Atkinson Centre Annual Report 2010 - OISE - University of Toronto

Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development: 2010 Annual Report Page 0 of 36

10TH ANNUAL REPORT July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011


The Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development is supported by: the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto;

Dr. Eric Jackman Institute for Child Study George Brown College, School of Early Childhood;

the Atkinson Charitable Foundation; and the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation.

Contact Information:

Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

252 Bloor Street West, 9th Floor Toronto, ON M5S 1V6

(416) 978-0940

www.oise.utoronto.ca/atkinson

Jenny Jenkins

Atkinson Chair in Early Child Development [email protected]

Zeenat Janmohamed

Executive Director [email protected]

Allison Black

Communications Coordinator [email protected]


Table of Contents

Background.................................................................................................................................3

Atkinson Centre Early Years Task Force...................................................................................5

Atkinson Centre Events..............................................................................................................7

Atkinson Centre Policy Overview..............................................................................................9

Atkinson Centre Practice Overview .........................................................................................11

Atkinson Centre Research Overview .......................................................................................13

Atkinson Centre Faculty Member Profiles...............................................................................15

Recent Graduates......................................................................................................................35

Atkinson Centre Internships .....................................................................................................36


Background The Atkinson Centre promotes research on child development, and the development of early learning policy and practice that serve young children and their families. The optimal way to build effective practice and policy is to construct it on the basis of well-established science. On the one hand we carry out research projects, both basic and applied, that help us to understand development and its optimization. On the other hand through university-community collaborations and professional/ graduate training, we build societal supports for young children and families. Central to the work of the Atkinson Centre is the integration of diversity, equity and inclusion in its research agenda. The Atkinson Charitable Foundation, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and George Brown College has provided funding to the Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development at the University of Toronto since 2001. The initial endowment fund created by the Foundation, established a new Atkinson Charitable Foundation Chair in Early Child Development and Education. At the same time, OISE in partnership with the Atkinson Foundation and George Brown College, established the new Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development, a research centre developed in order to link scientific research in early childhood to policy development and practice. In the last decade, the Atkinson Centre has established a strong presence in Ontario as a research centre committed to a foundation in healthy child and family development. Our goal is to continue to build an internationally recognized centre that links science, practice and policy in early childhood. We do this through collaboration with faculty at the School of Early Childhood at George Brown College, and the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute for Child Study, the Atkinson Centre. Recent research in well being across the life span has shown that early environments matter to life course trajectories. Combined with genetics, children’s learning, their socio-emotional competence and their health have all shown to be influenced by experiences in early life. Families, neighborhoods, schools and childcare centres are the four primary contexts that have an impact on how children develop and the wealth of our nation depends on our ability to support these four contexts in which children develop. Thus our goal is to understand and optimize the contexts in which children live. The Centre achieves these goals by developing and evaluating programs for parents and professionals that encourage child development and working with the government to generate policies that support young children and their families.


There are two aspects of the centre that provide its unique position in Canada. First, the range of expertise of its faculty members includes programming in school and early childhood settings, knowledge of government process and policy development. For example, researchers have been examining the roles of early childhood practitioners such as teachers and early childhood educators as well as the important role of school administrators and systems that support them. Research collaboration also supports the work of clinicians working with young children and families. The second aspect of the centre that makes it unique is that our members collaborate across all these different areas and forge equal partnerships that balance policy, practice and research. Expertise within each area is difficult to achieve, with few instances of all aspects of expertise residing within one person. However, at the Atkinson Centre we build partnerships that bridge research, policy and practice to enable a collaborative approach to building expertise in all three domains.


Atkinson Centre Early Years Task Force The Atkinson Centre Task Force was convened to bring together key stakeholders to establish strategic goals that can be implemented through a partnership model. The establishment of full day kindergarten supports the development of an early learning system in Ontario for four and five year old children for a regular school day. However, the province of Ontario has failed to engage in a community development process that could address the needs of families and children outside the regular school system. As a result, the child care community is experiencing growing chaos and disarray, families continue to face stress in managing the care needs of their young children and finally, but most importantly children face daily interruptions due to a lack of a seamless program that integrates their school day with an extended day program. Although the government of Ontario is keen to ensure the successful implementation of full day kindergarten, there remains a very strong need to develop strategic partnerships between school boards, municipalities, not for profit organizations, colleges and universities to address the broader needs of children and families. Currently, school boards, municipalities and individual organizations are beginning to develop plans that would be strengthened by the collaborative sharing of expertise and knowledge. Objectives:

• The Early Years Task Force will provide advice to organizations, municipalities and school boards on how to implement a comprehensive system of early learning and care for children and families in Ontario by optimizing partnerships through strategic planning.

• The EYTF will develop a strategic plan for quality improvement, professional learning and the professional preparation of educators.

• The EYTF will share resources and learning from other provinces on implementing a comprehensive early learning system.

The following organizations are represented on the Task Force:

Public School Board Catholic School Board Municipalities Labour Organizations Community Partners Foundations Researchers Educators


The Atkinson Cetnre Early Years Task Force works to build capacity in Early Childhood with one post-doctoral fellow and two PhD students from OISE/UT, actively involved in early childhood research, sit on the EYTF in order to develop skills in the integration of research, policy and practice as well as communication. The EYTF will assess the progress of the project on an ongoing basis and will submit a report to the funders including project outcomes at the end of September 2011.


Atkinson Centre Events The Atkinson Centre has established strong university–community research alliances and contributes to the field of early childhood through key events that support knowledge mobilization that extend our “community” provincially, nationally and internationally. The Atkinson Centre regularly sponsors events with our partners to support public education and professional learning in early childhood education that meets the commitment to excellence in research and academic programs at OISE. April 2011 First Nations Children in Canada: Bridging Research, Policy and Practice Dr. Cindy Blackstock is the Executive Director of First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, an Atkinson Charitable Foundation Fellow and has recently joined the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta. Dr. Blackstock’s talk titled “First Nations Children in Canada: The Moral Courage to do the Right Thing” shared her advice and knowledge on how every person can make a difference in the lives of thousands of First Nations children in under 2 minutes. The Atkinson Charitable Foundation sponsored this event. March 2011 Leading the Way in Early Learning Olivia Nuamah, the executive director of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation presented the foundation’s vision for moving the early learning agenda forward. Olivia’s presentation shared lessons and expertise in community development and partnership building in the United Kingdom through the SURE START initiative. January 2011 Stress Exposure and Child Behavioral Health Dr. Thomas O’Connor, Professor and Director, Wynne Center for Family Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center gave a talk entitled Stress Exposure and Child Behavioral and Somatic Health: Models, Mechanisms, & Meaning. In this he presented data on the role of early care giving in the development of children’s immunological functioning. He talked about the ways that environmental stresses become embedded in the physiology of children.


November 2010 Temperament, Shyness, and Anxiety Disorders: Looking for Links in Childhood The Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development hosted a colloquium featuring Louis Schmidt, PhD, Director, Child Emotion Laboratory, and Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University. Dr. Schmidt focused on the origins, developmental course and outcomes of this temperamental style. He discussed how work on the phenomenon of temperamental shyness informs basic theory regarding brain‐behaviour relations and practice regarding the management of fearful children within the family and educational settings. August 2010 The Cost-Benefits of Ontario’s Early Learning Program Robert Fairholm, Director of the Centre for Spatial Economics brought his extensive experience in economic analysis, modeling and forecasting to quantify the benefits of new public spending on young children revealing some startling findings. By almost any measure full day learning is the most effective economic stimulant the government has undertaken. The Atkinson Charitable Foundation, the Lawson Foundation and the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation supported the event. June 2010 The 7th Annual Summer Institute on Early Child Development: From Policy to Practice The Atkinson Centre at OISE and the School of Early Childhood at George Brown College co-hosted this year’s event that included 120 participants including practitioners, researchers, educators and policy developers. Annie Kidder Executive Director of People for Education and Dr. Stuart Shanker, Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology and Director, The Milton and Ethel Harris Research initiative: York University delivered the keynote addresses. The institute addressed the core principles of integrating comprehensive child and family services within the full day early learning program and recognized the significant contributions of Dr. Carl Corter, the recipient of the annual ECE award. May 2010 Measuring the Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care Programs Measuring the Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care Programs brought experts from Oklahoma, Quebec and Ontario to share findings on measuring and monitoring quality in early childhood and care programs can help to inform research, policy development, and program practice. Speakers included Dr. Christa Japel, Dr. Michal Perlman, Dr. Deborah Phillips and Petr Varmuza.


