1

Ellen PinderhughesUp to the Challenges

I n s i d e

SSSSS PPPPP RRRRR IIIII NNNNN GGGGG 20052005200520052005Eliot-Pearson

from the Eliot-Pearson Departmentof Child Development at Tufts University

Associate Professor Ellen Pinderhughes

wo years ago, Associate Profes-sor Ellen Pinderhughes left her positionat Vanderbilt University to join theEliot-Pearson faculty. She says, “Iwas attracted to the energy aroundunderstanding children in the contextof their cultures, and by the commit-ment to making a difference inchildren’s and families’ lives, eitherthrough research, practice, or policyadvocacy.” She was also impressedby the university’s commit-ment to training students tobe active citizens.In many ways, EllenPinderhughes seems theperfect antidote to theproblems she researches.Her calm and soft-spokenmanner perfectly offset theanything but calm and soft-spoken problems shestudies. Since her doctoralwork at Yale in the 1980’s,Pinderhughes has beenresearching ways to supportchildren who are at risk forgetting into serious troubleduring adolescence – aswell as researching olderadopted children who havespent years in foster care.

newsnewsnewsnewsnews

T

.. continued on next page

A PlayfulCollaboration

3

Eliot-Pearson’s ChildHealth Program

5

A Semester at Gallaudet

6

Christine Emery &Visiting Professor

7

Graduate Students’Corner

8

Faculty andStudent News 9

Alumni Teachers’Roundtable Update 11

Alumni News 14

The stories of both groups are oftenabout dysfunctional families and failedpolicies and service systems.Pinderhughes’ chosen areas of re-search reflect her family’s tradition ofcommunity service. For his work inpsychiatry, Boston University named acommunity service award after herfather, Charles Pinderhughes.

2

Chair of the Department, Professor Fred Rothbaum, Visiting Professor ZinziswaC. Nqweni and Associate Professor Ellen Pinderhughes

continued from page one

Her mother, Elaine Pinderhughes, wasa long-time professor of social workat Boston College.At Eliot-Pearson, Pinderhughescontinues to oversee an evaluationstudy of “Fast Track”; a program thatprovided comprehensive services to“at-risk” children in four sites spreadthroughout the eastern half of thecountry. Pinderhughes will followthese children until they are twenty.She says, “Withthese four differentsites, we are in aposition to look atthe efficacy of thisintervention acrossdifferent regionsand differentgender and racialgroups.”Pinderhughes has amajor interest inhow diversity plays

out in family functioning. For ex-ample, she is an active member of anational and interdisciplinary group ofscholars, the Study Group on Race,Culture, and Ethnicity. She says,“We are trying to unpack culture andits processes and their influences onfamily functioning, particularly onparenting.”However, Pinderhughes’ primaryresearch focus is on older

children who have been adopted afteryears of living in foster care. She says,“These are children who come out offoster care with histories of abuse andneglect, and then move into newfamilies. I am particularly interested inunderstanding how these children andtheir new family members adjust, asrelationships develop and realign, andas the family system shifts to incorpo-rate a new and older child, a child whomay not be ‘easy’.” It’s typical thatthe new families have many difficultiesadjusting to each other. Pinderhughesrecalls a single mother who reflectedon the turbulent adjustment she andher 13-year old daughter had workedthrough. “With pride about their worktogether, she said, ‘The shades are up,the lights are on, and she’s home!’”Not all families succeed. Some disruptso much as to send the adoptee backto foster care. Pinderhughes hopesher research will make it easier forfamilies to adopt older foster carechildren who desperately need perma-nent families as well as make it easierfor these families to adjust.In some ways, moving her own family,mid-career, from Vanderbilt to Eliot-Pearson makes Pinderhughes’ situationsimilar to that of the families shestudies – in both situations there aresignificant challenges to adjust. InPinderhughes’ situation it has been newschools for the children and new workcommunities for the parents. Indeed,not many professionals take on suchchallenges, but Ellen Pinderhughes isnot among the many. She is, rather,among the few whose dedication towhat matters meets all challenges. It isnot surprising, then, that already, shehas added much to the Eliot-Pearsoncommunity.

“ We are trying to unpackculture and its processesand their influences onfamily functioning, par-ticularly on parenting.”

3

by Marjorie Howard

A Playful CollaborationA Playful CollaborationA Playful CollaborationA Playful CollaborationA Playful Collaboration

Some parents and scholars think ofchildren’s play as serious business andessential for a child’s future. Yet thereis no scientific evidence, says GeorgeScarlett, to support such a view.“When adults play,” he said, “it’scalled recreation. When children play,it’s called preparation for the future.But really, play is more about thrivingin the present than it is about preparingfor the future.”Scarlett, Deputy Chair of the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Devel-opment, is the co-author of Children’sPlay (SAGE Publications, 2005), anew textbook. Not only is the book alively examination of the many facetsof play and how it develops, it is theresult of an unusual collaboration.Scarlett’s three co-authors were Tuftsgraduate students in child develop-

ment. Authors Sophie Naudeau,Dorothy Salonius-Pasternak weredoctoral students, while Iris Ponte wasearning a master’s degree. “It was thebest collaborative writing experienceof my life,” said Scarlett. “We over-came student/faculty status to really goafter a book we wanted to write. Weended up caring about each other, andwe still do. I think it’s a wonderfulbook, not because we are the bestscholars in the world, but because ofthe ease and energy and fun we had,and that comes through in the book.”Scarlett said, “I’d been drafting theoutline for this project, and I thoughtthere would be a separate chapter on

culture and play. Culture is not myarea of expertise, so I invited studentsto help on this chapter. These threeremarkable people came forward.Sitting in my office I thought, ‘Why arewe just writing a chapter together?Let’s do the whole book.’ “One of the things they really appreci-ated is that they got to see the nutsand bolts of putting together a bookproposal and a book. Their training isto write as academicians, but wewanted the book to be accessible toeverybody, so the major focus was[on] good writing.”Over time, this all-Tufts team wasexpanded to include other Tuftsstudents. Kim Walls (graduate)became the book’s photographer.David Murray (undergraduate) drewthe cartoons, and Jennifer Cunningham

(graduate) and Jason Kahn(graduate) helped draft twoof the chapters.Among the subjects thebook discusses are theoriesabout play, how childrenbegin to play, make-believeand humor. The book alsoaddresses two areas ofinterest to today’s parents:electronic play and orga-nized youth sports.

