at the college of human ecology

Public policies and human service programs at the state and local levels make an important di�erence in the lives of individuals and families across the United States. At the College of Human Ecology, researchers are developing evidence that has a direct impact on these policies and programs -- and ultimately leads to healthy, prosperous communities.

For example, economists are contributing to a growing body of evidence on education policy including curriculums, school funding, teaching, costs, and standardized testing. Demographers are exploring how family patterns provide insight into child well-being, immigration, and other social trends. And, separately, social scientists from across the college are examining policies that address the challenges faced by poor and disadvantaged groups.

community and family policy

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community and family policy

Informing education policy

Developing strong public schools is an important concern for communities across the U.S. At Human Ecology's Department of Policy Analysis and Management, education economists are developing new evidence to inform the debate on critical issues in public education.

The research of assistant professor Maria Fitzpatrick has shown that universal preschool programs beginning at age four improve the academic achievement of low income children and those in rural areas. Assistant professor Jordan Matsudaira has established that mandatory summer school is a cost-effective way of raising student achievement in math and reading in large, urban school districts. And assistant professor Michael Lovenheim is investigating whether new systems to evaluate and compensate teachers have an impact on student achievement. He evaluated a teacher pay program in Texas that awards teachers when their students score well on standardized tests, but found little evidence that the program helped students succeed.

Lovenheim has also conducted research on how the real estate market impacts college enrollment, and found strong evidence that students from lower-income families whose parents experience housing wealth increases tend to go to more expensive universities, and tend to graduate more often.

engaging studentsA group of Human Ecology graduate and undergraduate students are working with 50 low-income schools across the nation to build school gardens - and in the process spur children to eat more fruits and vegetables, boost their activity levels, and learn about nutrition.

The project, called Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth, is a collaboration among Human Ecology faculty members in the departments of Design and Environmental Analysis, Human Development, and Nutritional Sciences. It is funded with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and supported by a national network cooperative extension educators.

Beth Myers, a DEA Ph.D. student on the research team, sees great potential for gardens to enhance children’s learning. “As we design the research, CCE educators not only build the gardens but also relationships," she said. "There is a greater potential for health and educational benefits to carry on.”

Environmental psychologist Nancy Wells is leading the project team and conducting a randomized study to measure the impact of the gardens on students. “It is a rare intervention that has the potential to affect both diet and physical activity,” Wells said. “What’s unusual and exciting about the gardens is that they may be a very potent intervention in terms of childhood obesity, especially because they could affect both sides of the energy balance equation.”

Researching the modern familySociologists and demographers at Human Ecology are uncovering new knowledge about American families that paints a clearer picture of our society.

The research of sociologist Kelly Musick, of the Department of Policy Analysis and Management, focuses on how changes in marriage, cohabitation, and childbearing affect families and their social stratification. Her work has revealed there are strong links between poverty and family structure. She has also found that less educated women are more likely to have unintended pregnancies, and that more educated women face social barriers to parenthood.

Sociologist Sharon Sassler of Policy Analysis and Management is revealing new insights about how families form and change, and what that means for our well-being, careers, and the quality of our relationships. Her research has helped redefine the role that cohabitation plays in forming families and how young people transition from school and work to relationships and parenthood.

Using research to help families and communitiesSocial science research helps us understand the choices people make and trends in our society. But to improve lives and build prosperous communities, social scientists must translate those findings into real-life solutions. The college’s Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR) is a hub for disseminating evidence-based practices and programs that help families and communities across the nation. The center is home to more than 50 projects that cover topics across the lifespan, including youth development and education, health care and nutrition, and aging.

One of those programs is Parenting in Context, a course designed to provide parents with evidence-based strategies for raising children. The program is based on the research of Rachel Dunifon, a social policy expert whose work explores the relationship between maternal employment conditions and children’s health and the role of grandparents in the lives of youth.

This type of translational research is the foundation for collaborations between Human Ecology faculty and researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College. Together, they work on a broad range of projects, including novel pain treatments for older adults, systems approaches to disease prevention, and social science-based interventions to combat obesity.

Human Ecology’s partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension provides an avenue for disseminating evidence-based programming to families and communities across the state of New York. Using these resources, the College of Human Ecology is well-equipped to move its discoveries into real-life settings. Learn more at about the center http://www.bctr.cornell.edu/ and about Parenting in Context at http://bit.ly/14d42DT

at the college of human ecology

Cornell Population CenterThe college serves as home to the Cornell Population Center — the intellectual hub for demographic research and training at Cornell. The center has 90 faculty affiliates from 24 departments and programs who specialize in population research on four core themes: families and children, health behaviors and disparities, immigration and diversity, and poverty and inequality. It functions as a one-stop shop for population researchers, providing assistance with grant proposals and management, training in cutting-edge statistical methods, support for data analysis and enhanced computing services, and grant programs to help fund promising projects and scholars.

Policy Analysis and Management Professor Daniel Lichter is the center’s director. His research focuses on children’s changing living arrangements and poverty, cohabitation and marriage among unwed mothers, and the effect of welfare incentives on families. Learn more at http://www.cpc.cornell.edu/.

community and family policy

a broad look into the future

Research into the public policies and human service programs helps legislators and civic leaders cultivate healthy, prosperous communities. At Cornell, a collaborative culture encourages faculty across the social sciences to work together and develop truly innovative solutions for supporting families and communities. To encourage even greater collaboration, Cornell is considering forming a School of Public Policy headquartered in the College of Human Ecology and led by Dean Alan Mathios.

Looking toward Cornell’s 2015 sesquicentennial, now more than ever, support for this type of interdisciplinary work is essential. With a plan in place to recruit more faculty, staff, and students, high-impact collaborative research will continue to yield important knowledge — fostering innovative research and revolutionary discoveries to improve life for all.

You can find more information about the university’s campaign to support these efforts — called Cornell Now — at http://now.cornell.edu/.

Improving lives by exploring and shaping human connections to natural,

social, and built environments www.human.cornell.edu

2014.06.22 Issue