Atkinson Centre Policy Overview The Atkinson Centre in partnership with the Jackman Institute for Child Study and George Brown College have influenced government policy direction through its dissemination of applied research in early childhood development and family support. In the last three years, Atkinson Centre members have continued to play an advisory role building on the recommendations outlined in the Premier’s report on early learning, With Our Best Future in Mind. This report functioned to educate the government and the general population on the central influences from 0 – 12 years old that support optimal child development. Second, the First Duty Project was set up as a demonstration site for the implementation of integrated services to families. The research and evaluation was carried out by members of the Atkinson Centre and Jackman ICS researchers and carried forward by our foundation partners to influence provincial policy in Ontario and elsewhere. The recent establishment of the Atkinson Centre Early Years Task Force brings together experts from school boards, municipalities, multi service agencies and tertiary institutions to develop a comprehensive approach toward the implementation of an early years framework, including extended day programs and child and family centres in Ontario. The comparison of half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten, with and without extended day and Best Start programs will provide important information about the degree of early childhood service integration on staff teams, on parents’ daily lives and on children’s development and learning. These research and evaluation initiatives have informed the development of full day kindergarten in Ontario. Described in the research section below, we also describe ways in which we plan to evaluate the full day kindergarten initiative. At the Summer Institute on Early Childhood Development, mentioned above, a wide range of researchers, practitioners, and policy leaders working in early childhood from provincial and municipal governments, as well as from school boards and community health settings are kept up to date with research findings and discuss the implications of findings for practice and policy. The annual symposium allows for a strong connection between research, policy and practice.


The Science of Early Childhood, is a publication accessed on the web, and is available to practitioners working with young children and families as well as those who train practitioners. The SECD stemmed from the Atkinson Centre Millennium Dialogue and provides an accessible resource that explains the way in which early experience becomes embedded in biology, affecting the long-term outcomes of children, including materials to be used in teaching, over 1500 individuals have access to the license and over 190 institutions utilize the resource for professional learning opportunities. The Atkinson Centre plays an advisory role to the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario, providing communication support, research advice and program development. Our commitment to integrating principles of diversity, equity and inclusion remains central to our work and provides a foundation to ensure that the research, policy and practice initiatives that the Atkinson Centre is engaged in meets the needs of all children and their families. The Atkinson Centre works with the Centre for Excellence in Early Child Development in Quebec. Together we work on communication and dissemination of the science of early childhood. Graduate students from OISE continue to integrate their research program with policy experience within organizations. To date, 5 students have been accepted at Atkinson Policy Interns and we anticipate ongoing student interest in building their capacity in this area.


Atkinson Centre Practice Overview The Atkinson Centre in partnership with the Jackman Institute of Child Study and George Brown College, participate in reviewing content, providing advice and evaluating of the Science of Early Child Development teaching modules. SECD is now being utilized in a number of undergraduate early childhood preparation programs, graduate studies in Ontario and internationally, and for ongoing professional learning of early childhood practitioners and educators. Recent presentations include the Society of Research and Child Development Conference and the Infant Mental Health Promotion conference in Toronto. The Atkinson Centre makes over a hundred presentations annually in Canada and abroad. Several courses for teacher candidates have been developed to improve teachers understanding of the early development of children. In 2010, a new 0-3 course was introduced for graduating students from the MACSE program at the Jackman Institute of Child Study. This course provides intensive teaching modules for educators interested in younger aged children and provides practitioners with membership to the College of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario. Second, we have introduced a course into the Bachelor of Education program at OISE that deals with the ‘Management of Emotional and Behavioral Problems in the Classroom’. This is currently one of the top two most popular related studies course in the Bed program. Students are taught how to deal with behaviors in the primary years: including distressed and challenging child behavior, inattention, bullying, low executive function, low language skills, shyness and peer difficulties. The course also focuses on the impact of these behaviors on learning. B.Ed. candidates receive instruction in building partnerships with children and parents in order to reduce problematic behavior. George Brown has established several education tracks including diploma programs, a collaborative degree program, in conjunction with Ryerson University, which enables students to obtain an early childhood qualification as well as a BA. A new degree in Early Learning Leadership will promote the need for new leaders in early learning and help establish a succession plan for early learning in Ontario. The Human Development and Applied Psychology Department at OISE, as well as the Jackman Institute of Child Study will offer research internships to George Brown students on projects operating within the Atkinson Centre. This will serve to build capacity in early childhood educators through the development of research skills that will lead them to advanced degrees.


Atkinson faculty has been influential in improving standardized observational measures of program quality that are used in childcare centres in the City of Toronto. This has involved creating training protocol as well as establishing ongoing training procedures that ensure that assessors are reliable. This has resulted in reliable and valid quality data being available on the web for parents to access. Quality data also feature in the City's allocation of funds to licensed programs with a purchase of service agreement. Atkinson faculty have developed a program called, FROM 3 TO 3T an evidence-based intervention program created to develop language, narrative and social understanding in minority language children from non-western cultures. Funded by Social Development Canada, research on the program began in 2005 in two schools. In 2011-2012 the program is expected to be in 45 schools in the Toronto District School Board. FROM 3 TO 3T delivers a seamless, cumulative curriculum from Kindergarten to Grade 3 using children's literature and oral stories selected based on the level of social reasoning and narrative complexity. The intervention provides professional development for teachers in the development of social reasoning, language and narrative and trains teachers in the use of the curriculum. Results have proven the efficacy of the program in raising children's language, narrative and social reasoning and specifically, raising EQAO scores.


Atkinson Centre Research Overview We have done two types of research at the Atkinson Centre. We investigate the naturally occurring processes in families, neighbourhoods, schools and childcare centres that predict good outcomes in children in order to implement these in program evaluation studies. Second, we develop and evaluate programs for children, parents and teachers. Our goal is to apply the most stringent scientific methods to the evaluation of the policy and program initiatives described above. This is the only way that we can ensure that information used for policy and programming can change the lives of children and parents. The Kids, Families and Places study is a longitudinal study of 501 families funded for nine years by the Canadian Institute of Health Research. Families with a newborn and older child were recruited from public health units when the youngest child was born. Families are representative of Toronto families on personal income and family size, and include 47% new immigrants to Canada. Children have been followed to school age. Study findings have focused on 1) the effect of neighbourhood and socioeconomic disadvantage on family life 2) parenting factors that are influential in early learning, self control and emotional and behavioral regulation and 3) the role of immigration and ethnicity in family life and children’s outcomes. Findings are being reported at national and international meetings and form the basis for new initiatives in homes and schools to reduce behavioral problems and increase cognitive functioning. Lessons from Toronto First Duty have made a significant impact on public policy in Ontario and elsewhere. They have influenced the framework for the recommendations outlined in the Premier’s report on early learning, With Our Best Future in Mind. In particular, the blended teaching team comprised of early childhood educators and teachers working together in collaboration, was embedded into the design of full day kindergarten. In Toronto, TFD informed the implementation of the Ontario Best Start initiative, a 10 year plan to re-organize early childhood programs into a more coherent system. At a provincial and national level, the Toronto First Duty model is highlighted in the influential early years policy document, the Early Years Study 2 as an example of integrated early childhood programming central to an integrated system. TFD findings have informed specific public policies in New Brunswick, PEI and BC moving early childhood from a fragmented program delivery to a more coherent early years system. In the Region of Peel, a number of research projects have been underway for several years. The Peel Family Literacy research study showed the benefits of parent partnerships during the early years in the area of children’s literacy learning. Through home-school partnerships in evening or lunchtime family literacy programs, benefits were found for home literacy practices and for children’s early literacy development. Results held across school-based and


home-based programs as well as in a summer literacy camp program in partnerships with TVO Kids and TVO Parents. A new follow-up SSHRC study is examining the extent to which benefits are sustained over time. A second Peel study builds on the TFD findings by examining the impact of the province’s Best Start plan at five English and two French language sites on system change, staff teams, parents’ daily hassles and children’s experiences and outcomes. The Peel Best Start research showed that system change toward a more integrated and coherent system of early learning and care makes a difference to parents’ daily lives and to children’s experiences. Results also showed that early learning staff teams of kindergarten teachers, ECEs and parenting workers benefit professionally when given support and time to plan together. Parents report fewer daily hassles and children report fewer transitions when care and education are integrated. A third Peel study is continuing the Best Start research by comparing new full-day early learning/kindergarten sites with Best Start and control group sites. The FDELK study examines impact on staff, on parents and on children through a longitudinal mixed-methods research design that provides outcome data and tells the story of families and schools as the province unrolls its plan for early child development. In collaboration with the Association for Early Childhood Educators of Ontario, the Atkinson Centre is leading a study investigating the factors that influence employment in early childhood for internationally educated early childhood teachers who have completed the Bridging Program through the Association of Early Childhood Educators, Ontario. In particular, the study will focus on whether foreign undergraduate training in early education and professional experience outside of Canada has an impact on the type of employment gained and what the barriers and supports are in finding employment and achieving professional satisfaction. Data will be collected through interviews with graduates from the program and results will guide a final report to the Association of Early Childhood Educators, Ontario. The overarching goal of the study is to help inform programs in the future and to raise the importance of foreign credentials that educators bring to the Canadian learning context.