“There are two complementarydevelopments in the last 10 to 15years that have changed the playscapefor children in our culture,” saidScarlett. “One is the perception thatthe world is too unsafe for kids to bewandering around unsupervised awayfrom home. The second is technology.Kids don’t go out much to play, andelectronic play is indoors. When theydo go out they’re apt to be organizedby adults.”Scarlett said that organized sports forAmerican youth have existed for overa century, “but now it dominates, andin many homes replaces back yardsports.”

Soccer, said Scarlett, helped pave theway. “Twenty years ago, you wouldn’tsee anything about soccer in a bookon youth sports written for an Ameri-can audience. Now [soccer is]accessible to kids as young as 5 or 6when they can play ‘swarm ball’ or

‘beehive soccer,’ where they chaseafter the ball. They’re not ready forbasketball, football or baseball, butwith soccer, there aren’t the attentionproblems because the ball is alwaysmoving, and they move with it. So theentry level has been pushed down inage. Also, soccer can be played yearround, which sets up competitionbetween sports in the same season.The pressure and pace of youth sportshas been accelerated because in thepast, sports were tied to seasons.”Scarlett said that in club sports and intown-sponsored sports, elite teamshave been established where theemphasis is on performance and onlearning skills. “This often creates a clash betweenthe value systems of adults and kids,”he said. “Adults are interested inperformance, while kids want to be

.. continued on next page

“...play is more aboutthriving in the presentthan it is about prepar-

ing for the future.”

(l to r): Dorothy Salonius-Pasternak,George Scarlett, Sophia Naudeau

and Iris Ponte

4

continued from page three

with their friends and want to partici-pate and not stand around. Manypeople argue it is a structure that isnot child-centered enough.”Nevertheless, Scarlett said, kids andparents alike say that they are havinga positive experience through orga-nized sports. “The real question is, is itas good as we can make it for chil-dren?”While children have lost control on theathletic field, they are in control ofvideo and computer games. “Onereason children are drawn to elec-tronic games is that they’re in controlof virtual worlds,” said Scarlett.While some electronic games arevaluable in allowing children to createand explore imagined worlds, thebook says there are also definiteconcerns. Some video games areviolent to an extreme, and there arequestions still to be answered aboutwhether children can become ad-dicted to electronic play. Parentalinvolvement is needed, the authorssay, to monitor the kinds of gameschildren are playing. “Children need play to thrive in thepresent,” said Scarlett. “It makessense to support good play on com-mon-sense grounds. My hope is thatpeople will value play simply becauseit shows life is good in the present.Also, play is kids’ passion. That tooshould make it valuable in itself.”

Did you know that over 5,400 alumniover 5,400 alumniover 5,400 alumniover 5,400 alumniover 5,400 alumni are shar-ing their career experiences through the TuftsCareer Network? Successful career managementbegins with networking…As a Tufts graduate, youhave access to this network at

careers.tufts.edu/network

····· Meet other Tufts professionals in ChildMeet other Tufts professionals in ChildMeet other Tufts professionals in ChildMeet other Tufts professionals in ChildMeet other Tufts professionals in ChildDevelopment related fieldsDevelopment related fieldsDevelopment related fieldsDevelopment related fieldsDevelopment related fields

····· Seek career guidance in your currentSeek career guidance in your currentSeek career guidance in your currentSeek career guidance in your currentSeek career guidance in your currentfield or a new fieldfield or a new fieldfield or a new fieldfield or a new fieldfield or a new field

····· Share your experience and offer careerShare your experience and offer careerShare your experience and offer careerShare your experience and offer careerShare your experience and offer careeradvice to alumni and studentsadvice to alumni and studentsadvice to alumni and studentsadvice to alumni and studentsadvice to alumni and students

The network is only as strong as the alumni whojoin…so please sign up for the Career Net-so please sign up for the Career Net-so please sign up for the Career Net-so please sign up for the Career Net-so please sign up for the Career Net-work at careers.tufts.edu/networkwork at careers.tufts.edu/networkwork at careers.tufts.edu/networkwork at careers.tufts.edu/networkwork at careers.tufts.edu/network. Help TuftsChild Development graduates continue to forgeconnections and tap the collective experience ofour alumni.

Connect with AlumniAround the World…

5

Eliot-Pearson’s Child Health ProgramEliot-Pearson’s Child Health ProgramEliot-Pearson’s Child Health ProgramEliot-Pearson’s Child Health ProgramEliot-Pearson’s Child Health Program

our years ago, Tufts undergradu-ate, Phoebe Stone, started Eliot-Pearson’s Child Health program tohelp students explore their interests inworking with sick children. “The ideafor this program came from my careergoals early on – even before college.In high school, my best friend hadcancer and because of her experience,I decided I wanted to go into thepediatric health field. I started Tuftspre-med because I did not know ofother options. Then I began volun-teering on the pediatric floor at MassGeneral Hospital, and my supervisorwas a child life specialist. I loved herjob, and so I signed up for the childlife course at Eliot-Pearson (thentaught by Peggy Powers) — to learnmore about the field of child life. Thecourse and volunteering confirmed thatchild life was just what I wanted todo.” Phoebe now works as a childlife specialist at the RehabilitationInstitute of Chicago. “My role is toreduce the stress and anxiety that thechildren and their families feel in thehospital… and help children cope withfrightening or painful procedures.”Thanks to Phoebe anda grant from the StoneFoundation, Eliot-Pearson has beenproviding students withnumerous opportuni-ties to explore careersthat help children withserious health prob-lems.

