CDCLR Research Program Handbook
Parent Handbook, CDCLR
Educational and Research Procedures Section
Research at the Child Development Center for Learning and Research
Welcome to the Child Development Center for Learning and Research! We are excited
about the opportunity to play, learn with and teach your child or children, and to get to
know and work with your family.
As part of our mission to best nurture young children, we conduct research aimed at
deepening our understanding of children’s development and how to best support that
maturation. Recent brain research underscores what parents and educators have
suspected for a long time: from infancy to about five years of age are critical years for
setting children on a path that optimizes their capacity for learning, getting along with
others, and remaining vitally engaged in work and play. How to best foster these
abilities is one central focus of our research program.
Research at the Child Development Center for Learning and Research site generally takes
the following forms:
1. Action research. Projects that teachers undertake with children, informed by the
children’s evolving interests, that lead to curriculum development and
enhancement. These projects tend to be a traditional part of the Reggio Emilia
inquiry-based, emergent curriculum model that we use predominantly at the
Center. Methods can involve informally interviewing children and recording
responses, documenting projects through still- and video photography, and
occasionally, more formal interviews or play sessions with an individual child or
small group.
2. Curriculum or classroom assessment. In order to ascertain the effectiveness of a
given practice or module in the classroom, or to assess the “climate” of a given
room, we may periodically conduct a formal evaluation. Methods to evaluate
curriculum or classroom processes might include observation, videotaping,
behavioral coding, analysis of children’s conversations, group activities, teacher
reports, parent reports, interviews with children, and/or tests or experimental
procedures designed to assess a given skill or capacity.
3. Intergenerational research. As part of our ongoing curriculum, children can take
part in activities with our neighbors in Adult Day Services, across the hall from
the CDCLR. Children’s behavior and attitudes toward these cross-generational
CDCLR Research Program Handbook
encounters are of interest to faculty in Human Development studying
intergenerational processes. Observations, video and audiotape, and written
statements are the primary methods used. Occasionally, interviews or structured
play procedures may be employed.
4. Basic research on child/family development. These studies typically examine a
specific facet of development, such as cognitive or social development. Methods
are diverse, and may include researcher observations, interviews, parent and
teacher observations, standard assessment procedures, and so on. One current
program of research undertaken by several investigators concerned various
aspects of social development.
5. Other. Studies on playground development and toy design have been conducted in
the past, and we anticipate our site may be used in future research related to a
variety of disciplines.
Participation and informed consent
As part of enrollment, we ask that you carefully review our consent form (“Parent
Permission Form”) regarding our use of observations, statements from, and works by
your children, as well as our use of pictures, video and audiotapes of your children for
educational, training, quality assurance and research purposes. Research activities
covered by this consent form cover ongoing projects undertaken by CDCLR staff as part
of our laboratory school mission. This includes action, curriculum-oriented,
intergenerational and some basic developmental research for the most part (Types #1, #2,
#3 and #4). No more than minimal risk is anticipated in any of these projects. Studies
that involve any elevation in potential risk level to your child or your family require
separate procedures that seek your permission for specific tasks.
Research activities related to the ongoing activities of the Child Development Center,
(such as outlined in #1, #2, #3 and many times, #4 above), are part of classroom life and
as such, it is expected that all children enrolled in the program will participate as a matter
of course. At times, procedures to evaluate a teaching practice or module require
individual or group assessment.
“Informed consent” refers to a process in which you have been told or have read about
procedures involved in research, been informed of possible risks and benefits to you,
have had your questions answered, and that you agree that you and/or your child may
participate. Children are also asked if they will take part. Giving your permission does
not mean you can never withdraw it. If you have questions or concerns about any aspect
of research at the Center, we urge to contact our research director, Dr. Isabel Bradburn
(231-1863) or executive director, Dr.Victoria Fu (231-4796) to discuss your concerns.
All research conducted at the Child Development Center for Learning and Research has
been reviewed through the standard internal review process at Virginia Tech for research
involving human participants, to ensure compliance with federal regulations. You may
also contact the Human Development Department Institutional Review Board (IRB)
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Representative, Dr. Joyce Arditti (231-5758), or the Assistant Vice-President for
Research Compliance, Dr. David Moore (231-4991) with any questions or concerns.