Atkinson Centre Faculty Member Profiles Janet Astington Janet Astington’s research interest is in children’s theory of mind, that is, their awareness of the mental world of thoughts and feelings and their ability to take account of other people’s point of view. Theory of mind concerns central aspects of development, involving cognition, language, and social interaction. Facilitating its development is fundamental to children’s success in school. Janet’s current work is linking theory-of-mind research to teaching and learning in order to help teachers engage children in mindful learning. Other current research focuses on reappraisal of the important causal role that has been assigned to language in the development of theory of mind. Work with doctoral student, Valerie San Juan, is examining the role that mental verbs (such as “think” and “know”) play in the transition from implicit understanding, now evident in infancy, to explicit meta-representational understanding in the preschool years. Also, with doctoral student Kim Nguyen, research examines the reason for bilingual children’s better performance on theory-of-mind tasks, which appears to be due to their better-developed working memory skills. Current grant & publications • 2010-2012, NSERC Discovery Grant: Language and Meta-representation in the Development of False-

belief Understanding. Astington, J. W. & Hughes, C. (in press). Theory of mind: Self-reflection and social

understanding. In P. D. Zelazo (Ed.), Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.

San Juan, V. & Astington, J. W. (in press). Bridging the gap between implicit and explicit understanding: How language development promotes the processing and representation of false belief. British Journal of Developmental Psychology (Special Issue on Implicit-Explicit False-belief Understanding).

Dack, L. A. & Astington, J. W. (2011). Deontic and epistemic reasoning in children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 110(1), 94-114.

Astington, J. W. & Edward, M. J. (2010) The development of theory of mind in early childhood. In R. E. Tremblay, R. G. Barr, R. DeV. Peters, M. Boivin (Eds). Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development; 2010:1-6. Available at: http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/documents/Astington-EdwardANGxp.pdf

Filippova, E. & Astington, J. W. (2010). Children’s understanding of social-cognitive and social-communicative aspects of discourse irony. Child Development, 81(3), 915-930.


Jane Bertrand

Jane Bertrand is a Professor at the School of Early Childhood at George Brown College, Toronto. She is an expert advisor to the Early Learning Advisor of Ontario, the Atkinson Charitable Foundation and the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation and a member of the Directing Committee of the Centre for Excellence for Early Childhood Development. Jane is the author of the textbook, Essentials of Early Childhood Education, Canadian Edition and Managing and Leading Early Childhood Programs in Canada. Jane was the principal researcher/writer on the Early Years Study 1 and 2, a member of the Toronto First Duty Research and Development team from the Atkinson Centre and a contributing author of the Science of Early Child Development. Representative publications Gestwicki, C. & Bertrand, J. (2011). Essentials of early childhood education (4th Canadian

ed.). Toronto, ON: Nelson. Bertrand, J. (2009). So many words, so little action. Child Health, 11(12). Xi (Becky) Chen-Bumgardner External Grants/Contracts • 2011-2014 SSHRC Standard Research Grant, Altering the Academic Achievement

Trajectory of Recent Adolescent immigrants: An After School Community-Based Intervention Targeting Language and Reading Related Strategic Knowledge, Co-PI, with Esther Geva (PI), Fataneh Farnia, and Alexandra Gottardo, $159,717.

• 2010-2013 SSHRC Standard Research Grant, Literacy Development of English Language Learners, PI, $87,754.

• 2010 Language Learning Conference Grant, PI, $9620. Representative Publications Lam, K., Chen, X., Geva, E., Luo, Y. & Li, H. (accepted). The effects of morphological

awareness development on reading achievement in young English Language Learners (ELLs): A longitudinal study. Reading and Writing. Co-Principal Author, Student Supervision of Lam

Hao, M., Chen, X., Dronjic, V., Shu, H. & Anderson, R. C. (accepted). Chinese children’s development of morphological awareness. Applied Psycholinguistics.

Deacon, H. S., Chen, X., Luo, Y., & Ramirez, G. (accepted). Changing relationships between orthographic processing and reading: Contrasting Chinese-English and Spanish-English bilingual children. Journal of Research in Reading.

Chen, X. & Luo, Y. (in press). Introduction to the Special Issue of Writing Systems Research on Linguistic and Cognitive Factors in Reading Chinese. Writing Systems Research.


Li, Y., Li, W., Chen, X., Anderson, R. C., Zhang, J., Shu, H., & Jiang, W. (in press). The role of tone awareness and Pinyin knowledge in Chinese reading. Writing Systems Research.

Luo, Y., Chen, X., Deacon, H., & Li, H. (in press). Development of Chinese orthographic processing: A cross-cultural perspective. Writing Systems Research.

Ramirez, G., Chen, X., Geva, E., & Luo, Y. (in press) Morphological awareness and word reading in ELLs: Evidence from Spanish- and Chinese-speaking children, Applied Psycholinguistics.

Pasquarella, A., Chen, X., Lam, K., Luo, Y., & Ramirez, G. (2011). Cross-language transfer of morphological awareness in Chinese-English bilinguals. Journal of Research in Reading, 34, 23-42.

Wise, N. & Chen, X. (2010). At-Risk readers in French immersion: Early identification and early intervention. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13, 128-149.

Cleave, P., Girolametto, L. E., Chen, X., & Johnson, C. J. (2010). Narrative abilities in monolingual and dual language learning children with specific language impairment. Journal of Communication Disorders, 43, 511-522.

Chen, X., Fen, X., Nguyen, T-K., Hong, G., & Wang, Y. (2010). Effects of cross-language transfer on first language phonological awareness and literacy skills in Chinese children receiving English instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 712-728.

Pile, E. S., Girolametto, L. E., Johnson, C. J., Chen, X., & Cleave, P. (2010). Shared book reading intervention for children with language impairment: Randomized clinical trial. Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 34, 96-109.

Ramirez, G., Chen, X., Geva, E., & Kiefer, H. (2010). Morphological awareness in Spanish-English bilingual children: Within and cross-Language effects on word reading, Reading and Writing, 23, 337-358.

Reports Cummins, J., Chen, X., Al-Alawi, M., El-fiki, H., Pasquarella, A., Luo, Y., & Li, J. (2011).

Evaluation of the Greater Essex County District School Board English/Arabic bilingual language transition program at Begley Public School. Final report prepared for Greater Essex County District School Board.

Cummins, J., Chen, X., Li, J., Luo, Y., Pasquarella, A., & Pothier, M. (2010). Evaluation of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board English/Mandarin bilingual language transition program at Prince Philip Public School. Interim report prepared for Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

Cummins, J., Chen, X., Al-Alawi, M., El-fiki, H., Pasquarella, A., Luo, Y., Li, J., & Song, X. (2010). Evaluation of the Greater Essex County District School Board English/Arabic bilingual language transition program at Begley Public School. Interim report prepared for Greater Essex County District School Board.

Invited Presentations and Conference Proceedings Chen, X. (2011). Cross-language transfer of metalinguistic awareness in bilingual children.

Invited presentation at International Symposium on Language & Literacy in Immigrant Children, OISE/University of Toronto.


Chen, X. (2010). Language and literacy development in second language learners. Invited presentation at the Reading and Language Group, Learning Research & Development Center, University of Pittsburgh.

Chen, X. (2010). Reading Chinese and alphabetic languages: Similarities, differences, and cross-language transfer. Discussion of a keynote panel at the Research in Reading Chinese Conference, OISE/University of Toronto.

