PEABODY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
Current Projects
Competency -Based Approaches to Child Health (COACH): Language Intervention Team
COACH is a culturally-grounded, multi-level intervention that: 1) provides developmentally appropriate health coaching to preschoolers and 2) targets parent weight loss directly and engages parents as agents of change for their children.
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In this community-based randomized control trial (RCT) study, our team is responsible for structuring the 12-week language program for parents and children from Spanish-speaking homes. We plan to deliver the Puente de Cuentos curriculum adapted for the community setting and a customized, bilingually-minded parent workshop series specifically designed for Latino families. Our efforts will not only support Latino families' language development journey, but also build capacity of local libraries to offer culturally-sensitive parent-child literacy programming for Spanish-speaking families.
Assessment Practices, Placement, and Language Status (APPLS)
The purpose of the APPLS study is to learn more about how children from homes where Spanish is spoken develop language and reading skills. This information may help us understand which students may develop reading difficulties and which students may receive special education services. APPLS is a longitudinal study spanning four school years (2023-24 to 2026-27). Participating students in this study are tested two times each school year, once in fall and once in spring.
Special Education Representation and Achievement Gaps Across the School Years by Language Status
In partnership with the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA), our team investigates how Tennessee students are represented in special education (SPED) services by language status: native English speaker, English-proficient bilingual, and Current English learner. This effort includes both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of students' SPED identification. Results from this project will provide empirical evidence to inform educational research, policy, and practice at the under-studied intersection of language status and SPED status.