Since the inception ofthe program, over 140

students have taken a child life coursefunded by the grant. The course iscurrently taught by child life specialist,Diane Pucci. The grant has alsofunded over 50 handpicked intern-ships supervised by Tufts pediatrician,Dr. Rebecca O’Brien, and publicpolicy specialist, Leslie Mandel. Oneof these internships became a featurestory in the Tufts Journal. Both thechild life course and the supervisedinternships provide students, who maynot be interested in becoming doctors,with ways to work with sick children.

One such student was LindaWhitaker. Linda’s work at Eliot-Pearson, and especially her internshipin child life, qualified her to sit for theexam to become a certified child lifespecialist. Speaking about the oppor-tunities she had at Eliot-Pearson, shesays,” In satisfying both my profes-sional and educational goals at once, Ifeel more confident in my work withchildren and in my ability to apply theknowledge I have gained here to bean advocate for children’s health foryears to come.”

F

Because it is still relatively new, it isdifficult to measure the long-termeffects that the Child Health programwill have on students. However, thefirst years of this program all point tothe effects being huge. Each yearstudents tell new stories that areactually old stories – about how they

made a difference in the life ofa sick child or a sick child’sfamily. It is clear from thesestories that the student experi-ences are setting the ground-work for something muchlarger to come – as studentsgraduate and commit them-selves to a lifetime of service tosick children. It seems clear,then, that Phoebe Stone’svision four years ago was a far-sighted one.

Phoebe Stone (top right) with patientsfrom the Rehabilitation Institute ofChicago on a community outing to

Blue Man Group.

Phoebe Stone’s Vision

“ ...the student experiencesare setting the groundwork

for something much larger tocome – as students graduateand commit themselves to a

lifetime of service to sickchildren.”

6

Kate Lindy

ate Lindy knew at the end ofher junior year at Tufts that she, likemany of her friends, wanted to leavethe Hill for a semester and experiencetotal immersion in another culture.Students before her went to Paris andMadrid, London and Buenos Aires, butKate looked no further thanWashington D.C., to GallaudetUniversity for deaf, hard of hearing,and hearing students.

As a Child Development major, Katehad taken several courses in AmericanSign Language, but it wasn’t untilbecoming friends with a hard ofhearing student that she first asked thequestion, “What is it like to be deaf in ahearing world?” Later that year, shehelped found the Tufts ASL club, andwhen many of her friends decided to

study abroad, she knew she toowanted to do something differenthaving to do with the deaf community.

“I wanted to learnabout the Deafculture in a waythat I wasn’treally able to byjust takingAmerican SignLanguageclasses,” Kateremembers. Andso she applied toGallaudet and wasaccepted as a“special visitingstudent” - anhonor since only ahandful of hearingundergraduatesare allowed toenroll at one time.

At Gallaudet, all classes are taught inASL, and the majority of the facultyare hearing impaired. As Kate wasn’tyet fluent, the hardest part wascommunicating. At first, she was“absolutely an outsider,” having to relysolely on textbooks to understand whatwas going on in class. For the firsttime, she was exposed to sign slangand to unusual variations within thelanguage. It made her feel left out.However, she joined the school’scheerleading team and found herfellow students welcoming and patient.She was surprised by the diverse waysstudents referred to themselves andcommunicated with others. Somecalled themselves Deaf while otherscalled themselves ‘hard of hearing’.Most used ASL to communicate, butothers used different sign languages,such as JSL (Japanese SignLanguage). Regardless, theatmosphere was one of apprecaitionfor everyone’s individuality.

Kate says her experience at Gallaudetchanged her perspective on childdevelopment. Now she seeseverybody learning differently. Andnow she has a better understanding ofwhat it is like to be in an Englishspeaking classroom when English isnot your first language. She says,“Children who do not have full accessto English, whether they are deaf orjust speak another language at home,are at a huge disadvantage.”

In summarizing her experience atGallaudet, Kate says, “it was thehardest thing I’ve ever done, andbecause of that, it was the mostworthwhile experience.” Partly as aresult of that experience, Kate is nowplanning on getting her master’s insocial work and eventually working ina school for the Deaf. Her “semesterabroad” may not have taken her fargeographically, but it certainly took herfar in the ways that count.

K

A Semester at Gallaudet UniversityA Semester at Gallaudet UniversityA Semester at Gallaudet UniversityA Semester at Gallaudet UniversityA Semester at Gallaudet UniversityEliot-Pearson Student Kate Lindy Shares Her ExperienceEliot-Pearson Student Kate Lindy Shares Her ExperienceEliot-Pearson Student Kate Lindy Shares Her ExperienceEliot-Pearson Student Kate Lindy Shares Her ExperienceEliot-Pearson Student Kate Lindy Shares Her Experience

Kate Lindy and Gallaudet cheerleading teammates

7

wenty years ago this August,Christine Emery began working atEliot-Pearson. Her associate’s degreein Early Childhood Education hadbeen what pointed her in Eliot-Pearson’s direction. Christine laughswhile recounting that at the time shethought Eliot-Pearson would be just a‘pit stop’; “I can’t believe it’s been

twenty years!”

Looking back, sherealizes that it has

been the Department’senvironment that hascompelled her to stay

all this time; one central feature ofthat environment has been, for Chris-tine, the sound of children’s voices.”Children are great!” She en-thuses. Also, for her, the facultyand staff, with theirkindness and diversity,have blended together, and“When you find that, you hitthe jackpot.” Her experience

with undergraduate and graduatestudents has been just aspositive; she describesEliot-Pearson studentsas inquisitive and enjoy-able to be with. Theadmiration is mutual—She is uniformly praised by her co-workers for the vital support sheprovides to the Department.

Christine’s years in the Departmenthave shaped her views on education.She believes that children need to beshown respect and that they need tobe treated “as the important personsthat they are.”