Pasquarella, A., & Chen, X. (2011). Cross-language transfer of morphological awareness: Fostering language and literacy development in multiple languages. Proceedings of Research in Reading Chinese Conference, Toronto, Canada.

Chen, X., Pasquarella, A., Deacon, H., & Au-Yeung, K. (2011). Exploring cognate awareness in first grade French immersion children. Symposium presented at the 18th Society for the Scientific Studies of Reading Annual Conference, St. Pete Beach, FL.

Chen, X., Pasquarella, A., Lam, K., Luo, Y., & Ramirez, G. (2011). Cross-language transfer of morphological awareness in Chinese-English bilinguals: The Effects on word reading, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Symposium presented at the International Association for the Study of Child Language, Montreal, QC.

Au-Yeung, K. & Chen X. (2011). English and French literacy development: Children from English-speaking and diverse language backgrounds in early French Immersion. Symposium presented at the International Association for the Study of Child Language, Montreal, QC.

Au-Yeung, K. & Chen, X. (2011). Development of early English literacy skills: English as a second language children in Grade 1 French immersion program. Poster presented at the 18th Society for the Scientific Studies of Reading Annual Conference, FL.

Pasquarella, A., Chen X. & Deacon, H. (2011). Exploring cognate awareness in first grade French immersion children. Symposium presented at the International Association for the Study of Child Language, Montreal, QC.

Pasquarella, A., Chen, X., Geva, E., & Gottardo, A. (2011). Universal and language-specific processes in word reading: Comparing cross-language transfer between Spanish-English and Chinese-English bilinguals. Symposium presented at the 18th Society for the Scientific Studies of Reading Annual Conference, St. Pete Beach, FL.

Pasquarella, A., Welcome, S., Chen, X., Joanisse, M., & Olson, D. (2011). When a writer can’t read: A case study of Pure Alexia. Poster presented at the Canadian Psychological Association 72nd Annual Convention, Toronto, ON.

Welcome, S., Pasquarella, A., Chen, X., Olson, D., & Joanisse, M. (2011). Preserved mid-fusifrom activation for familiar words in a patient with pure alexia: Blindsight for written words? Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society 18th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

Luo, Y. C. & Chen, X. (2011). Orthographic knowledge and Chinese-Canadian children’s reading development in school and heritage languages. Paper to be presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Luo, Y. C., Chen, X., Deacon, S. H. & Li, H. (2011). Development of Chinese orthographic processing: A Cross-cultural Perspective. Paper presented at the 18th Annual Meeting of Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, St. Pete Beach, FL.

Luo, Y. C., Chen, X., Ramirez, G., & Geva, E. (2011). Vocabulary knowledge and Chinese- and Spanish-English children’s reading development in their school and heritage languages. Paper presented at the 2011 biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Montreal, QC.


Chen, X., Ramirez, G. Luo, Y., & Geva. E. (2010). Morphological awareness and vocabulary in English Language Learners (ELLs): Evidence from Spanish- and Chinese-Speaking children. Paper presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Berlin, Germany.

Luo, Y. C., & Chen, X. (2010). Visual perception and short-term memory in learning to read Chinese characters. Paper presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Berlin, Germany.

Ramirez, G., Chen, X., & Luo, Y., (2010). How simple is the view of reading for ELLs? Paper presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Berlin, Germany.

Lam, K., Pasquarella, A., & Chen, X. (2010). Examining cross-linguistic transfer of word reading, vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness to reading comprehension in Chinese-English Language Learners. Poster presented at 17th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Studies of Reading: Annual Conference, Berlin, Germany.

Luo, Y. C., & Chen, X. (2010).Oral Language Proficiency and Chinese Early Literacy Development . Paper presented at the Research in Reading Chinese Conference, Toronto, Canada.

Lam, K., Chen, X., Geva, E., Luo, Y. C., & Li, H. (2010). A cross-cultural comparison of the role of phonological awareness and compound morphological awareness in Chinese reading. Paper presented at the Research in Reading Chinese Conference, Toronto, Canada.

Ramírez, G. & Chen, X. (2010). Profiles of Chinese readers in an English-speaking context. Paper presented at the Research in Reading Chinese Conference, Toronto, Canada.

Pasquarella, A., Au-yueng, K., Chen, X., Geva, E., & Gottardo, A. (2010). Cross-language transfer of word reading accuracy and word reading fluency in Spanish-English and Chinese-English bilinguals: Further evidence towards the complementation of the “central processing” and “script-dependent” hypotheses. Poster presented at the Research in Reading Chinese Conference, Toronto, ON.

Luo, Y. C., Chen, X., Li, H. & Zhang, Y. (2010). Orthographic knowledge in beginning Chinese readers’ concurrent and subsequent character reading. Paper presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association, Denver, CO.

Lam, K, Chen, X., Geva, E., Luo, Y., & Hong, L. (2010). The effects of morphological awareness on reading in Chinese-speaking English Language Learners: A longitudinal study. Poster presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO.

Lam, K., Chen, X., Geva, E., Luo, Y., & Hong, L. (2010). A cross-cultural examination on the role of compound awareness in Chinese vocabulary and reading comprehension. Paper presented at the American Association of Applied Linguistics Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Pasquarella, A., Luo, Y., & Chen, X. (2010). Examining cross-linguistic transfer between word reading, morphological awareness, and vocabulary knowledge in Chinese-English language learners. Symposium presented at the Development 2010: A Canadian Conference on Development Psychology, Ottawa, ON.

Stich, M. Girolametto, L., Johnson, C. J., Cleave, P. L., & Chen, X. (2010). Contextual effects on the conversations of mothers and their children with SLI. Poster presented at the Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison, WI.


Julie Comay Comay, J. (2011). Interpretive understanding and second-order theory of mind: How are they

related? Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Montreal, QC.

Comay, J. (2009). Language, narrative and social understanding in children. Paper presented at Institute of Child Study Research Conference. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, ON.

Thelander, M.J. & Comay, J. (2009). Using stories to develop social understanding in children. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO.

Peskin, J., Comay, J., Ellenbogen, B., & Prusky, C.S. (2009). Young children's developing representations of their readers' minds. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO.

Carl Corter External Grants, Contracts and Awards • 2009-2012, C. Corter & J. Pelletier, SSHRC Research, $ 86, 243.00. • 2009-2011 C. Corter, J. Pelletier, Z. Janmohamed, Atkinson Charitable Foundation Toronto

First Duty Research and Evaluation, $120,000. • 2008-2011 A. Eriks-Brophy & C. Corter, SSHRC Research $114,238 Chapters in Books Corter, C. (In press). Government roles in early childhood education and care in Canada. In

N. Howe & L. Prochner (Eds.), New Directions in Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada.Toronto: UofT Press.

Patel, S., & Corter, C. (in press). Early Intervention Research, Services, and Policies. In A. Slater, M. Lewis, K. Lee, & G. Anzures (Eds.) Introduction to Infant Development, Canadian Edition. Oxford University Press.

Arimura, T. N., Corter, C., Pelletier, J. Janmohamed, Z., Patel, S., Ioannone, P., & Mir, S. (2011). Schools as integrated hubs for young children and families: A Canadian experiment in community readiness: the Toronto First Duty project. In D. M. Laverick & M. Jalongo (Eds.), Transitions to Early Care and Education: International Perspectives on Making Schools Ready for Young Children. Springer International, 189-202.

Other Publications/Technical & Policy Reports Corter, C., & Peters, R. Integrated Early Childhood Services in Canada: Evidence from the

Better Beginnings, Better Futures (BBBF) and Toronto First Duty (TFD) Projects. In R. E. Tremblay, R. G. Barr, R. DeV. Peters, & M. Boivin (Eds.), Encyclopedia on Early


Childhood Development [Online]. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development; 2011:1-8. Available at: http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/documents/Corter-PetersANGxp1.pdf

Invited Professional/Policy articles Corter, C. & Pelletier, J. (2010). Schools as integrated service hubs for young children and

families: Policy implications of the Toronto First Duty Project. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 4, (2), 1-17.

Arimura, T. & Corter, C. (2010). School-based integrated early childhood programs: Impact on the well-being of children and parents. Interaction, 20(1), 23-32.

Conference Papers and Presentations Corter, C., Mir, S., & Arimura, T., (2010). A Toronto Best Start Case Study: Service Clusters

and Collaboration in 3 Diverse Communities. Presentation to Toronto Best Start Network, 18 November.

