Christine McWayne, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

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Christine McWayne, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

Professor, Director of EXCELS Lab
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Contact Info:
Tufts University
Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and
Human Development
105 College Avenue, Medford, MA 02155

Office: 617.627.0478
Fax: 617.627.3503
Email

Education
Ph.D. School, Community, and Clinical-Child Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
M.S.Ed. Psychological Services, University of Pennsylvania
B.S. Psychology (Minors in Public Service and English), Abilene Christian University

Expertise
Early childhood education, parenting and family-school partnerships in diverse ethnocultural and low-income communities, community-based research collaborations

Background and Research
At least since I was a freshman or sophomore in college, I have been interested in understanding more about young children who manage to “beat the odds.” Much of my research, first at the University of Pennsylvania, then at New York University, and now here at Tufts, has been in partnership with Head Start programs in Philadelphia, NYC, and Boston/Somerville. I’ve studied about children’s social and learning competencies in preschool through first grade. But, most of my work has been focused upon understanding how to better support the adult contributors to children’s early development: their families and teachers. In particular, I have sought to document the ways in which families from ethnoculturally diverse communities are supporting their children and how, by having more culturally-grounded information, we can bridge divides that often exist between children’s home and school contexts.

Most recently, my colleagues and I have worked to co-construct curriculum and professional development supports for Head Start teachers around science and engineering teaching for dual language learners, which incorporates children’s home and community contexts (i.e., their familiar knowledge and the expertise of loving adults in these contexts). Underpinning the research with parents and teachers are attempts to “flip the script,” so to speak, centering the voices of practitioners and family members supporting children’s development to highlight what they know, what they do, and how they do it, so that their expertise can inform a strengths-based knowledge base and program/policy decisions. All of my research has been the result of significant collaborations with other scholars, students, early childhood practitioners, and low-income families. I am very grateful for these colleagues and mentors and look forward to the contributions we will continue to make together on behalf of young children. If you are interested in this mission, please join us!

Read more about Dr. McWayne >

Ethnocultural Diversity and the Home-to-School Link

Editors: Christine M. McWayne
Fabienne Doucet
Susan M. Sheridan

This book explores family-school partnerships and how they can be most effectively leveraged to ensure academic success for students from socioculturally diverse backgrounds. Chapters reimagine family-school partnerships within a context of shared power and authority, examine a spectrum of interventions that support culture-based modes of learning, and emphasize the potential for transformative learning to occur when students’ out-of-school lives are understood and meaningfully leveraged in school. Chapters also discuss how to foster bridges between parents and teachers, provide teachers with access to the rich cognitive and cultural resources of families, and enable all parties to begin viewing families as truly equal partners in children’s education. The book concludes with a commentary chapter that identifies necessary areas for further research.
Part of the Research on Family-School Partnerships book series (RFSP)

Early Childhood Research for Educational Equity: Family–School–Systems Connections

Editors: Christine M. McWayne
Vivian L. Gadsden

How can we close opportunity gaps for young children affected by poverty and systemic racism—and build hope and resilience for children and their families? Research points the way forward, and in this timely volume, 40+ leading researchers identify new approaches, insights, and technologies that can promote educational equity and improve outcomes for children and families living in poverty.

Building on the seminal work of researcher John Fantuzzo, this book focuses on identifying and expanding on child, family, and community strengths to address the urgent needs of the whole child and the whole family. The expert contributors examine the importance of 1) child-level strengths and social connections, 2) strengths-based intervention as an antidote to deficit framing, and 3) collaboration and data sharing across systems serving vulnerable children and families.