In the two decades since Christinebegan working, much has changed inthe Department. Indeed, Christine

Emery, more than most, haswatched the Department evolve.

Furthermore, through her service,loyalty, and kindness, she has helpedmake that evolution possible.

Christine Emery

T

Christine Emery:Christine Emery:Christine Emery:Christine Emery:Christine Emery:20 Years of Service20 Years of Service20 Years of Service20 Years of Service20 Years of Service

rofessor Zinziswa C. Nqweni, ofthe University of Port Elizabeth(newly renamed Nelson Mandela

Metropolitan University) was aVisiting Scholar during the Fall 2004

semester. During her visit, Dr. Nqweniengaged in collaborative research withEllen Pinderhughes, gave a universityaddress and a departmental collo-quium and taught a class and guestlectured. Dr. Nqweni’s universityaddress, “The Truth and Reconcilia-tion Commission and its Role inAttempting to Heal the South AfricanNation” described the purpose of thisfirst ever commission established by acountry to examine its own atrocitiescarried out in the name of the govern-ment.

Visiting ProfessorVisiting ProfessorVisiting ProfessorVisiting ProfessorVisiting Professor

P

Visiting Professor Zinziswa C. Nqweni

Zinziswa C. NqweniZinziswa C. NqweniZinziswa C. NqweniZinziswa C. NqweniZinziswa C. Nqweni

8

Graduate Students’ CornerGraduate Students’ CornerGraduate Students’ CornerGraduate Students’ CornerGraduate Students’ Corner

Hello everyone!This year the GSA took it

upon themselves to clean up theStevens Library at Eliot-Pearson.The students had noticed that overtime the library had been neglectedand had become a dumping groundfor old papers, journals and outdatedtextbooks.

Armed with dust cloths andbuckets, a team of Ph.D and MAstudents scrubbed and organizedevery book, shelf and corner. Old,useless items were discarded andbeautiful, historical texts wereunearthed. Among the historicalitems found were Abigail Eliot’soriginal notes and photographs, asecond edition copy of JohnDewey’s first book, and an originalWISC test!

Today, when you enter thelibrary you will notice that all of thebooks have been organized topi-cally, all the shelves are clean, andall student-bound theses have beensecured in a locked cabinet. Pleasehelp us in our efforts to keep theStevens Library a clean, preservedand pleasant place for all Eliot-Pearson Child Developmentlearners!

(l to r): Helena Jelicic, Ellen Boiselle,Iris Ponte and Amy Alberts

Clement Chau and Iris Ponte

Clement Chau (middle) and Cynthia Davis (right) deliver thefunds raised to benefit UNICEF’s Tsunami Relief Fund.

Earlier in the semester, the Graduate and Undergraduate Student Associations of Eliot-Pearson sharedin a most successful fundraising event to benefit UNICEF’s Tsunami Relief Fund. The faculty and staff,graduate students, and undergraduates raised $541 during the Change for Good Challenge, held betweenFebruary 15th and March 18th. The event kicked off with a day-long bake sale, and over the next monthmembers of the Child Development Department generously donated their spare change. The event concludedby the department celebrating with a pizza party as a thank you to all those who participated. Thanks again toall for helping with the event!

9

for undergraduate and graduate studentsin an interdisciplinary research group,service learning in healthcare andcommunity-based settings, new coursesand curricula for students from a variety ofdisciplines: child development, education,mental health, engineering and computerscience. Furthermore, Bers along withProfessor Chris Rogers, from theEngineering Department, has beenawarded the Bernstein Faculty Fellowshipto strengthen their collaboration in theCEEO (Center for Educational EngineeringOutreach) and the differentinterdisciplinary programs involving math,science, technology and engineering(MSTE) education at Tufts. While theCEEO and Rogers have focused on thewhole spectrum of K-to collegeengineering education, their strength hasbeen in elementary and middleschool. By engaging in this collaborationafforded by the Bernstein Fellowship, Bersand Rogers hope to strengthen the focuson Pre-K to 2 for children, pre-service andin-service teachers. Finally, Bers hasreceived AERA’s Jan Hawkins Award,which is given for Early CareerContributions to Humanistic Research andScholarship in Learning Technologies.The award is intended to recognize a bodyof work that explores and demonstratespowerful new ways to think abouttechnologies in contexts of learning andeducation, and uses innovative researchtechniques to understand the impact ofthose technologies.

Ann Easterbrooks, Ph.D, Professor, Eliot-Pearson Dept. of Child Developmentpresented Housing and Young Mothers: APreliminary Investigation along withAssociate Professor Fran Jacobs andProfessor Rachel Bratt (UEP) at themeetings of the Association of CollegiateSchools of Planning in Portland, Oregon.Additionally, at the April 2005 meetings ofSociety for Research in Child Developmentin Atlanta, Professor Easterbrooks, withdoctoral students Jana Chaudhura andJoan Driscoll, presented The Role ofMaternal Characteristics and Context inthe Parenting of Young Mothers, as part of

Faculty and Student NewsFaculty and Student NewsFaculty and Student NewsFaculty and Student NewsFaculty and Student News

Donald Wertlieb, Ph.D, Professor, Eliot-Pearson Dept. of Child Development andGary Bedell, Assistant Professor, Occupa-tional Therapy, have been awarded theBernstein Faculty Fellows Program Award– one of only two granted by the Univer-sity. Professors Wertlieb and Bedell willcollaborate in research involving thequality of life and meaningful participationof children with disabilities, with ProfessorWertlieb serving in a mentoring capacity.