Corter, C. (2010). Engaging families with services: Vision, reality and the work ahead. Invited presentation the Our Place annual meeting. Kitchener, 9 June

Janmohamed, Z., Pelletier, J., & Corter, C. (2010). Implementing Early Learning in Ontario: Lessons from Toronto First Duty. Invited presentation to the AECEO 60th Annual Provincial Conference. Hamilton, 27 May.

Corter, C., Patel, S., Arimura, T., Janmohamed, Z., Mir, S., & Torres, F. (2010). Ready Schools through family-school-community partnerships in the early years. Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition Annual Forum. London, 6 May.

Patel, S. & Corter, C (2010). Dose-Response Relations between Participation in Integrated Early Childhood Services and Child Outcomes: Ecological Complexities. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Denver, 2 May.

Patel, S., Corter, C., & Pelletier, J. (2010). It’s all about outreach: Family-school-community partnerships in the early years. Paper presented at the Fifteenth International Roundtable on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, Denver, April 30.

Hong, G., Pelletier, J., Hong, Y., & Corter, C. (2010). Class management and homogeneous grouping in kindergarten literacy instruction. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC. March 4.

Corter, C., Pelletier, J., Patel, S. & Arimura, T. (2010). Toronto First Duty-Parents, Community, and Integration. Paper presented at the Symposium, With Our Best Future In Mind: Engaging Parents, Services, Communities, Toronto. 8 January.

Corter, C. & Pelletier, J. (2010). Toronto First Duty-Overview. Paper presented at the Symposium, With Our Best Future In Mind: Engaging Parents, Services, Communities, Toronto, 8 January.


Zeenat Janmohamed External Grants 2011 Z. Janmohamed, J. Jenkins, J. Pelletier, P. Rubin, Atkinson Charitable Foundation,

Atkinson Centre Early Years Task Force, $ 15,000 2009-2011 C. Corter, J. Pelletier, Z. Janmohamed, Atkinson Charitable Foundation Toronto

First Duty Research and Evaluation, $120,000 2010 Z. Janmohamed & C. Corter, Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario.

Exploring the Career Trajectories of Internationally Educated Early Childhood Professionals, $ 7500

Representative Publications Janmohamed, Z. (Forthcoming). When queer enters early childhood teacher training. What’s

so inappropriate about that? V. Pacinin-Ketchabaw & L. Prochner (Eds.) Blurring the Boundaries.

Janmohamed, Z. (2011). When queer enters early childhood teacher training. Global Realities & Possibilities in Queer Contexts. Canadian Association for Studies in Adult Education.


Janmohamed, Z. (Fall, 2010). Queering early childhood studies: Challenging the discourse of developmentally appropriate practice. The Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 57 (3), 304-318

Janmohamed, Z. & Pelletier, J. (2010). Implementing early learning programs in Ontario schools. The Register, 12 (2)

Janmohamed, Z. (2010). Early childhood educators in Ontario schools: A new partnership with teachers. ETFO Voice, May

Corter, C., Pelletier, J., Janmohamed, Z., Bertrand, J., Arimura, T., Patel, S., Mir, S., Wilton, A. & Brown, D. (2009). Toronto First Duty Phase Two: Final research report. Toronto: Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development.

Jennifer Jenkins External Grants/Awards Project Title: The Ottawa Language Study and pathways to adulthood: A 25 year follow-up Principal Applicants: Joseph H. Beitchman Co-Applicants: E. Adlaf, L. Atkinson, E. Brownlie, J. Cairney, M. Escobar, J.

Jenkins, C. Johnson Granting Agency: Canadian Institutes of Health Research


Amount: $545,898.00 Start date: July 1, 2007 End date: June 30, 2011 Project Title: Transactional processes in the development of emotional-behavioral regulation: Individuals in Context (Popular name: Kids, Families and Places) Director Jenkins, J. Principal Applicants: Jenkins, J. and Boyle, M. Co-Applicants: Janet Astington, Cathy Barr, John Challis, Alison Fleming,

Guanglei Hong, Dan Keating, Gary Kraemer, Chris Moore, Greg Moran, Tom O’Connor, Debra Pepler, Dave Pederson, Michal Perlman, Yvonne Racine, Jon Rasbash and Hildy Ross.

Granting Agency: CIHR Amount: $2,003,731.00 Start date: August, 2004 End date: August, 2009 extended to March 2013 Project Title: Early intervention for substance abusing women and their children Principal Applicants: Debra Pepler Co-Applicants: Jenkins, Craig, Lawrence, Motz Granting Agency: CIHR Amount: $817,940 Start date: May 2005 End date: May 2010 extended to May 2011 Publications Yagoubzadeh, Z, Jenkins, J.M. & Pepler, D. (2010) Transactional models in the relationship

between child behavior and maternal negativity: a 6-year longitudinal study. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 34, 218-228.

Frampton, K, Jenkins, J. & Dunn, J. (2010) Within-Family Differences in Internalizing Behaviors: The Role of Children’s Perspectives of the Mother-Child Relationship. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology., 38, 557-568

Rasbash, Leckie, Pillinger, Jenkins (2010) Children’s educational progress: partitioning family, school and area effects. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Statistics in Society: 173, Part 3, pp. 657–682

Rasbash, J., Jenkins, J., O’Connor, T.G., Reiss, D. A, Tackett, J. (2011) Social Relations Model of Family Negativity and Positivity Using a Genetically-informative Sample. Conditional acceptance: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

6th Edition of the American Psychological Publication Manual. The analysis from one of my papers was chosen for inclusion in the APA manual to illustrate the presentation of multilevel modeling results.

Leckie, Pillinger & Jenkins (2010) Children’s education: Just how important are schools, families and neighbourhoods? Significance, 7: 67–70.


Book Chapters Jenkins, J.M. & Bisceglia, R. (2011). Understanding within-family variability in children’s

responses to environmental stress In Keating, D. (Ed.) Nature and Nurture in Early Child Development. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.

Bisceglia, Cheung, Swinton, Jenkins (2010) Family composition in western countries. In Garralda, E and Jean-Philippe Raynaud, JP (Eds) Increasing awareness of child and adolescent mental health. International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions, pp27-48.

Invited Talks Jenkins (2010) Kids, Families and Places Study. Progress in understanding trajectories

Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010. O’Connor, T.G., Jenkins, J.M., Gass, K., Meunier, J.C., Moran, G., Cheung, C. (2010) The

role of maternal reflective functioning in the differential parenting of children. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

J.C. Meunier, J.M. Jenkins, & M. Boyle (2010) Direct and indirect effects of shared family context on children’s behavior: The role of maternal differential parenting. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Georgiades, Jenkins, Boyle, & Woo (2010) Emotional-Behavioral Regulation and Verbal Abilities in Young Children Living in Immigrant Families: The Role of Shared and Non-Shared Family Influences. . Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Jenkins, Astington, Moore, Cheung, Wade, Gass (2010) The development of theory of mind understanding: Treating children as mental beings. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Bisceglia, R., Barr, C. L., Wigg, K. G., O'Connor, T. G. and Jenkins, J. . Maternal Sensitivity, Early Adversity and the Vasopressin 1a Receptor Gene (AVPR1A) Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Frampton, Astington, Perlman, Moore & Jenkins (2010) The combined effects of maternal sensitivity and joint attention on the development of cooperation. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Jenkins 2010 Levels of description: Systems nested within systems. Parenting Conference, University of Toronto, Oct. 2010

Jenkins (2010) Remembering Jon Rasbash. Memorial Service for Jon Rasbash, University of Bristol. Sept. 2010

Conference Papers Jennifer M. Jenkins (2010) Organized a symposium at the Development 2010 Conference on

Individual and contextual influences on the affiliative behavior of parents and children.


Krista Gass, Jennifer Jenkins (2010), The influence of socioeconomic status on parents' affiliative behaviours towards different children in the family Development 2010, Ottawa May 2010

Rossana Bisceglia, Jennifer Jenkins (2010), Understanding maternal sensitivity: Early adversity and gene-environment interplay Development 2010, Ottawa May 2010

Kristen Frampton, Chris L. Moore, Greg Moran, & Jennifer M. Jenkins (2010), Joint attention as a moderator of the relationship between maternal sensitivity and prosocial behavior Development 2010, Ottawa May 2010

Connie Cheung, Kristen Frampton, & Jennifer M. Jenkins (2010) The role of shared and child-specific influences on the affiliative behaviour of siblings Development 2010, Ottawa May 2010

Bisceglia, R., Barr, C. L., Wigg, K. G., O'Connor, T. G. and Jenkins, J. Maternal Sensitivity, Early Adversity and the Vasopressin 1a Receptor Gene (AVPR1A) Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Browne, D. T. & Jenkins, J. M. Socioeconomic Status and Change in child health: Examining role of differential parenting. Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Biennial Conference. Montreal, Ontario, March 31st - April 2nd 2011.