Please let us know if English is not your native language and you need translation
services for this letter or informed consent forms. We will do our best to facilitate
finding an appropriate translator.
How to be involved
As parents, you know your children best. We ask you to be partners with us in making
the Child Development Center for Learning and Research childcare program truly
exemplary by participating as fully as you can in our ongoing research efforts. Your
involvement will help us understand more about children’s and family’s development,
about what aspects of our program are working well, and what might benefit from
changes. Many of these factors may differ, depending on the personality of the child.
This is where your contribution is especially important.
Included in your welcome materials is the CDCLR Enrollment Research Questionnaire
booklet for each parent to complete on each child you have enrolled at CDCLR. Please
note that blue covers denote children younger than 3, while lavender is for children three
years of age and older. Please take time to complete the packet to the best of your ability.
We ask that both mothers and fathers independently complete a packet. Your responses
and insights are used anonymously in our developmental research projects, as well as part
of what we look at to evaluate some of our practices and how effective they seem for the
children. Your information may also be used in an anonymous fashion for additional
research projects not yet anticipated. (In other words, the information you provide will
not be linked to you personally.)
Your child’s teacher will not read your responses to the CDCLR Enrollment Research
Questionnaires, so if there is important information she or he should know, please
share it directly with your child’s head teacher. (The colored emergency information
form and state School Entrance Health Form that you will complete at the transitional
visit are not part of the research packet and are available to teaching and administrative
staff. The Omnibus CDCLR Informational Survey and the Sensory Profile questionnaire,
which you will complete as part of the transitional visit or prior to your child’s entry into
the program, is used for multiple purposes, including by teachers and administrators to
help better understand your child. Responses to these surveys are also entered into the
research dataset with your identity protected.)
All responses will be kept confidential. We will assign each of you and your child a
research code number that protects your personal identities. Questionnaires and all child
data used for non-action research will be kept in locked file drawers and computerized
data will only include your research codes (i.e., no names). Responses to the
questionnaires will not be read or used by teachers or educational staff in any way that
reveals the identity of you, the responder.*
______________________________________________________________________
*The only exceptions to our keeping your confidentiality are if your responses indicate child
maltreatment. In this unlikely event, the Director would arrange a private meeting with you to
clarify the information and communicate our legal obligations, if any pertain.
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Further details of how we seek to protect your confidentiality are provided on the cover
sheet of the questionnaire packet. Information may be used by research staff to develop,
evaluate or otherwise interpret curricula, inform teacher practice, train teachers, or used
anonymously in basic research in child and family development, including publications,
presentations and grant applications.
Communicating research findings
As part of our collaboration with you in our research programs, we want to let you know
what we are discovering. Several media will be used to communicate results:
1. Action and intergenerational research. Panels placed in classrooms and hallways
describe and document these projects.
2. CDCLR activities: Curriculum/classroom practices, Intergenerational
Programming. Results will be communicated through a community newsletter,
parent meetings, or another specified venue. (Please note that it will take a while
for these results to come in, as studies are just beginning.)
3. Basic child and family development. The lead investigators in these studies have
their individual mechanisms for communicating with their family participants.
Occasionally we may invite one of these scientists to speak to our parent group.
4. Other. See #3 above.
In May 2005 and September, 2006, the Center hosted an Open House Research Fair for
parents and community members to learn more specifically about projects currently
underway or recently completed, and we anticipate we will develop other mechanisms to
communicate research results to you.
If you have any additional thoughts or observations that seem important but that we did
not ask you about, please communicate them to us. Also, if you would like to become
more involved in research at the Center, contact the research director, Isabel Bradburn
(231-1863).
Thank so much for your family’s participation in the Center’s research endeavors.