Marina Bers, Assistant Professor, Eliot-Pearson Dept. of Child Development hasreceived the prestigious National ScienceFoundation award for Faculty Early CareerDevelopment in honor of her project“Virtual Communities of Learning and Care:Multi-User Virtual Environments ThatPromote Positive Youth Development.”This five year NSF-funded project aims todevelop a research and education programto foster positive and healthy youthdevelopment through the use of multi-user,virtual environments called identityconstruction environments (ICEs), whichare hypothesized to foster new kinds ofcommunities of learning and care. Onecontext where such technologies may havethe most impact is in situations whereyouth might otherwise be isolated and indanger of developing mental health-relatedproblems. The PI will work with youth atthe Boston Children’s Hospital that havesuffered severe renal and cardiac failureand who wouldn’t otherwise survivewithout medical interventions such asheart and kidney transplants. An applieddevelopmental model provides aframework to design ICEs. It also providesa model for doing research in complex realworld settings. It is hypothesized that ICEswill 1) promote positive youthdevelopment (measured as competence,connection, character, confidence, caringand contribution to civil society), 2)complement and augment face-to-facepsychosocial interventions, and 3) that thepositive effects are due to design featuresand the nature of online activities thatengage youth in cognitive, social andemotional development. Educationalactivities include research opportunities

a symposium from the MassachusettsHealthy Families Evaluation .

Lynn Meltzer, Adjunct AssociateProfessor, Eliot-Pearson Dept. of ChildDevelopment chaired the LearningDifferences Conference at HarvardUniversity for the twentieth consecutiveyear. Co-sponsored by Research ILD andthe Harvard Graduate School of Education,the conference was entitledUnderstanding Executive Function:Implications and Opportunities for theClassroom and held November 11-12, 2004.The conference emphasized theapplication of theory and research toeducational practice. The conferencefeatured many nationally renownedspeakers, including Howard Gardner,Robert Brooks, Ned Hallowell, KurtFischer, Anthony Bashir, Maryanne Wolfand was a great success. Meltzer was alsofeatured in the most recent issue ofThalamus (Fall 2004, Volume 22, Number 1),the journal of the International Academyfor Research in Learning Disabilities(IARLD) for which she serves aspresident. The article was entitled,“Academic success in students withlearning disabilities: The roles of self-understanding, strategy use, and effort”and also featured Eliot-Pearson alumsBethany Roditi and Laura Sales Pollica.The article focused on teachers’ andstudents’ perceptions of academic self-concept and effort in the elementary andmiddle school years.

Donald Wertlieb, Ph.D., Professor, Eliot-Pearson Dept of Child Development, wasin residence January 9-12 at Mercaz Gil, inHaifa, Israel, a learning and technicalassistance center operated by the HaifaSocial Welfare Ministry in collaborationwith Boston’s Combined JewishPhilanthropies. Accompanied by Eliot-Pearson graduate student Jill Fishmanand Harvard Medical School colleague LenSommer, the team presented twoprofessional development seminars. Oneseminar focused on resilience as a factor inchild, family and community development.The second seminar addressed cross-

10

cultural perspectives on familyreunification in light of new Israeli policyon returning children inresidential treatment settings to theirfamilies. Human service professionalsfrom Haifa and the northern region ofIsrael participated in the highly successfulseminars. The team visited a variety ofinnovative family service centers in thecity emphasizing multiculturalprogramming and coexistence initiatives aswell. Additionally, Professor Wertlieb’songoing collaboration with colleagues atInflexxion, Inc., has yielded good newswith the funding of the next phase of workon their multimedia interactive violenceprevention curriculum for young children.The National Institute of Mental Healthhas awarded the team $750,000 over thenext two years to develop and fieldtest their program fostering children’semotional intelligences and social skills.Principal Investigator, Michael Davis,Ph.D., presented the work at our seminar

on Resilience last spring. Robert Sege,MD, PhD, Director of the Pediatric andAdolescent Health Research Center(PAHRC) (T-NEMC) serves as co-principalinvestigator, and Eliot-Pearson graduatestudent Geetha Pai serves as researchassistant. Former Eliot-Pearson Children’sSchool Head Teacher, Sue Steinseick

serves as a consultant. And finally,Professor Wertlieb, in conjunction withEliot-Pearson Department of ChildDevelopment Professor Richard Lernerand Associate Professor Fran Jacobs,have edited the Applied DevelopmentalScience: Advanced Textbook. Publishedin January 2005 by Sage, this edition hasbeen adapted from their landmark four-volume Handbook of AppliedDevelopmental Science (SAGE 2003), awork that offers a detailed roadmap foraction and research in ensuring positivechild, youth, and family development.

The April 2005 meeting of the Society forResearch in Child Development was heldin Atlanta. Associate Professor JayanthiMistry presented a paper along withAssociate Professor Fran Jacobs anddoctoral students Jessica Goldberg andVirginia Diez as part of this symposium.Students Rob Barrett, Cynthia Davis, andAnne Bentley Waddoups also participated.

On November 11-13,2004, Eliot-Pearson hada big presence at theannual NationalAssociation Educationfor Young Children(NAEYC) conference inAnaheim, California.Seven teachers andfaculty from the Eliot-Pearson Children’sSchool and Departmentof Child Developmentgave threepresentations that werevery well received withbetween 100-200people attending eachsession. The

presenters included Debbie LeeKeenan,David Robinson, Heidi Given, BenMardell, Elisabeth Anderson, MaryannO’Brien, and Betty Allen. The titles of thesessions were: Center-Wide CurriculumInvestigations: Using the OverheadProjector and Blocks to EngageChildren; Teachers and Parents in Long-

Term Inquiry (a joint presentation with theUniversity of New Hampshire lab school);Inclusion; Balancing Special Needs andSpecial Interests: Tackling the HardQuestions of Children, Parents andTeachers in an Early Childhood school;and Can Two Mommies Make a Family?Can a Boy Wear a Dress? RespectingDiversity in the Early ChildhoodClassrooms—The Perspectives of aTeacher, Parent and Graduate TeachingAssistant. It was a wonderful experienceand opportunity to share the department’swork with over 30, 000 early childhoodeducators from around the country andworld.