Browne, D. T., Meunier, J. C. & Jenkins, J. M. Differential parenting and the role of parental personality. Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Biennial Conference. Montreal, Ontario, March 31st - April 2nd 2011.

Browne, D.T., Meunier, J.C., & Jenkins, J.M. « Differential parenting and the role of parental personality traits », Poster presented at the Workshop: Social and Biological Determinants of Parenting, Center for Research in Parenting, University of Toronto, October 22–23, 2010.

Frampton, K.L., Astington, J., Perlman, M., Moore, C., & Jenkins, J. (2010). The combined effects of maternal sensitivity and children’s joint attention skills on cooperation development. Paper presented at the CIHR Healthy Developmental Trajectories Workshop in Toronto, ON, Canada.

Frampton, K.L., Jenkins, J., Moore, C., & Kumar, A. (2011). Interactive effects of maternal sensitivity and children's joint attention skills on the development of cooperation. Presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Conference in Montreal, QC, Canada.

Georgiades, Jenkins, Boyle, & Woo (2010) Emotional-Behavioral Regulation and Verbal Abilities in Young Children Living in Immigrant Families: The Role of Shared and Non-Shared Family Influences. . Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Jenkins (2010) The role of within and between family processes in child psychopathology. Colloquium at OISE, University of Toronto, Feb 2010.

Jenkins, Astington, Moore, Cheung, Wade, Gass (2010) The development of theory of mind understanding: Treating children as mental beings. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Jenkins (2010). Developmental health in children: the role of within and between family processes. Canadian Institute of Health Research and Finland Child Health joint conference, Helsinki, Finland. April 2010

Jenkins (2010). Developmental health in children: the role of within and between family processes. Colloquia at Offord Centre for Children at Risk, McMaster University. May 2010.


Jenkins (2010) Kids, Families and Places Study. Progress in understanding trajectories Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Meunier, J.C., Jenkins, J.M. & Boyle, M. (2010) Direct and indirect effects of shared family context on children’s behavior: The role of maternal differential parenting. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Kumar, A. & Jenkins, J. (March, 2011). Immigrant Status and Maternal Depression. Poster presented at 11th Annual Dean’s Graduate Students Research Conference, University of Toronto, Toronto, CA

Meunier, J.C., Jenkins, J.M., Boyle, M., O’Connor, T.G., Kretschmer, T., Pike, A., Whiteman, S.D., Dotterer, A.M., McHale, S.M., & Kramer, L. « Differential parenting and risky family context », Symposium presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Montreal, March 31, through April 2, 2011.

Meunier, J.C., & Jenkins, J.M, Boyle, M., O’Connor, T.G. « Indirect effects of contextual risk factors on children's behavior: The role of Maternal Differential Parenting », Oral communication presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Montreal, March 31, through April 2, 2011.

Meunier, J.C., Jenkins, & J.M., Boyle, M. « Direct and indirect effects of contextual risk factors on children’s behaviour: The role of Maternal Differential Parenting », Oral communication presented at the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) General Meeting, Toronto, November 10-12, 2010.

O’Connor, T.G., Jenkins, J.M., Gass,K., Meunier, J.C., Moran, G., Cheung, C. (2010) The role of maternal reflective functioning in the differential parenting of children. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Congress, Toronto, November 2010.

Prime, H., Perlman, M., Tackett, J., & Jenkins, J. (March, 2011). The Use of Thin-slicing as a Method of Coding Observational Data: A Comparison With Micro-coding. Poster presented at Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Montreal, QC.

Wade, M., Browne, D., Prime, H., & Jenkins, J. (March, 2011). Ecological Determinants of School Readiness: A Longitudinal Study. Poster presented at 11th Annual Dean’s Graduate Students Research Conference, University of Toronto, Toronto, CA

Rhonda Martinussen External Research Grants/Awards/Contracts Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Title: “Promoting listening and reading comprehension in students

with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)” Approved: April, 2009 (3 year award) Amount of Award: $116, 289 Role: Principal Investigator Co-Investigators: Dr. John Kirby, Dr. Judith Wiener Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (multidisciplinary collaborative grant) Title: “School Reintegration for Children and Youth with Acquired


Brain Injury". Approved: August 2008 Amount of Award: $360,000 (over 3 years) Role: Co-investigator Principal Investigator: Dr. Dawn Good, Brock University Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Ontario Title: Effects of a computerized working memory training program on

attention, working memory, and academics in adolescents with severe ADHD/LD

Approved: June, 2008 Amount of Award: $149,553 (over two years) Role: Co-investigator Principal Investigator: R. Tannock and B. Davies (Director of Provincial Demonstration

Schools) Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for an Emerging Team Grant in Knowledge Translation in Mental Health and Addiction Title: Emerging Team Grant in Knowledge Translation in Mental

Health and Education Approved: June, 2008 Amount of Award: $1, 415, 565 (5 year grant) Role: Co-investigator Principal Investigator: Dr. Melanie Barwick Articles in Refereed Journals Martinussen, R., & Major, A. (2011). Working memory weaknesses in students with ADHD:

Implications for instruction. Theory Into Practice, 50, 68-75. * Invited paper. Kirby, J.R., Georgiou, G.K. Martinussen, R., & Parrila, R. (2010). Review of research:

Naming speed and reading: From prediction to instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 45, 341-362. *Invited paper.

Articles in Press Martinussen, R., Chaban, P., & Tannock, R. (in press). Teachers' reported use of instructional

and behavior management practices for students with behavior problems: Relationship to role and level of training in ADHD. Child and Youth Care Forum. Accepted October 13, 2010 and published online in November 2010.

Martinussen, R., & Cunningham, T. (in press). Inclusive education: A brief commentary on curriculum access for students with reading difficulties. Inquiry into Practice. (This was an invited commentary for the Inclusive Education Project). Expected date of publication: May, 2011.


Submitted Aitken, M., & Martinussen, R. (submitted to the Journal of Research in Writing). Individual

differences and performance on a curriculum-based measure of written expression. Submitted March 1, 2011

Reports Tannock, R., Chaban, P, Martinussen, R., & Jain, U. (2010). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity

Disorder at the Postsecondary Level: A Literature Review. Report prepared for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

Presentations at Conferences Martinussen, R., & J. Wiener (July, 2010). Examining the contribution of spelling, reading

comprehension, and working memory to written expression skills in adolescents with and without ADHD. Poster presented at the annual Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR) conference in Berlin, Germany.

Barwick, M., Chaban, Johnson, Bennett, and the CIHR Emerging Team in Knowledge Translation for Child and Youth Mental Health. Bringing the Evidence to the Classroom: Teacher and Principal Perspectives on Practice Change. (April 13-14, 2010). Quality of Behavioral Healthcare, Clearwater, FL, USA.

Martinussen, R., Aitken, M., Zapparoli, E., Chaban, P., & Tannock, R. (January, 2010). Handwriting fluency and written expression skills in children at risk for ADHD. Poster presented at the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities annual conference, Miami, Florida.

Ferrari, J., Martinussen, R., Chaban, P., & Tannock, R (January, 2010). The relationship between ADHD symptoms and reading fluency in elementary school children. Poster presented at the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities annual conference, Miami, Florida.

Major, A., Martinussen, R., Markel, C., & Galati, N. (January, 2010). Understanding the Self-Efficacy for Learning Beliefs of Adolescents with and without ADHD. Poster presented at the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities annual conference, Miami, Florida.

Workshops/Lectures Martinussen, R., & Chaban, P. (April 23, 2010, OISE). Presented a workshop entitled

“Adolescents with ADHD and LD in High School” to parents of youth with LD. Martinussen, R. (November 19th, 2010). Invited workshop for secondary teachers at Eastdale

Collegiate Institute entitled “Understanding adolescents with ADHD”. Martinussen, R. (November 26th, 2010). Learning Disabilities, ADHD, and Working Memory.

Invited talk for parents and educators sponsored by the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada. Presented at The Hospital for Sick Children.


