Study to evaluate success of parental involvement in early childhood education

New classrooms will open this fall in the Houston area with an added element: the parents will be students as well.

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $2.6 million, four-year grant to Children’s Learning Institute (CLI) of the Department of Pediatrics to combine two programs to test whether the approach can better prepare children for kindergarten.

The two research-proven programs are the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM) and Play and Learning Strategies (PALS).

“The challenge is so great for teachers serving economically disadvantaged children. Some students show up for their first day of school and have never held a book,” said principal investigator Dr. Susan Landry, Albert and Margaret Alkek Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Education and executive director of the Children’s Learning Institute. “In most cases, teachers have to combine two months' worth of material into one month. I think we can bridge the gap with PALS. With PALS, the children will get reinforcement at home.”

"Any time you involve parents in their child’s education, you will see the student excel," said Cynthia Johnson, TEEM coordinator for the Houston community at Neighborhood Centers, Inc.

Two Head Start agencies in Houston will be selected for the grant-funded program. Johnson said she hopes that Neighborhood Centers will have the opportunity to participate. “I think children have a better chance of succeeding when you get parents involved in the learning process. I am excited about the possibilities,” she said.

“This grant will help future generations of economically disadvantaged students excel so that they may be on equal footing with their peers,” said Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo. “Through this award, the U.S. Department of Education is recognizing Dr. Landry and her team for the excellent work they do in improving children’s learning.”

The PALS program, which has been research-proven in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, teaches parents skills for interacting with their children. Coaches use PALS to work with parents on how to communicate with their child effectively to help them enhance their performance in school. “An example would be a parent holding up a jar of juice and saying, ‘Do you want this?’ We teach the parent to help expand their child’s vocabulary by not using words like 'this,' 'that,' and 'those,'” Landry said. “A PALS coach would recommend saying, ‘Would you like a glass of grape juice?’”

The TEEM program involves community-based partnerships where teachers take part in professional development courses and receive in-classroom mentoring. This enables the teachers to grow and make changes to their instructional techniques, even classroom design, to provide a better learning environment.

The federal grant will help fund the opening of 30 new TEEM and TEEM/PALS classrooms in the Houston area for the study. “We want scientific data that will show us whether the combination program is helping kids be better prepared for kindergarten,” Landry said. “CLI will continue to use science to test teaching methods. The goal is to give children, no matter their economic status, the very best education.”

- M. McDonald

Loan repayment offered to those who treat Medicaid kids

Physicians, dentists, and specialists who care for Texas children with Medicaid can now apply for loan repayment through a state program that seeks to improve availability of care for the youngest Medicaid patients.

Full details and application guidelines for the Children’s Medicaid Loan Repayment Program are now available online. Eligible dentists and doctors can get up to $140,000 in loan repayments over four years by meeting targets for services provided to children on Medicaid.

Dr. Catherine Flaitz, dean of the Dental Branch, served on the 17-member advisory committee that reviewed and recommended funding for the loan repayment project and other initiatives. The funding is part of the Legislature’s $1.8 billion plan to increase Medicaid rates and the availability of services in response to the Frew v. Hawkins lawsuit over utilization of preventive services in children’s Medicaid.

Earlier this year, Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins said the program is an innovative way to address the root cause of one of the state’s greatest challenges — the lack of dentists and physicians who accept Medicaid, and an overall lack of pediatric specialists. He predicted the loan repayment program will help Texas recruit health care providers for hard-to-serve areas.

The program will enroll up to 300 physicians and dentists a year, and the state may prioritize the applications based on particular specialties or locations. Applications will be accepted year round with new participants selected each June.

-R. Moran

ISACM conference set for Sept. 3 - 5

The second biannual conference of the International Society for the Advancement of Clinical Magnetoencephalography (ISACM) is scheduled for Sept. 3 - 5, in Athens, Greece.

Organized by conference chairman Dr. Andrew Papanicolaou, professor of clinical neurosciences, the purpose of this conference is to define the field of clinical magnetoencephalography and magnetic source imaging, discuss the areas and the mode of their application, and address organizational issues of the recently formed international society, ISACM.

For details and registration information, visit the organization's Welcome page.

The doors of entrepreneurship for postdocs are open

Postdoctoral researchers bring new discoveries to the world, and the Kauffman Foundation is opening a door for them to do so through entrepreneurship. The Kauffman Entrepreneur Postdoctoral Fellows program provides a unique opportunity for postdocs in science and technology fields to launch their innovative research from the lab to the marketplace. Interested applicants can now apply online. Twelve selected individuals at U.S. institutions will be mentored by leading science entrepreneurs — along with legal, business, and financial experts — with the ultimate goal to develop their own startup companies.

The application deadline for the 2009 ‐ 2010 Fellowship is May 1, 2009. Applicants' Academic Advisor submissions must be received by May 15, 2009. A diverse pool of candidates is welcomed and encouraged. For more information, contact postdocs@kauffman.org.

Learn more from doctoral entrepreneurs. View the "Considering Entrepreneurship" video.

Association seeks nominations for Herbert W. Nickens awards

The AAMC is soliciting nominations for the annual Herbert W. Nickens Award, as well as nominations for the Nickens Faculty Fellowship and Medical Student Scholarships. Nominations for all three awards must be received by May 1.

The Herbert W. Nickens Award is given to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to efforts that promote justice in medical education and provide equal health care for all Americans. The recipient will receive a $10,000 award and present the Nickens Lecture at the AAMC's 2009 Annual Meeting in Boston. Nominees may come from the fields of medicine, education, law, nursing, public health, or social sciences.

The Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship recognizes an outstanding junior faculty member, committed to a career in academic medicine, who has demonstrated leadership in addressing inequities in medical education and health care. The fellowship recipient will receive a $15,000 grant to support his or her academic and professional activities over a two-year period.

The Herbert W. Nickens Medical Student Scholarships are awarded to five outstanding students entering their third year of medical school who have demonstrated leadership in addressing the educational, societal, and health care needs of minorities. Each recipient will receive a $5,000 scholarship.

For more information contact Juan Amador, AAMC Diversity Policy and Programs, at 202.862.6149, send an e-mail to NickensAwards@aamc.org, or visit the AAMC's awards page.

-AAMC

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