Each year, with assistance from GSAS,Engineering, and the Graduate StudentCouncil (GSC), graduate students travelthroughout the U.S. and abroad to attendconferences and other events linked totheir field of study. The following is a listof where our students have been or areplanning to go:

Amy AlbertsSociety for Research in ChildDevelopment MeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Jana ChaudhuriSociety for Research in ChildDevelopmentAtlanta, Georgia

Cynthia DavisSociety for Research in ChildDevelopment MeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Jill FishmanSocial Services Subcommittee MeetingHaifa, ISRAEL

Yulika FridmanTASH ConferenceReno, Nevada

Steinunn GestsdottirSociety for Research in ChildDevelopment MeetingAtlanta, Georgia

continued from page nine

(l to r): Ben Mardell, Maryanne O’Brien, Debbie LeeKeenan,Elisabeth Anderson, Heidi Given, Betty Allen and David Robinson

at the NAEYC conference in Anaheim, California

11

Since last fall, our Roundtable for Eliot-

Alumni Teachers’ Roundtable UpdateAlumni Teachers’ Roundtable UpdateAlumni Teachers’ Roundtable UpdateAlumni Teachers’ Roundtable UpdateAlumni Teachers’ Roundtable Update

Helena JelicicSociety for Research in Child DevelopmentMeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Yibing LiSociety for Research in Child DevelopmentMeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Lang MaSociety for Research in Child DevelopmentMeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Daniel MillerSociety for Research in Child DevelopmentMeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Sophie NaudeauAnnual Roundtable for Women in PrisonAtlanta, Georgia

Iris PonteInternational Society for the Study ofBehavioral Development MeetingGhet, BELGIUM

David Richman-RaphaelSociety for Research in Child DevelopmentMeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Lisa SmithSociety for Research in Child DevelopmentMeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Anne Bentley WaddoupsSociety for Research in Child DevelopmentMeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Stacy ZimmermanSociety for Research in Child DevelopmentMeetingAtlanta, Georgia

Pearson alumni/ae who are teaching childrenin classrooms has been held in the PitcherCurriculum Laboratory on the first Friday

afternoon of the month. The roundtable offersan opportunity for EP teacher education

faculty to both learn from and support itsalumnae who are in their first year or two of

teaching. Recently, more experienced teacheralums have joined the monthly conversations.Several participants have brought with them

educator colleagues and friends who have alsobeen welcome. The group has so far included

over a dozen alumnae, many of whom havebeen returning each month. As for faculty,

Betty Allen and Marion Reynolds have joinedMary Eisenberg as faculty hosts of this event,

which is free and includes refreshments.

The Roundtable discussions have focused onissues of teaching and learning as working

teachers encounter them in their practices. Wehave combined informal conversations about

the triumphs and challenges that haveemerged for participants with more structureddiscussions based on evidence drawn from the

activities of classroom life. Participants havebeen eager to share curriculum practices that

they are finding effective. Conversations haveled to consideration of the role of school

policies and culture as they impact the lives ofchildren and teachers. The Roundtable discus-sions have been greatly informative for Betty,

Marion and Mary, especially for deepening ourunderstanding of the realities our Eliot-Pearson

alumni/ae face when they leave Tufts. Theyhelp us think critically about the preservice

teacher education programs we provide.

place on May 6, and we will begin them againin the fall. All EP alumni/ae who are teachingare welcome to participate. For more informa-

tion, contact Mary Eisenberg at 617-627-3355, or mary.eisenberg@tufts.edu.

Our last Roundtable for this year took

12

Thank You Donors!Thank You Donors!Thank You Donors!Thank You Donors!Thank You Donors!2004 - 20052004 - 20052004 - 20052004 - 20052004 - 2005

Dionisia C. AthansCarol E. AtkinsElizabeth K. AustinKathleen R. BabcockRussell E. BabcockCynthia J. S. BartolMary D. BensDorothy C. BermanSandra J. Bishop-Josef, Ph.D.Jeri Schaal Freels BrowerM. Loren BullockJane E. CarmmarataProf. Adele D. CarpDr. Susan C. CasdenDeborah L. CattonCharitable Gift FundRosemary T. CloughDr. Joan K. CohnCombined Jewish PhilanthropiesNandini DattaJudith M. DoaneEsther P. EdwardsPatricia Cowan Elwood, Ph.D.Esta G. EpsteinLaura R. EpsteinRobert EpsteinAnne L. EsbenshadeAndree N. FalcoSara L. FiedelholtzJess ForrestDiana R. GayPaul L. GayzagianAnn-Mari GemmillGenesee and Wyoming Inc.Nan GoodellPhyllis M. GrandboisPatricia West GreenwaldVera Ryen GreggJanet GriggsJudith GruskayRobert GruskayNancy C. HendricksOran B. HestermanJane C. HilderLaura J. Hillman, Ph.D.Julia D. HobartFrances J. HochmanElizabeth L. Hocking

Marilyn S. HooperLinda HorowitzWilliam H. IngrahamYoma A. IngrahamMary J. JohnsonJoan M. KearsleyLeslie KleinmanHarriet KochJames P. Koch, M.D.Barbara Polidor KubichekEileen S. KupersmithStephen J. Kupersmith, M.D.John E. KyleMarla B. LandisMary LanmanJohn H. Lapidus, D.M.D.Randi M. LapidusJ. Ruth LeaheyJoyceline M. LeeDorene LengyelRonald C. LengyelJoan R. LiptonYi-Hsing Liu-Constant, Ph.DSharilynn M. LuckCarl G. LymanWinifred E. MarkusFlo E. MaslowRichard MaslowGale MayfieldMarla W. McCurdyJanet Fowle McLanahan, Ph.D.Susan C. MedleyGwen R. MeinsJudith Gluck MelzerRobert M. MelzerRose C. MerendaSusan R. MeyersCarol J. MillerSue MillerMarjorie MilneSarah O. MonicaEllen G. MonnessBeth G. MoskowitzMichael MoskowitzAnn M. NataliziaAmy J. NewmarkDorothy NorthcottJoan K. O’Rourke