Charles Pascal Charles has given over 60 key notes, workshops in Canada, the US and Australia during this past academic year and co-authored a key report updating Ontario's progress in implementing his seminal 2009 report, With Our Best Future in Mind. He has also recently received two honorary doctorates for his work on early learning University of Toronto Part Time Professor: Current Human Development & Applied Psychology Early Learning Advisor to Premier of Ontario: 2007-Present The Atkinson Charitable Foundation: 1996 – 2010 Founding Executive Director Chagnon Foundation: Senior Advisor Janette Pelletier External Grants/Awards/Contracts 2011-2014. SSHRC Standard Research Grant. Lasting effects of family literacy programs in

early childhood. Pelletier, J. (PI) ($103,285). 2010-2013. Region of Peel. Full-day early learning/kindergarten in Peel: A longitudinal

comparison of full-day, half-day and Best Start sites. Pelletier, J. (PI) ($184,004) 2010-2014. SSHRC Standard Grant. Effects of emergent literacy programs. Girolametto, L.,

Weitzman, E., Pelletier, J. (Co-Applicant), & Greenberg, J., ($106,906) 2009-2011. TVOntario. Design and implementation of a TVO Family Literacy intervention

for school readiness. J. Pelletier (PI), ($26,160 + $15,000 + $7,500 extension = $48,660)

2009-2013. SSHRC Standard Grant. Redesigning early childhood services through integrated service hubs in schools: Outcomes and scaling up of the Toronto First Duty model. Corter, C (PI), Pelletier, J. (Co-PI) ($86,243)

2009-2011. Atkinson Charitable Foundation. Toronto First Duty, Phase 3. Corter, C. (PI), Pelletier, J. (Co-PI) ($120,000)

2009-2010. OISE School/University Partnerships: Inquiry Into Practice Grant. “We all belong”: The effects of photograph books to enhance literacy development and social inclusion in early years classrooms. Pelletier, J. (PI), Morley, E. & Messina, R, ($35,100)

April 1, 2009-March 31, 2011. SSHRC – Institutional Grant. If you can’t bring the parents to the program, bring the program to the parents”: A mobile early learning program for young children and their parents. Pelletier, J. (PI) ($823.76)

September 2008 – December 2010. Region of Peel. Best Start Peel Research and Evaluation. Pelletier, J. (PI). ($205,000; Year 1 = $105,000, Year 2 = $100,000)


Publications Pelletier, J. (2011 in press). Language and literacy development in early childhood

classrooms. Ontario Literacy Numeracy Secretariat: What Works? Toronto, ON: LNS Hong, G., Pelletier, J., Hong, Y., & Corter, C. (2011 tentatively accepted). Does instruction

affect kindergartners’ externalizing problem behaviors as well as their literacy learning? Taking class manageability into account. Child Development.

Hong, G., Corter, C., Hong, Y., & Pelletier, J. (2011 tentatively accepted). Differential effects of homogeneous grouping and literacy instruction time in kindergarten classrooms: Who will benefit? Who will suffer? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.

Pardhan, A., & Pelletier, J. (2011 tentatively accepted). Pakistani pre-primary teachers’ perceptions of gender in the early years and of their teaching practice in relation to gender. Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development.

Harper, S., Platt, A., & Pelletier, J. (2010). The effect of a family literacy intervention on the early reading development of English Language Learners. Early Education and Development.

Doyle, A., Pelletier, J., & Zhang, J. (2010). Effects of a brief family literacy program on children’s literacy development. Journal of Literacy Research. Under review

Markel, C., Major, A., & Pelletier, J. (2010). Relations among children’s theory of mind, family factors, language development and story comprehension in L1 and L2 preschoolers. Revise and resubmit.

Corter, C. & Pelletier, J. (2010). Schools as integrated service hubs for young children and families: Policy implications of the Toronto First Duty Project. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 4, (2), 1-17.

Harper, S. & Pelletier, J. (2010). Parent involvement in early childhood: a comparison of English language learners and English first language families. International Journal of Early Years Education, 18(2), 123-141.

Janmohamed, Z., & Pelletier, J. (2010). Implementing early learning programs in Ontario schools: Lessons from Toronto First Duty and Peel Best Start. Ontario Principals Council Register, June, 17-20. Toronto, Ontario.

Zhang, J., Pelletier, J., & Doyle, A. (2010). Promising effects of an intervention: Young children’s literacy gains and changes in their home literacy activities from a bilingual family literacy program in Canada. Frontiers of Education in China, 5(3), 1-23.

Arimura,T. N., Corter, C., Pelletier, J. Janmohamed, Z., Patel, S., Ioannone, P., & Mir, S. (2010 in press). Schools as integrated hubs for young children and families: A Canadian experiment in community readiness: The Toronto First Duty project. In D. M.Laverick & M. Jalongo (Eds.), Transitions to Early Care and Education: International Perspectives on Making Schools Ready for Young Children. Springer International.

Publications: Books & Book Chapters Pelletier, J. (2011 in press). New directions in integrated early childhood services in school-as

hub models: Lessons from Toronto First Duty and Peel Best Start. To appear in N. Howe and L. Prochner (Eds.), New Directions in Early Childhood Care and Education in Canada. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.



Pelletier, J., Doyle, A., & Hipfner-Boucher, K. (2010). Family Literacy in Action: A Guide for Literacy Program Facilitators. Toronto, ON: Scholastic Education. (book)

Pelletier, J., Hipfner-Boucher, K., & Doyle, A. (2011 in press). The use of metacognitive language in story retell: The intersect between theory of mind and story comprehension. In A. Antonietti, E. Confalonieri, & A. Marchetti (Eds.), Cognitive and social development in educational settings: Recent issues in theory, research and application. Studies in honour of Olga Liverta-Sempio. Madrid, SP: Cambridge University Press. (still in press after 1 year)

Reports & Policy Papers Pelletier, J. (2011). Peel Best Start Research and Evaluation Report. Submitted to the Region

of Peel, Brampton, ON, January 7. 81 pages. Pelletier, J. (2011). School-based family literacy intervention programs. Research for

Teachers. Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario. Available online: http://www.etfo.ca/Resources/ResearchForTeachers/Pages/default.aspx

Corter, C., Pelletier, J. & Harris, P. Stakeholder views on parent participation in elementary schools: Gaps and bridges to the future.

Pelletier, J. & Brent, J. Benefits and barriers in early education parent involvement programs. Pelletier, J. Est-ce qu’il sait ou est-ce qu’il devine? Does he know or is he guessing? A

comparison of French immersion children’s metacognitive language understanding in French and English. Report submitted to parent council, Folkstone Public School.

Pelletier, J. & Corter, C. Parent participation in Ontario’s exemplary kindergartens. Manuscript in preparation.

Pelletier, J. Is this a word? Three- to five-year-olds’ implicit and explicit understanding of print.

Invited Talks/Keynote Addresses/Media Appearances Pelletier, J. (January 18, 2011). Peel Best Start Research and Evaluation: What did we learn?

Keynote address. HJA Brown Education Centre, Peel District School Board, Mississauga, Ontario.

Pelletier, J., Morley, E., & Riehl, D. (Oct. 4, 2010). Webcast: What is the role of play in human learning? Pan-Canadian Webcast. The Canadian Network for Leadership in Education and Early Learning and Care, Toronto, ON.

Pelletier, J. (Sept. 27, 2010). The Importance of Family Literacy in the Early Years. Keynote address to the Infant Mental Health Promotion conference entitled, Connecting Language, Literacy and Mental Health. Toronto, ON: The Hospital for Sick Children. Pan-Canadian webcast.


Janmohamed, Z., Pelletier, J., & Corter, C. (2010). Implementing Early Learning in Ontario: Lessons from Toronto First Duty. Invited keynote presentation to the AECEO 60th Annual Provincial Conference. Hamilton, 27 May.

Pelletier, J. (April 10, 2010). Keynote address to the Love of Literacy Conference, Burlington, ON.

Corter, C., Pelletier, J., Patel, S. & Arimura, T. (2010). Toronto First Duty-Parents, community, and integration. Invited paper presented at the symposium, With Our Best Future In Mind :Engaging Parents, Services, Communities, Toronto, 8 January.

Corter, C. & Pelletier, J. (2010). Toronto First Duty-Overview. Invited paper presented at the Symposium, With Our Best Future In Mind: Engaging Parents, Services, Communities, Toronto, 8 January.

