The MSU Extension Fellowship Program is designed to link campus faculty members with county field staff members to develop research proposals that will enhance MSU Extension’s effectiveness in the state. The most notable success story from this program is John Carlson’s 2007 fellowship in which he worked with Holly Tiret in Saginaw County. Their work was essential is securing an $800,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education that will help train 40 MSU graduate students in school psychology. This will help ensure that personnel have the necessary skills and knowledge—derived from practices that have been determined through scientifically based research and experience—to be successful in serving infants, toddlers and children with disabilities.
Of the 11 proposals submitted for the Summer Fellowship Program, three were chosen.
Barbara Ames, associate chair of family and child ecology, will collaborate with educators in Crawford and Otsego counties to explore the financial and workforce implications of foster grandparenting and other forms of kinship care.
Stephanie Nawyn, assistant professor of sociology, will work with Extension staff members and immigrant service providers in Kent County to develop a study of refugee adults’ trajectories in and out of English language learning (ELL) instruction, assessing the barriers to remaining in ELL classes and exploring the possibilities for changing the way ELL is taught in order to improve retention of refugee adults and make ELL more relevant to the needs of refugee parents.
Claire Vallotton, assistant professor of child development and early child education, will study the efficacies of three approaches to parenting the preverbal child by offering three different parent-education interventions: Toddler-Ese, Infant Signing from the Start, and a method that focuses on calmly responding to frustration which is characteristic of the conventional wisdom among child development professionals.
