National Center for
Latino Child & Family Research
New Initiatives:
Latino Child Development & Education Leadership Development Program:
The goal of the Latino Child Development & Education Leadership Development Program is to build a national network supporting the education, mentoring, leadership development & overall professional development of the next generation of child development & education research, policy & practice leaders with the Latino community.
The National Center for Latino Child & Family Research will partner with & build upon existing scholarship, fellowship & related programs to successfully identify, recruit, & mentor promising undergraduate & graduate students specifically interested in advancing the existing knowledge base related to Latino child & family issues. The notion is to create important value-added enhancements to existing efforts to help ensure retention in undergraduate & graduate programs, as well as provide intensive mentoring, networking & other early career professional development activities to better ensure their success.
Critical components of the fellowship activities will include the development of mentorships, placements, stipends, & educational/professional development guidance. Periodic meetings & an annual Summer Institute will be established to bring together various members of the Latino Child Development & Education Leadership Development network, as well as a select group of leading child development & education researchers from the field (not limited to minority or Latino researchers) for week-long, topically-focused presentations, research training, mentoring & professional development activities.
The overall proposed project will be conducted in 3 distinct phases: (1) an initial 12-month Pilot Phase; (2) a 24-month Regional Expansion Phase & (3) a 24-month National Expansion Phase. Work is currently underway on the planning activities for the initial Summer Institute.
Planning Committee
- Cynthia Garcia Coll, Ph.D.- Professor of Ed., Psychology & Pediatrics; Brown University
- Nancy Gonzales, Ph.D. - Arizona State University
- Mark Appelbaum, Ph.D. - Professor & Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education; UCSD
- Don Hernandez, Ph.D. - Professor, Dept. of Sociology & Center for Social & Demographic Analysis; State University of New York, Albany
- Natasha Cabrera, Ph.D. - University of Maryland & NCLCFR
- Sandra Barrueco, Ph.D. - Johns Hopkins University & NCLCFR
- Michael Lopez, Ph.D. - NCLCFR
Latino Child & Family Research to Practice Forum:
The primary goal of the Latino Child & Family Research to Practice Forum is to create a vehicle to gather & disseminate the latest research-based information on issues of particular relevance to Latino children & families to various audiences, including practitioners, policy makers, researchers & the public.
Latinos are one of the fastest growing population groups in the United States, especially with respect to families living in poverty & children under the age of 18 years. Many working with the rapidly growing Latino population are concerned with effectively addressing their unique demographic characteristics, strengths, & challenges. As such, there is an urgent need both for new research on issues of particular relevance to the Latino population, as well as the most accurate & timely synthesis & dissemination of research-based information to multiple research, programmatic, community & policy decision-making audiences.
To meet the goal of being an important source of information for practitioners, policymakers, & researchers interested in Latino children & families, we plan to initiate a 6-month Strategic Planning Phase to launch the Research to Practice Forum activities, followed by a 2-year initial Implementation Phase. The specific objectives of the initiative will be accomplished through the following series of interrelated activities:
Phase 1 – Strategic Planning:
- Establishment of a multidisciplinary advisory group of researchers, practitioners, community stakeholders & policy decision-makers to provide input & advice on key aspects of the strategic planning for the Research to Practice Forum activities.
- Development of a 2-year strategic plan for the implementation phase of the Research to Practice Forum.
Phase 2 – Implementation of Research to Practice Forum:
- Collection & synthesis of the most current research-based knowledge on Latino child & family issues on targeted topical areas of interest.
- Convening of meetings, workshops or conferences with the leading researchers studying Latino child & family issues.
- Development of a wide array of relevant dissemination materials, including fact sheets for the general public, & practitioner & policy summaries or briefs.
- Convening of targeted "Research to Practice" briefings with key programmatic, research & policy decision-making audiences.
- Wide dissemination of research to practice resource materials to a range of programmatic, research, community & policy decision-making audiences.
To contact us:
- Phone: 301-537-6552
- Address : 22610 Woodfield Road, Laytonsville, MD 20882
- E-mail: milopez@earthlink.net
Copyright © 2004 National Center for Latino Child & Family Research (Last modified: January ,(, /),( )
