Noelle Suntheimer
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Pronouns: she/her/hers
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Postdoctoral Fellow
Areas of interest
Cognitive development; Culture, cross-culture; Early childhood; Early childhood education; Executive function; Families and parenting; Learning; Prevention/intervention; Resilience; Social and emotional development; Stress and maltreatment
B.S., Psychology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 2013; M.S.Ed., Education, University of Pennsylvania, 2017; Ph.D., Education, University of Pennsylvania, 2024
Noelle is a NIMH T32 Postdoctoral Fellow and an interdisciplinary research professional at the University of Minnesota, Institute of Child Development. Her research applies a developmental-ecological framework and quantitative methodologies to identify and test key levers of change in home and school settings to foster resilience, executive functioning, and learning for kids exposed to stressors and early adversity across the world. Because structural inequities and hardships can also undermine parental resilience and their ability to protect kids from adversity, Noelle’s work investigates how to promote parents’ well-being, which can, in turn, foster development. Her research involves producing descriptive evidence, as well as the design and evaluation of interventions. Noelle’s scholarship connects her own life experiences growing up in poverty to empirical evidence, and her research agenda to serve economically disadvantaged children, families, and schools is energized by this sense of purpose.
Noelle holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and an M.S.Ed. and Ph.D. in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. She also has a certificate in Advanced Studies in Education Sciences and is a former Institute for Education Sciences Predoctoral Fellow and AERA-NSF Dissertation Fellow. Outside of academia, Noelle has apprenticed in federal policy settings (e.g., Office of Community Services, an office of the Administration for Children and Families) and worked as a program evaluator for AdoptUSKids, a national program that connects children in foster care with families.
Peer-reviewed Publications
Li, C., Suntheimer, N.M., Bailey, D.H., &Wolf, S. (in press). The co-development of early social and cognitive skills in Ghana. Developmental Psychology.
Suntheimer, N.M., Joo, S., McCoy, D.C., Wolf, S., Abate, S., Mekonnen, A., Teshome, T.Z., & Demlew, T. (in press). Parent psychological distress and beliefs about nurturing care: Associations with parent investments and early child development in Ethiopia. Developmental Psychology.
Suntheimer, N. M., Weiss, E.M., Avornyo, E.A., & Wolf, S. (2024). Patterns of cognitive and social-emotional parent stimulation practices among Ghanaian kindergarteners. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 68, 203-213.
Suntheimer, N.M. & Wolf, S. (2023). Duration of poverty and Ghanaian children’s academic skills and executive function. Applied Developmental Science, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2023.2225774
Wolf, S., Aurino, E., Suntheimer, N. M., Avornyo, E.A., Tsinigo, E., Jordan, J., Samanhiya, S., Aber, J.L., & Behrman, J. (2022). Remote learning engagement and learning outcomes during school closures in Ghana. International Journal of Educational Research, 115, 102055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2022.102055
Ahmed, I., Steyer, L., Suntheimer, N. M., Wolf, S., & Obradović, J.O. (2022) Directly assessed and adult-reported executive functions: associations with academic skills in Ghana. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 81, 101437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2022.101437
Wolf, S., Aurino, E., Suntheimer, N. M., Avornyo, E.A., Tsinigo, E., Behrman, J. & Aber, J.L. (2022). Medium-term protective effects of quality early childhood education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. Child Development, 96(6), 1912-1920. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13824
Suntheimer, N. M., Wolf, S., Sulik, M.J., Avornyo, E.A., & Obradović, J.O. (2022). Executive function mediates the association between cumulative risk and learning in Ghanaian schoolchildren. Developmental Psychology, 58(8). https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001372
Suntheimer, N.M. & Wolf, S. (2020). Cumulative risk, teacher-child closeness, executive function and early academic skills in kindergarten children. Journal of School Psychology, 78, 23-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.11.005
Wolf, S. & Suntheimer, N.M. (2020). Predictors and patterns of discipline practices among Ghanaian parents of preschoolers. Child and Youth Services Review, 112, 104518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104518
Wolf, S. & Suntheimer, N.M. (2019). A dimensional cumulative risk approach to assessing early adversity and development in a national sample. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 62, 270-281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2019.03.004
Reports and Other Publications
Suntheimer, N.M. (2023). A Review and Recommendations for Module 3 of the CSBG Annual Report. Washington, DC: Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Aurino, E., Wolf, S., Behrman, J., Aber, J. L., Tsinigo, E., Suntheimer, N.M., & Jordan, J. (2021). The Experience of Educators During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Surveys from During and After School Closures. Innovations for Poverty Action Policy Brief. [link]
Wolf, S., Aurino, E., Suntheimer, N.M., Avornyo, E., Tsinigo, E., Jordan, J., Aber, J.L., Behrman, J.R. (2021). Learning in the Time of a Pandemic: Effects of COVID-19 on Students’ Learning and the Wider Education Sector in Ghana. CPRE Working Paper. [link]
Suntheimer, N.M (2020, August). What Is School Readiness and Why Is It Important?. Attention Magazine, 28-29. [link]