Judith B. PageRenee F. PalmerConstance F. PerrigoPatricia L. PironeProf. Evelyn G. PitcherFrances E. PughJeanne D. ReithGary Resnick, M.D., Ph.D.Elizabeth S. RiesConstance P. RingHolly E. RobbertzCaroline RogersonMarjorie RolfeBarbara B. Rosenquest, Ph.D.Lori P. RothsteinSheryl S. SadinskyLaura C. SalesAndrea G. SambrookHarry M. SamkangeDorothy M. SangCarolyn D. SangerShirley F. ScholderMargot B. SemonianElisabeth M. SeyferthDonald ShapiroRobin ShapiroLaurie P. ShawBarbaranne Bradley ShepardBetsy R. ShermanGeorge M. ShermanCarolyn ShohetBarbara S. SiergiewiczSusan B. SimonFrances S. SmithSarah S. StephensJames H. StoneJanice F. TaborNancy M. Terres, Ph.D.Esther & Morton Wohlgemuth Fdn, IncMarian A.TibbettsJulianne TrenholmGretchen ViallBarbara M. WatsonLinda Weil MargoliesDiane E. WellsJanet M. WeschlerBarbara Gray WexlerLori Gamzon Winer

13THANK YOU !

Do you wish to add your

e-mail address to the

alumni mailinglist?

SEND US YOUR NEWS!We want to hear from you! Let friends, faculty, and classmates

know what you are up to these days.

Do you have a recent publication you’d like to share with theEliot-Pearson community? Send us the citation!

Update or Citation:

E-mail address:

Degree and year of graduation:

Name:

THANK YOU

Send to: Janie Orthey RockettEliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University,

or e-mail: janie.orthey@tufts.edu105 College Ave., Medford, MA 02155

14

Alumni NewsAlumni NewsAlumni NewsAlumni NewsAlumni News

Jessica Dym Bartlett, JG93, lives in Actonwith her husband of 10 years and two children:Molly, age 6, and Jake, age 4. After receiving anMSW from Simmons in 1997 she joined theirfaculty at the Graduate School of Social Work asa field advisor. She has carried a private practiceof children, adolescents, and families for eightyears and continues to provide workshops andconsultation around child care and mental healthissues. Additionally, she chairs the board of theInfant Toddler Children’s Center and is a schoolcouncil member at her children’s elementaryschool.

Linda Beardsley, G82, was recently featuredin Tufts Magazine for her work as director ofTeacher Education and School Partnerships atTufts as well as director of the Urban TeacherTraining Collaborative (UTTC). Established in1999 as a subsidiary of the M.A.T. program, theUTTC was created in response to the difficultyof finding and maintaining teachers in urbanenvironments, as well as the decreasing numberof minority teachers. Under her leadership, thepercentage of M.A.T. candidates of color atTufts has jumped 24 percent in just seven years.

Christine Brown, J90, “I am the proudmother of two children (my son Hunter is 6 andmy daughter, Riley will be 2 this summer). Ihave taken a break from my career as aSchool Psychologist to be with my children andwork part time as an Early Childhood Specialistfor the Town of Sandwich, MA as well as on theChildren’s Mental Health Task Force which areboth DOE Grant-sponsored programs throughthe Community Partnership Council. Ivolunteer for a group called Project SAIL whichadvocates for the needs of advanced readinesslearners in Sandwich (www.projectsail.org) andam co-founder of the Sandwich Mom’s Club(www.sandwichmomsclub.org). My husband,children and I are all loving Cape Cod, despitethe nearly 100 inches of snow we got thiswinter! I would love to reconnect with Tuftsand can be reached atcapecodbrowns@adelphia.net.

Cherilyn Davidson Cibelli, G93, hassurvived almost two years since her cancerdiagnosis and is doing fine. She is currentlyhelping to build a new community 3,000 feetabove Palm Springs with her family. Herhusband, Ludwig, is the director of theemergency room at the local hospital; her son,Max, is in the third grade, and when he is not inarmy fatigues or building stuff, he is dancingwith two ballet companies. Cherilyn hasfinished ten years of teaching in one of thenearby college Child Development departmentsand has a clinical psychology practice

specializing in children, survivors of childhoodabuse, trauma, and infant mental health.Additionally, she does a lot of assessments andIEPs. She and her family travel several times ayear and their next jaunt is to Costa Rica.“Remember, I once studied mother-childinteraction in macaques!”

Ellie Friedland recently presented “CriticalPedagogy and Teaching for Social Justice inTeacher Education” at the 10th AnnualInternational Conference of Pedagogy & Theatreof the Oppressed. She also presented “Educationand Preservation of the Mayan Culture:Collaborative and Cooperative InternationalLiteracy Project” at the 29th Annual Conventionof the International Reading Association, andpublished an article regarding this project andother international literacy projects in the spring2004 issue of the peer-reviewed Journal ofReading Education. The article was titled“Education for Change: Grassroots LiteracyInitiatives.”

Jessica Siegel Gelb, MA/BA’98, has beenteaching the first, second, and third grades for thepast six years at the Lincoln School in Brookline,Massachusetts. She is keeping her options openand thinking about her future endeavors.

Dr. Jane D. (Finneman) Hochman, G63, hasco-written and –edited a book with Dr. Gilbert M.Foley which will be published later in 2005 byPaul H. Brookes Publishers. Tentatively titled“Mental Health Principles and Practices forPractitioners in Early Intervention,” it promisesto be an important contribution to the field ofchild development. She is also at work onanother book with co-authors Dr. Carolad’Emery and Dr. Justine Joan Sheppard, whichwill be aimed at the parents of very youngchildren. She is enjoying some consulting forThe Hilton Early Head Start Program, a nationalprogram aimed at better preparing personnel ofEarly Head Start programs to recruit and acceptchildren with significant developmentaldisabilities into their programs. As always, sheenjoys keeping in touch and seeing several Eliot-Pearson friends.

