Articles

Cala Hefferan is a 2021 graduate of the Institute of Child Development's master's program in applied child and adolescent development - child life track. Today, you can find her at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB), where she is one of the Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) and the Primary Facility Dog Handler.

ICD undergrad developmental psychology student Milena Yishak recently returned from a national conference for the Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) Black Student Leadership Network (BSLN).

Ann Masten, PhD, Regents Professor in the Institute of Child Development (ICD), has received the 2024 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Psychology for her landmark body of work that identified “ordinary magic” as a contributor to resilience in children. Over the course of Masten’s career in resilience science, which began in the 1970s, she […]

In this Q & A, speech-language pathologist Chris Wing, PhD '13, explains how language development is linked to attachment and emotional regulation. She also talks about encouraging children and adults to tell personal stories as a strategy to build their communication and executive functioning skills.

A cross-disciplinary UMN research team has been awarded a major federal grant. The grant will fund a study of the effects of child care subsidy policies on families' access to high quality child care.

The Child Development Laboratory School is hosting its first Visiting Research Scholar through summer of 2024. Ozge Metin Aslan (she/her/hers) will be observing, studying, and collaborating on research projects with CDLS and will also guest teach. Her educational background includes a PhD, MS and BA all in Early Childhood Education from Hacettepe University in Ankara, […]

The Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) field is growing and the Institute of Child Development’s programs—led by Elizabeth Carlson, PhD, U of MN Harris Program Director—have been at the forefront of ensuring that the Minnesota early childhood workforce and state policy makers have access to the latest scientific developments to support children and […]

Dr. Sheila Williams Ridge, director of the Child Development Laboratory School, recently participated in a webinar on Climate and Young Children presented by the Stanford Center on Early Childhood. The webinar brought together leading voices from early childhood education, policy, and research to illuminate how climate change and extreme weather impacts young children, families, and […]

Melody Gonzales, executive director of the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics, was in the Twin Cities on October 11 to speak at an event and had time to visit CEHD with Melisa López Franzen, UMN executive director of Government and Community Relations. Gonzales took a tour of […]

Chris Wing, PhD, is a speech-language pathologist who has studied language development. She explains why telling stories about their lives helps children learn and grow in important ways. She also shares ways for caregivers and educators to encourage young storytellers' skills!