Refereed conference papers Hong, G., Pelletier, J., Hong, Y., & Corter, C. (2010). Class management and homogeneous

grouping in kindergarten literacy instruction. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington,DC. March 4, 2010.

Patel, S., Corter, C., & Pelletier, J. (2010). It's all about outreach: Family-school-community partnerships in the early years. Paper presented at the 15th International Roundtable on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, Denver, Colorado, April.

Platt, A., & Pelletier, J. (2010). The appropriateness of the PPVT-III as a tool to measure receptive vocabulary of preschool children in a multilingual Canadian population. Paper presented at the Development 2010: A Canadian Conference on Developmental Psychology, Ottawa, Ontario, May.

Corter, C., Pelletier, J., Patel, S. & Arimura, T. (2010). Toronto First Duty-Parents, Community, and Integration. Paper presented at the Symposium, With Our Best Future In Mind:Engaging Parents, Services, Communities, Toronto. 8 January.

Corter, C. & Pelletier, J. (2010). Toronto First Duty-Overview. Paper presented at the Symposium, With Our Best Future In Mind: Engaging Parents, Services, Communities, Toronto, 8 January.

Michal Perlman External Grants/Awards Understanding the impact of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) program quality on children’s developmental health. $56,000.00 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Awarded in March 2011. Developing the Conflict Script Interview. $39,000 grant from Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada. Awarded in July 2010. Representative Publications


Perlman, M. & Fletcher, B. (accepted). Hellos and how are yous: predictors and correlates of communication between staff and families during morning drop-off in child care centers. Early Education and Development.

Perlman, M., Kankesan, T., Zhang, J. (2010). What do child care center staff do to promote children’s acceptance of diversity? Early Childhood Education and Care, 180(6), 753-166.

Garfinkel, D. & Perlman, M. (under review). Understanding young children’s conflict scripts.

Zellman, Gail L., Jeffrey Martini, Michal Perlman, Identifying Arabic-Language Materials for Children That Promote Tolerance and Critical Thinking, Santa Monica, CA: RAND TR-856-OSD, 2011. Peer reviewed RAND Report.

Perlman, M. (2010). Monitoring quality in early childhood education programs: A bunch of W’s and one H. The Atkinson Charitable Foundation, the Lawson Foundation and the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation supported the development of this short policy document.

Perlman, M., & Falenchuk, O. (2010). Does the city of Toronto’s measure of child care centre quality work as intended? Report written for the city of Toronto that changes their procedures for monitoring program quality in most licensed child care in the city.

Perlman, M. (2010). Symposium in honour of Hildy Ross: Quantifying qualitative processes. May, 2010, Ottawa. I presented a paper on quantifying the quality of interactions between parents and caregivers in early childhood education programs. I was also the session discussant.

Zellman, G., Karoly, L., & Perlman, M. (2010). Capturing the Heterogeneity in Quality Within Early Care and Education Programs Serving Preschool-Age Children. Invited talk for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. June, 2010, Washington DC.

Perlman, M.(2010). Measuring and monitoring quality in early childhood education and care programs. Presented as part of a conference that I organized, sponsored by the Atkinson Charitable Foundation.

Community Service • 2011 - Advised senior members of the PEI Ministry of Education about how to monitor

program quality in Early Childhood Education settings for quality improvement and accountability purposes.

• 2011 - Member of Best Start Child and Family Centres Outcomes and Measurement group advising the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) on how to assess the effectiveness of proposed changes its programs for your children and families.

Mary Thelander Mary J. Thelander, Ph.D. is an assistant professor (adjunct) in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto. Her research and program development concentrated on the relationship among social development, language, narrative and literacy in minority-language children between three and nine years of age. Specifically, to determine if direct instruction in narrative language and social reasoning through concentrated exposure


to children’s stories coded for social reasoning complexity improves literacy achievement. Further, she is investigating if social reasoning and second-language learning independently predict literacy. Link to website for program FROM 3 TO 3© developing literacy through story> Professor Thelander's areas of interest include development of social reasoning; narrative development; theory and teaching practice change; primary grade curriculum development; communication and behavioral and emotional disorder; program evaluation; community research. Richard Volpe Representative Publications Volpe, R. (accepted). Human Security: Reflections on the life and work of W.E. Blatz.

Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press. Volpe, R., & Lewko, J.H. (in review, Elsevier). Preventing Neurotrauma: A Casebook of

Evidence Based Practices. Toronto, Canada: Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation; Life Span Adaptation Projects, University of Toronto; Centre for Research in Human Development, Laurentian University, Sudbury. ON

Volpe, R. (in process). Sourcebook for Neurotrauma Prevention: Focus on Falls and Motor Vehicle Injuries. Toronto, Canada: Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation.


Recent Graduates Rossana Bisceglia completed her Ph D in January 2011. Her thesis work involved an examination of the genetic and environmental influences on the development of maternal sensitivity. She identified a relationship between maternal sensitivity and a polymorphism on the AVPR1A gene (a gene associated with affiliative behavior in rodents). Furthermore, she demonstrated a statistical interaction between the AVPR1A gene and maternal childhood adversity in the prediction of later maternal sensitivity. Mothers who had both the hypothesized genetic polymorphism and had experienced abuse in childhood were the ones who showed the lowest levels of sensitivity. The goal of her second study was to examine contextual influences in the development of maternal sensitivity. Neighbourhood adversity, individual social disadvantage and adversity during childhood were all found to predict lower levels of maternal sensitivity. Rossana has a postdoctoral position split between University of Toronto and McMaster University. Kim Nguyen will defend her thesis in August 2011 on "Cognitive Abilities Underlying the Bilingual Advantage in Set Shifting". She conducted the study in Montreal with three language groups (24 English monolingual, 24 French monolingual and 24 English-French bilingual preschoolers. Controlling for language ability, she showed that bilinguals' theory of mind advantage (i.e., superior performance on false-belief tests) is due to their better working memory skills. Amy Platt. August 25, 2010. Examining the Appropriateness of the PPVT-III as a Measure Of Vocabulary Development in Linguistically Diverse Kindergarten Children Sarah Harper. September 2, 2010. Narrowing the Gap in Early Literacy for French Immersion Students: The Effects of a Family Literacy Intervention on Grade 1 Children's English and French Literacy Development Julaine Brent. September 24, 2010. The Effects of Parent-Child and Teacher-Child Relationships on Diverse Children's Transition to School Caron Bell. April 18, 2011. Parents' Day-To-Day Involvement and Challenges with the Early Learning and Care System: Implications for Policy And Practice Kathy Hipfner-Boucher. May 5, 2011. A Comparative Study of ELL and EL1 Narrative Competence During the Kindergarten Years


Atkinson Centre Internships Romona Gananathan Atkinson Centre Intern at the Martin Aboriginal Initiative The Chippewa’s of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation along with the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation and the Martin Aboriginal Initiative are developing an Early Learning Program that will model an integrated and seamless full day learning and care program for children 0-6 years and their families. To support the work of the project, Romona is conducting an environmental scan that includes a comprehensive review of legislation, policy, funding and research documentation related to Aboriginal early education in Ontario. Education and early learning programs within First Nations communities in Canada operate under a complex system of federal and provincial oversight and Bands are charged with the delivery of education and early learning initiatives in their communities. Romona’s work will help the to chart the legal and policy implications of developing an integrated early learning service delivery model on the reserve by documenting the federal and provincial policy and funding frameworks and agreements as they relate to education and early learning at Kettle and Stony Point First Nations, and identifying potential opportunities and challenges these frameworks may pose to implementing a model program in the community. Shelly Mehta Atkinson Centre Intern at the Association for Early Childhood Educators Ontario In collaboration with the Association for Early Childhood Educators of Ontario, Shelly is coordinating a study investigating the factors that influence employment in early childhood for foreign trained educators who have completed the Bridging Program through the Association of Early Childhood Educators, Ontario. In particular, the study will focus on whether foreign undergraduate training in early education and professional experience outside of Canada has an impact on the type of employment gained and what the barriers and supports are in finding employment and achieving professional satisfaction. Data will be collected through interviews with graduates from the program and results will guide a final report to the Association of Early Childhood Educators, Ontario. The overarching goal of the study is to help inform programs in the future and to raise the importance of foreign credentials that educators bring to the Canadian learning context.

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Atkinson Centre Annual Report 2010 - OISE - University of Toronto

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