ISSUE

WELCOME to the SPRING 2014 semester and the first of a new publication, CDEP in ACTION. CDEP has undertaken a series of self-reflective processes over the past 12 months (at the request of the State, the American Psychological Association and the University). We are poised to re-affirm and strengthen our six degree programs, and to continue to explore new arenas for collaborative research and teaching within and beyond Boston College. We congratulate faculty whose research has received funding from a broad range of founda-

tions as well as from the federal government – and look forward to sharing addition-al news from our students, alumnae and alumni, and other faculty over the upcoming year. -M. Brinton Lykes, Chair

YEAR VOLUME

CDEP in Action

BO ST ON C OL L EG E

L YN C H SCHO OL O F EDU C AT ION

D EPART M ENT OF C OUN SE L IN G, D EVEL OPM ENT AL

AND ED UC AT I ON AL PSYC HO LO G Y

Introduction from the Chair

Did you Know? CDEP has six undergraduate and graduate degree programs

Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology

ADEP PhD

ADEP MA

Counseling

BA: Applied Psychology and Human Development

Counseling Psychology PhD

MA Mental Health

Counseling

MA School

Counseling

The American Psychological Association (APA) presented the Doctoral program in Counseling psychology with the Suinn Minority Achievement Award at the associa-tion’s annual conference in Hawaii in August 2013. The award recognizes graduate programs in psychology that have exceptional records in recruiting, retaining, and graduating ethnic minority students.

The Suinn Minority Achievement Award

Externally Funded Research Dr. David Blustein 2013-2016 National Science Foundation Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers Co-Investigators: Blustein & Michael Barnett Curriculum development in the STEM field, coupled with an integrative focus on social justice education and college and career planning. In addition, theory-building research on STEM career development.

Dr. Rebekah Levine Coley 2013-2016 Spencer Foundation Socioeconomic Disparities in School Readiness Skills and the Role of Early Education and Care Principal Investigator: Coley; Co-Investigator: Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal Assesses the role of early childhood education programs in ameliorating or exacerbating economic disparities in children’s cognitive and behavioral school readiness skills.

2011-2015 MacArthur Foundation Housing Contexts and Low-Income Children’s Development Principal Investigator: Coley; Co-Investigators: Linda Burton & Tama Leventhal Employs intensive ethnographic, survey, and administrative data to assess low-income families’ housing experiences and delineate connections to children’s health and development from infancy through middle childhood.

2011-2013 W. T. Grant Foundation Housing Contexts and Youth Development within Urban Low-Income Families Principal Investigator: Coley; Co-Investigators: Linda Burton & Tama Leventhal Assesses multiple aspects of low-income families’ housing, neighborhood, and family contexts, and tests links with youth functioning from age 10 to 21.

2010-2014 W. T. Grant Foundation Health Risk Trajectories Across Adolescence: Understanding Gender Differences Principal Investigator: Coley; Co-Investigators: James Mahalik & Sara Jaffee Assesses how family and peer contexts affect the initiation and sustainment of health risk behaviors both directly and in interaction with genetic risks, with particular attention to gender divergence in such behaviors.

Dr. Beth Casey 2012-2015 National Science Foundation Long-term Changes in the Relation Between Girls’ Spatial Skills & Math Achievement Longitudinal examination of 550 students from the Boston area from 5th to 7th grade to exam-ine the effect of spatial skills on students' math reasoning skills. A study with a group of first grade girls into fifth grade has found that their first grade spatial skills were the strongest predictor of their fifth grade reasoning skills when compared to their first grade arithmetic and verbal skills.

Dr. Jacqueline V. Lerner 2014-2016 John Templeton Foundation Doing the Right Thing: Intentional Self Regulation & the Promotion of Character Development Why do people who know better, and who even believe themselves to be of high character, virtue, or morality, fall short of their standards? This project examines the role that inten-tional self-regulation (ISR) and character exemplars play in the virtuous behaviors of indi-viduals. This short-term longitudinal study (3 years) of students beginning in Grades 5, 7, and 9 tests the hypothesized positive links among ISR, character development, character exemplars, and youth moral behavior.

Dr. Belle Liang 2010-2013 Center for Research on Girls at Laurel School The 21st Century Athenas Study Principal Investigator: Liang; Co-Investigator: Renee Spencer A multi-site, multi-informant, longitudinal study of stress and well-being in adolescent girls. The study explores the influence of relational health; especially, mentoring relationships, in buffering stress, and enhancing well-being in youths' lives.

Externally Funded Research, continued

Dr. Eric Dearing 2014 The Heising-Simmons Foundation Mothers' Engagement in Early Numerical and Spatial Learning: Analysis of Maternal-Child Interactions at 3 Years of Age in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care Principal Investigator: Dearing; Co-Investigator Beth Casey The primary aim of this project is to understand the short- and long-term contributions of parent engagement in children's early math learning. We will use observations of maternal interactions with their 3-year-old children and follow-up longitudinal data on children and their families, to discover parenting behaviors in early childhood that predict later success in math, including children's school readiness skills in numerical and spatial domains and their subsequent academic achievement.

Dr. Mary Walsh 2012-2016 Charles Hayden Foundation 2014-2017 Barr Foundation 2013-2016 Better Way Foundation 2012-2015 GHR Foundation 2011-2014 New Balance Foundation 2012-2014 Mathile Family Foundation City Connects Intervention Principal Investigator: Mary Walsh & the City Connects Team Addresses the out-of-school factors that impact learning for children living in poverty by collaborating with teachers and school staff to identify the strengths and needs of every child and connecting each student to the tailored set of school- and community-based prevention, intervention, or enrichment services he or she needs to thrive. City Connects is on the ground in 50 sites in three states, reaching 20,000 students this year. Most recent funding was granted to evaluate the immediate and long-term impact of City Connects on learning and development.

Nelson Chair Roundtable on Networking Community-Based Programs Annually in March

Hosted by Dr. Anderson Franklin

Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture Diversity Challenge

Annually in October Hosted By Dr. Janet Helms

City Connects Community Partner Breakfast Annually in December

Hosted By Dr. Mary Walsh

Endowed Chairs’ Annual Events

Endowed Chairs

Dr. Anderson J. Franklin Honorable David S. Nelson Professor of Psychology and Education

Dr. Franklin’s Areas of Expertise are: Psychological well-being, resilience and health of African Americans, the impact of stereotypes and invisibility upon African American males and females. Psychotherapy and counseling interventions with adolescent and adult men and families, with a specialty on men of African descent.

Dr. Mary E. Walsh Daniel E. Kearns Professor in Urban Education and Innovative Leadership

Dr. Walsh’s Areas of Expertise are: Social-emotional, health, and other out-of-school factors that impact learning and thriving in children living in poverty; implementation and evaluation of systemic interventions that enhance students’ academic, social-emotional, and healthy development; psychosocial development of homeless children and families.

Dr. Janet E. Helms Augustus Long Professor

Dr. Helms’ Areas of Expertise are: Integration of race, culture and assessment; Racial identity and health outcomes; Racial and cultural factors in educa-tion; Test fairness in educational and occupational testing.

Designed by: Karley Nelson