.
A Randomized Control Trial of a Responsive Parenting Intervention to Support Healthy Brain Development and Self-regulation in Toddlers Born Preterm
The purpose of this study is to determine whether participation in the Play and Learning Strategies (PALS) parenting intervention results in increased caregiver responsiveness behaviors and to test if participation in PALS results in increases in toddler skills and/or toddler neurological development.
Research Status: Current | Research Timeline: 2020 - 2025 | Research Category: Family Intervention, Neurodevelopment | CLI Faculty: Dana DeMaster, Ph.D., Kelly Vaughn, Ph.D.
Autologous Cell Therapies for Cerebral Palsy
This is a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over study designed to treat cerebral palsy in pediatric patients with an infusion of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells or autologous umbilical cord blood cells.
Research Status: Completed | Research Timeline: 2013 - 2016 | Research Category: Neurodevelopment | CLI Faculty: Retired
Brain-PALS MRI Study
Parenting in early childhood shapes children’s cognitive and social-emotional development via neurobiological mechanisms about which little is known. Most of the research on this topic has focused on children exposed to severe forms of caregiving adversity, such as maltreatment. Studies show that maltreatment during early childhood disrupts development of stress-response systems as well as neural systems including frontal-limbic and frontal-striatal circuitry, which in turn may lead to poor cognitive and social development. However, little is known about parenting quality near the normative range and the influence of interventions aimed to improve parenting during early childhood on developing neurobiological systems.
Research Status: Completed | Research Timeline: 2014 - 2016 | Research Category: Neurodevelopment | CLI Faculty: Susan L. Landry, Ph.D.
Brain, Behavior, and Injury Outcomes Program
This multidisciplinary program of research directed by Dr. Ewing-Cobbs includes longitudinal natural history studies as well as clinical trials examining a variety of outcomes in children and adults with acquired or developmental conditions that affect brain development and/or function.
Research Status: Current | Research Timeline: 2022 - 2022 | Research Category: Neurodevelopment | CLI Faculty: Linda Ewing-Cobbs, Ph.D.
Breaking Stereotypes Through Culturally Relevant Storytelling: Optimizing Out-of-school Time Stem Experiences for Elementary-age Girls to Strengthen Their Stem Interest Pathways (Festivl)
This project will explore how an afterschool program that combines narrative and storytelling approaches, STEM role models, and family supports, sparks elementary-age girls’ interest in STEM and fosters their STEM identity.
Research Status: Current | Research Timeline: 2021 - 2025 | Research Category: STEM | CLI Faculty: Tricia Zucker, Ph.D., Gloria Yeomans, Ph.D.
Building Coaching Capacity: Development of the Core Competencies for Coaching Professional Development Program (C3PD)
We will develop a generalizable professional development model, Core Coaching Competencies Professional Development (C3PD), that supports coaches who work with early childhood classroom teachers in diverse programmatic contexts (public school pre-K, Head Start, childcare).
Research Status: Current | Research Timeline: 2020 - 2024 | Research Category: Coaching and Training, Quality Improvement | CLI Faculty: April Crawford, Ph.D., Cheryl Varghese, Ph.D.
Comparative Coaching
The objectives of this study are to investigate the benefit of varied coaching approaches on teachers’ understanding and instructional practices, benefit on low-income, preschool-age children’s literacy, language, and social development of two contrasting coaching approaches, and investigate the extent to which each model has lasting effects on teachers’ instructional practices, knowledge related to language and literacy development, and beliefs about teaching.
Research Status: Completed | Research Timeline: 2014 - 2018 | Research Category: Coaching and Training, Quality Improvement | CLI Faculty: Susan L. Landry, Ph.D., Tricia Zucker, Ph.D., April Crawford, Ph.D., Michael Assel, Ph.D.
Continuous Quality Improvement: Mechanisms for Strengthening ECE Program Quality and Workforce Competency
A Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Partnership (CCEEPRP) in collaboration with TWC and its Texas Rising Star program, this project seeks to study the variability and fidelity of implementation of continuous quality improvement plans (CQIP) in the field and to test if specific approaches to CQIP that vary in cost and intensity (enhanced director-only support or combined director-and-teacher mentoring), improve program quality and provide benefits to workforce members relative to the business-as-usual approach.
Research Status: Current | Research Timeline: 2021 - 2025 | Research Category: Quality Improvement | CLI Faculty: April Crawford, Ph.D., Cheryl Varghese, Ph.D., Yoonkyung Oh, PhD
Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial: Attention and Reading Trial (Citt-art)
The purpose of the CITT-ART study is to evaluate the effects of office-based therapy with home reinforcement on reading and attention outcomes for children with symptomatic Convergence Insufficiency (CI), a vision disorder.
Research Status: Completed | Research Timeline: 2015 - 2017 | Research Category: Early Literacy, Neurodevelopment | CLI Faculty:
Definitions Project
This project examines how word definitions, contextual support, and cognate status affect fourth grade Spanish-speaking English learners’ (EL) understanding of unfamiliar words in text
Research Status: Completed | Research Timeline: 2015 - 2019 | Research Category: Early Literacy, Bilingual and EL | CLI Faculty:
