Children's Learning Institute

The Children’s Learning Institute at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is a nationally recognized institute that combines scholarship from the fields of education, psychology, neurodevelopment and medicine to create proven learning solutions for children based on empirical research. Through classroom interventions, clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment of learning disorders, as well as cutting-edge research on techniques to enhance a child’s learning environment, the Children’s Learning Institute’s results-focused programs equip every child to learn and to excel.

Susan H. Landry, Ph.D., the Albert & Margaret Alkek Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Development and Michael Matthew Knight Memorial Professor in Pediatrics at UTHealth, is the founder and director of the Children’s Learning Institute.

Mission

The mission of the Children’s Learning Institute is to create a quality learning environment for all children through classroom curriculum, teacher mentoring, clinical programs and applied research. Our goal is to make sure every child is equipped to learn and able to excel.^[1]

History

Prior to the creation of the Children’s Learning Institute, the Department of Developmental Pediatrics at UTHealth housed two nationally recognized centers: the Center for Academic and Reading Skills (CARS) and the Center for Improving the Readiness of Children for Learning and Education (CIRCLE).

Established in 1996, CARS was devoted to improving academic skills in children through research and implementation. CARS enhanced the educational experience of students by bringing evidence-based learning approaches to the classroom, developing teachers’ knowledge about the conditions under which students learn, and helping teachers assess students’ strengths and weaknesses, form instructional plans and monitor progress.

In the fall of 1999, Texas First Lady Laura Bush identified CIRCLE to lead then-Governor George W. Bush’s early childhood education initiative. CIRCLE was established as the state's premier center for early childhood education and focused on providing training to early childhood teachers and caregivers by positively impacting teachers’ skills in language and literacy. The goal was to help families and teachers assist young children in preparing for reading and learning before they entered kindergarten.

Texas Governor Rick Perry designated CIRCLE as the State Center for Early Childhood Development in 2003. Pleased with the changes occurring in participating early childhood classrooms, the 78th Legislature passed Senate Bill 76 that same year, appointing the State Center with the task of implementing the statewide school readiness demonstration research project known as the Texas Early Education Model (now known as Texas School Ready!).

To encourage the expansion of CARS, CIRCLE, and other initiatives, and to focus, develop and orchestrate the implementation of best practices statewide, The University of Texas System Board of Regents officially merged the two centers and their various programs in 2003, creating the Children’s Learning Institute.^[2]

Clinics

The Children’s Learning Institute operates the following clinics:^[3]

• Dan L. Duncan Children's Neurodevelopmental Clinic – a fee-for-service clinic that provides developmental pediatrics and neuropsychology services to children and young adults with anxiety disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, depression, genetic conditions, learning disabilities, traumatic brain injuries and other conditions.

• The Autism Center at the Children's Learning Institute – part of the Dan L. Duncan Children's Neurodevelopmental Clinic, its mission is to enhance opportunities for successful living for children with autism spectrum disorders by providing them with individualized, research-based assessment and clinical services.

• Center for Clinical Neurosciences – contributes to the enhancement of children's lives through innovative integration of education, child development and neuroscience models of cognition. This integration forms the backbone of the Children's Learning Institute’s bench-to-classroom models of assessment and intervention service delivery programs.

Programs

The Children’s Learning Institute oversees several programs that equip children to learn and excel:^[4]

• LoneStar LEND – LoneStar LEND is a collaborative effort between UTHealth, University of Houston, Texas Woman’s University, University of Houston-Clear Lake and Baylor College of Medicine. Its purpose is to improve global service delivery, including increased identification and diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum and other Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (ASD/ND), to children with ASD/ND across the state of Texas.

• Play and Learning Strategies (PALS) – this curriculum-based program teaches parents specific skills for interacting with their infants and toddlers that lead to better child outcomes, particularly in children from high-risk families.

• Reach Out and Read Texas – part of a national pediatric literacy program dedicated to making early literacy a standard part of pediatric primary healthcare.

• Texas Early Learning Council – a 19-member, Governor-appointed advisory Council on early childhood education and care. The goal of the Council is to enhance Texas’ ability to prepare more children for school.

• Texas Head Start State Collaboration Office – exists to facilitate collaboration between Head Start agencies and entities that carry out activities designed to benefit low income children from birth to school entry, and their families.

• Texas Reading First – a federal initiative designed to provide professional development for teachers to implement scientifically-based reading programs, and to ensure accountability through ongoing, valid and reliable screening, diagnostic and progress monitoring assessments.

• Texas School Ready! – an early education approach that serves at-risk preschool-aged children through shared resources between public and private early childhood education programs. Its design increases children’s school readiness through five evidence-driven components: research-based curriculum, technology-driven child progress monitoring, facilitated teacher professional development, ongoing teacher mentoring, and sustainability, including participation in SRCS.

• TPRI – assessment tool that provides a comprehensive picture of a student's reading and language arts development from kindergarten through third grade as well as a balanced and reliable approach to reading instruction.

Current Research Projects

The following are current research projects at the Children’s Learning Institute:^[5]

• Beginning Education: Early Childcare at Home (BEECH) – the purpose of BEECH is to determine the effectiveness of a web-based professional development program for home-based child care providers towards improving cognitive, socio-emotional, language, literacy and math skills of infants, toddlers and preschoolers in care.

• Building Vocabulary and Early Reading Strategies (EAGER BVERS) – has a primary focus on the development and implementation of a vocabulary curriculum for use in kindergarten and first grade is the primary focus of this grant.

• Evaluation of Earobics and Building Blocks – aims to test the efficacy of Earobics Step 1 and Building Blocks and to compare the efficacy of standard implementation of Earobics Step 1 to theoretically motivated variations in instructional sequencing of this program.

• The Family Learning Involvement Program (FLIP) – the Children’s Learning Institute partnered with the Children’s Museum of Houston to conduct a preliminary study of the impact of engagement with the FLIP kits on parent and child home literacy practices and attitudes, and on children’s literacy-related skills and attitudes.

• Interventions for Children with Attention and Reading Disorders (ICARD) – the purpose of ICARD research is to learn about the best treatment approaches for children who have both Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and serious reading difficulties (RD). This study is comparing student outcomes when students receive treatment for ADHD only, RD only or the combination of the two.

• Lactoferrin for Prevention of Sepsis in Infants – hypothesizes that lactoferrin is the major factor in milk responsible for protective effects (decreased rates of infection and improved neurodevelopment) of premature infants due to its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties. This study looks to fundamentally change current clinical care of neonates both in the developed and developing world, and could improve the quality of life of the infants and their families.

• My Baby & Me – evaluated the impact of the “My Baby and Me” parenting program, a home-based, preventive intervention targeting young mothers at high risk for child neglect. The program was designed to enhance parenting competence, reduce neglect and improve the well-being of mothers and children.

• Parents and Teachers Together (PATT) – investigates whether a combination of interventions, one in the school and one in the home, has a greater effect on children’s school readiness skills. The study also investigates whether these positive changes in children’s school readiness skills are sustained into kindergarten.

• Pre-K Dual Language Learners (Pre-K DLL) – the purpose of this project is to implement, evaluate and document a successful dual language program serving prekindergarten children (three-, four-, and five-year olds).

• Preschool Curricula: Outcomes and Developmental Processes - this five-year, multi-site study examined the impact of integrated classroom curricula and teacher professional development on low-income, at-risk children.

• Promoting Adolescents’ Comprehension of Text (PACT) – assesses students in middle school and high school on text and cognitive processes and motivational and engagement factors that affect reading comprehension of older students. Through the use of design experiments, innovative curricula and instructional approaches geared specifically for older, struggling students will be developed.

• Raising a Reader – determines the effectiveness of a school-based book exchange program, called Raising a Reader, and a school-based parent educational program, called Family Nights. These programs aim to improve the school readiness of 3- and 4-year-old children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds by increasing the frequency and quality of language and literacy activities in children's homes.

• Reading Rules! – plans to develop and pilot a reading intervention program for children in first grade who are at-risk for serious reading difficulties in both decoding (word reading) and reading comprehension.

• Small Group Approaches for English Language Learners (ELL) – studies the effectiveness of a comprehensive Spanish school readiness curriculum combined with small group instruction towards improving literacy, language, math and social skills for a local group of prekindergarten ELL children from low-income backgrounds.

• Texas Center for Learning Disabilities – a grant-funded research center developed to investigate the classification, early intervention and remediation of learning disabilities (LD).

• Toddler Language in the Classroom (TLC) – plans to develop and document the feasibility and promise of a professional development intervention targeting teachers of at-risk toddlers in childcare settings.

See also

• Education
• Preschool Education
• Child Development
• Neuropsychology
• Autism
• Child Care

References

1. ^ "Our Mission". Children's Learning Institute. Online. http://www.childrenslearninginstitute.org/overview/our-mission/default.html. Retrieved 12 August 2011. 
2. ^ "Our History". Children's Learning Institute. Online. http://www.childrenslearninginstitute.org/overview/our-history/default.html. Retrieved 12 August 2011. 
3. ^ "Our Clinics". Children's Learning Institute. Online. http://www.childrenslearninginstitute.org/our-clinics/default.aspx. Retrieved 12 August 2011. 
4. ^ "Our Programs". Children's Learning Institute. Online. http://www.childrenslearninginstitute.org/our-programs/default.aspx. Retrieved 12 August 2011. 
5. ^ "Our Research Projects". Children's Learning Institute. Online. http://www.childrenslearninginstitute.org/our-research/. Retrieved 12 August 2011. 

External links

• Children’s Learning Institute
• Children’s Learning Institute Newsroom
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)
• The University of Texas System
• Texas Medical Center