Institute Centers

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 for Evidence-Based Practices

Small CEBPCenter Website: www.evidencebasedpractices.org

Center Projects: CEBP Initiatives

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 for Practical Evaluation

Small CIPPThe Center for Practical Evaluation

Center Projects: CPE Initiatives

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 is 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.