The Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute is a not-for-profit, applied research Institute engaging in activities that enhance and promote healthy child, parent, and family functioning. The Institute staff conduct research and evaluation studies, implement demonstration projects, provide training and technical assistance, and engage in dissemination and utilization activities with practitioners and families of young children. Institute activities are organized into seven Centers that focus on different aspects of bridging the research-to-practice gap. All Institute activities are guided by a model that emphasizes an understanding of the characteristics of practices that are associated with desired benefits or consequences.
Center Website: www.evidencebasedpractices.org
The Center for Evidence-Based Practices focuses on the preparation of reports and materials regarding effective early intervention, early childhood education, parent and family support, family-centered, and related practices. CEBP staff synthesize research findings, analyze extant databases, conduct research studies, develop evidence-based practice guides, and implement strategies to promote the adoption and use of practices informed by research findings. The integration of research and practice is guided by conceptual and methodological frameworks that emphasize the identification of practice characteristics that are associated with positive consequences and outcomes.
Center Website: www.ceecenc.org
The Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Education engages in activities promoting the adoption and use of evidence-based early childhood classroom practices. CEECE staff also investigate the use of nontraditional approaches to instruction and training in evidence-based preschool classroom practices and the consequences of these training approaches. Research and practice at the Center are guided by a conceptual and operational framework that considers child behavior and competence to be influenced by the ways in which preschool classrooms are organized and instructional practices are used to promote child development.
Center Website: www.innovativepractices.org
The Center for Innovative and Promising Practices focuses on the development and use of innovative and promising approaches to early intervention, early childhood education, parent and family support, and related practices. The development and adoption of promising practices are guided by a conceptual and operational framework that operationalizes the promotional, asset-based, and capacity-building characteristics of practices and how these characteristics are related to positive outcomes and consequences. CIPP staff develop and implement promising practices that advance understanding of the empirical foundations of a promotional approach to learning and development. Center activities are guided by paradigms and models that encourage the adoption of innovative approaches to strengthening child, parent, and family functioning.
Center Website: www.communitylinkages.org
The Center for Improving Community Linkages focuses on the identification and use of evidence-based practices and models for locating and linking infants, toddlers, and young children and their families with appropriate community resources, supports, and services. CICL staff are investigating the characteristics of practices that influence the ways in which families and professionals become aware of and gain access to needed resources for children and families. Center activities include the synthesis of research findings and the conduct of studies investigating models and practices that promote successful linkages between families and community resources in ways that strengthen child, parent, and family functioning.
Center Website: www.practicalevaluation.org
The Center for Practical Evaluation focuses on the development and use of evaluation methods and approaches useful for informing changes and improvements in policy and practice. CPE activities emphasize the inter-relatedness of process and outcome measures using high-quality quantitative and qualitative data for informing program and practice decisions. Center evaluation activities include measures of program and practitioner adherence to family-support principles, and the extent to which variations in adherence are related to differences in child, parent, and family outcomes. The approaches to evaluation are grounded in theory and research regarding program practices that promote and enhance positive child, parent, and family functioning.
Center Website: www.centerforcharterschools.org
The Center for the Study of Charter Schools focuses on an understanding of the evidence-based characteristics of alternative approaches to education, and how different approaches influence the development and implementation of charter school practices and outcomes for students and their families. Center staff are involved in activities identifying and investigating the different aspects of learning environments and instructional methods that are most likely to be associated with positive academic and social outcomes for students. CSCS staff are also developing, implementing, and evaluating asset-based and capacity building approaches to charter school education. Center initiatives are guided by an ecological framework that emphasizes the influences of asset-based and capacity-building activities on students' academic achievement and overall development.
Center Website: www.utilization.info
The Center for Dissemination and Utilization focuses on methods, procedures, and approaches for promoting awareness, distribution, and use of evidence-based practices and materials. CDU staff are developing different methods and procedures for disseminating information about evidence-based practices and initiatives, and investigating the use of traditional and nontraditional approaches to promoting adoption and use of these practices. The study of the characteristics and consequences of different kinds of adult learning strategies is also a focus of CDU activity as a particular approach to knowledge utilization. Bridging knowledge dissemination and knowledge utilization constitutes a major focus of Center activities.