Revised June, 2007
CDCLR Research Program Handbook
Developmental Assessment and Procedures
Starting in the fall 2006, when a child joins the Child Development Center for Learning
and Research community, and each year thereafter, we aim to obtain a general sense of
his or her development across a range of abilities (for example, physical coordination,
everyday practical or adaptive skills, language, reasoning, memory, social behavior, and
behavioral control). This information will help us evaluate changes to curriculum or
classroom practices, be used by your child’s teacher to better understand your child, and
be shared with you during parent conferences or as teachers deem necessary. It may also
be used in future developmental studies in an anonymous fashion.
Children mature at very different rates. Earlier or later development of specific abilities
usually does not reflect a child’s overall abilities or predict how well or poorly a child
will do later in school, except in extreme cases. Typically, a child shows a range of
developmental “ages,” depending on the task. These tasks will not be used to “track”
children or exclude them from our program. They may help your child’s teacher provide
an optimal level of comfortable challenge to your child.
Many of your child’s current capacities will be assessed through questionnaires that you
complete, or through teacher observations. However, in some areas (for example,
language), individual tests provide important additional information. When individual
tasks or tests are given, children will meet one-on-one in a comfortable setting with a
trained adult whom they have already met (in most cases, a graduate student or staff
member). Children will be told what they are to do, and asked if they will participate (“I
want you to…is that ok with you?”). Tasks will be non-intrusive and mostly consist of
asking the child for a response (verbal or non-verbal) or posing a problem for the child to
solve. Occasionally a child may be asked to perform a motoric task (for example, walk
along a strip of masking tape; build a block tower; tap out a rhythm or imitate a sequence
of hand movements; copy shapes) or to resist doing something (for example, knocking
down their tower).
Tasks are tailored to your child’s age. The entire set of tasks should take most children
considerably less than one hour to complete; for younger children, tasks will be given in
short intervals at different time points, so as not to fatigue or bore them. If a child
appears tired or otherwise disinterested, we will stop and try again at a different time. All
attempts will be made to make the children as comfortable and interested as possible.
Previous experience with these and related developmental tasks suggests that children
generally find them enjoyable. If a child refuses to participate, this will in no way
jeopardize his or her standing at CDCLR.
Once information is shared with your child’s teachers, the information will be recorded
on computer files. These files are locked and kept in an office separate from the CDCLR.
Privacy codes will be assigned and any data entered into a computer for storage and
analysis will only contain your child’s code number (i.e., no names). The computer will
not be connected to the Internet, to provide maximal confidentiality and identity
protection.
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Possible Risks to Your Child:
No serious risks are anticipated. The greatest potential risk might be temporary fatigue
and/or frustration (for example, regarding having to wait to knock down his or her block
tower). As noted above, interviewers will make every attempt to alleviate observed
fatigue or distress, by cutting short the session, taking a break with the child, or otherwise
changing course. In the rare event that a child seems to be upset with him- or herself
regarding performance with the tasks, the interviewer will try to talk with the child,
provide comfort and reassurance, and let the child’s teacher know in order to smooth
transition back to the classroom.
Possible Benefits to Your Child:
This information should help your child’s teacher understand your child better. She may
be able to tailor learning challenges more precisely to your child’s level of comfort. She
may also use the information to provide additional support to your child in specific areas.
Having developmental information on the entire class can help teachers provide more
appropriate environmental materials to engage the children. Your child’s information
can help us understand more about what we do well and what might benefit from change,
so that our program can continue to nurture children to the best of our ability. The
information can be used by your child’s teacher to share with you during parent
conferences. If assessments suggest the advisability of further evaluation, this
information will be shared with you and can be useful in obtaining additional formal
evaluation or appropriate services.
These assessments serve multiple purposes at CDCLR. For the research component,
please note that this procedure has been approved through the Institutional Review Board
for the use of human subjects in research at Virginia Tech. If you have questions or
concerns, you can call our research director, Dr. Isabel Bradburn (231-1863), the
executive director, Dr. Victoria Fu (231-4796), the Human Development IRB Liaison,
Dr. Joyce Arditti (231-5758), or the Assistant Vice Provost for Research Compliance, Dr.
David Moore (231-4991).
June, 2007