Sandra (Beckford) Hutchinson, J86, hasrecently published a book titled “Effects of andInterventions for Childhood Trauma: PainUnspeakable.” More information is available atwww.haworthpress.com and Amazon.com. It willbe featured in the April issue of Tufts Magazine.She received a Master’s in Clinical Social Workfrom Bryn Mawr College Graduate School ofSocial Work and Social Research and is now theFounder/President of Global Trauma Consultants,LLC, a new online consulting firm that

specializes in psychotraumatology. She ismarried with two children.

Anne Judson, G77, has been living inBurlington, Vt. for 17 years and loves it. She iscurrently Director of Graduate Education at St.Michael’s College in Colchester, where they havea teacher license program and a Masters inEducation with concentrations in Reading,Curriculum, Information Technology, SpecialEducation, Arts, and School Leadership. “Comevisit!” she urges.

Kristine (Kris) Eldridge Osborn, J54, “Itwould have been fun to attend my 50th collegereunion for Tufts and Eliot-Pearson in May ’04.I have fond memories of my third and fourthyears of college…Back in those days we lived inand took most of our classes right at the schoolin Boston. All I learned those two years came inhandy the two full years I taught four year oldsin Baltimore, MD. Time passed and I marriedand we moved to Coeur d’Alene, ID in 1963,where we have lived for 42 years. Fortunatelyour son is here and our daughter is only 86 milessouth of us. At our church I taught kindergartenSunday School for 20 years. Our son and his wifeare expecting their seventh child this August andwe love being grandparents! Eliot-Pearson hasplayed a big role in what I knew about raising ourtwo children.”

Susan B. Rubnitz, J51, remembers when Eliot-Pearson was called the Nursery Training Schoolof Boston. She is now a mother, wife, andgrandmother, and is looking forward to going ona one week cruise for her son’s fiftieth birthdaywith all fifteen members of her family.

Melissa Strada, J91, recently joined GoldmanSachs as a Vice President in their Human CapitalManagement division, where she is responsiblefor the strategy and implementation of thefirm’s work and family programs.

Lisa (Cashion) Schreiber, J96, is currentlyliving with her husband in New York City and isthe Director of State Systems for Prevent ChildAbuse America’s Healthy Families America(HFA) program. HFA is a home visitationprogram designed to promote healthy childdevelopment and prevent child abuse andneglect. In her role with HFA, Lisa leads theeffort to build and sustain the programs acrossthe country through advocacy, public policy andcapacity-building. She has been with HFA forover three years and is telecommuting to theorganization’s headquarters in Chicago. Shewould love to hear from alumni in the New YorkCity area and can be reached atlschreiber@preventchildabuse.org.

15

Scheherazade Tillet, J00, is the co-founderof A Long Walk Home, Inc., and the artisticdirector and photographer of SOARS. She iscurrently an art therapist at the YWCA RapeCrisis Center and a freelance photographer inChicago.

The Reverend Mary Beth Wells, J64, G75,has just finished her third graduate degree, aMaster of Arts in Theology from St. Vincent dePaul Regional Seminary. Her first degree was inEarly Childhood Development, and her second,Counseling Psychology from Tufts also. Morerecently she has been ordained as a Deacon inthe Diocese of Southwest Florida, where she isDirector of the Diocesan School (a three-yearprogram with twelve areas of study and a facultyof fourteen) and serves as Spiritual Director andChaplain for the Diocese. She does this whileworking full-time at St. Paul’s Episcopal Churchin Delray Beach, Florida, where she offerspastoral counseling, training as a care giver, andteaches a very popular class for this area in IconPainting. She has lived in Delray for fifteenyears. Reverend Wells is listed in Who’s Who ofAmerican Women and Who’s Who of America.

Patty Hrusa Williams, G97, is currentlyworking as an Assistant Professor in Psychologyat Providence College. She is also the statewideevaluator for Parent-Child Home Programs inMassachusetts. PCHP is a home-visitingprogram to to hep promote verbal interactionand school readiness for children, aged toddler topre-school, of at-risk families. Additionally, sheis busy parenting three children ages 9, 7, and 4,with her husband Steve, in Acton,Massachusetts.

I’m enclosing a donation to the:

Please take this opportunity to contribute to the Eliot-PearsonDepartment of Child Development Fund.

Name: ____________________________________

Degree and year of graduation: ________________

Send to: Janie Orthey Rockett, Eliot-Pearson Department of ChildDevelopment, Tufts University

105 College Ave., Medford, MA 02155 or e-mail:janie.orthey@tufts.edu

o Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development

o Tufts Educational Day Care Center (memo: Scholarship Fund)

o Eliot-Pearson Children’s School (memo: Scholarship Fund)

o Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science

o Feinburg Fund for the Arts in Early Childhood Education

Please make checks payable to Trustees of Tufts University

If you would like to donate to theEliot-Pearson Department of

Child Development....

Eliot-Pearson Newsis a biannual publication of theEliot-Pearson Department of

Child Developmentat Tufts University.

Please direct comments, questions,and submissions to:

Janie Orthey Rockett, Editor105 College AvenueMedford, MA 02155

(617) 627-2078janie.orthey@tufts.edu

Eliot-Pearson maintains an alumni listserv. alumni listserv. alumni listserv. alumni listserv. alumni listserv. Our periodic email mes-sages include information on department news and events or career

and fellowship opportunities.If you would like to add your name to our list,

please contact Janie Orthey Rockett at janie.orthey@tufts.edujanie.orthey@tufts.edujanie.orthey@tufts.edujanie.orthey@tufts.edujanie.orthey@tufts.edu. Be sure to include your name, email address, class year and degree.

T U F T S U N I V E R S I T Y

105 College AvenueMedford, MA 02155

Address correction requested.

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPAIDPAIDPAIDPAIDPermit No. 1161Boston, MA

SPRING 2005

from the El iot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts Universityfrom the El iot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts Universityfrom the El iot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts Universityfrom the El iot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts Universityfrom the El iot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University

Eliot-Pearson

news

KEEP IN TOUCH