child care

Projects:

# Human Rights
International Issues
Violence Against Women

Women's Rights Network. A project of the Wellesley Centers on Women, the Women's Rights Network was founded in 1995 as an international human rights organization working to end domestic violence and sexual abuse worldwide through organizing, training, research, and public education. The network comprises the Global Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse and the Human Rights Education and Advocacy Initiative, and focuses on the Battered Mothers' Testimony Project.

# Violence Against Women

National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center. Another project of the Wellesley Centers on Women is the Prevention Research Center. Funded in 1998 from the Centers for Disease Control, the center is a consortium of researchers dedicated to the prevention of all types of violence against women through the fostering of research-practitioner and interdisciplinary collaboration. The goal is to improve the ability of the field to conduct research that is relevant to the prevention of violence against women, is interdisciplinary, builds on prior research, is conceptually and methodologically sound, and is designed to address violence issues over the life-course.

RECENT PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN

# Adolescents and Girls

Adolescent Sexuality Project. Funded by the Ford Foundation, this project seeks to develop models of sexual health for girls and boys which extend beyond pregnancy and disease. Based on Brofenbrenner's ecological model of social experience.

Learning Circles. This project examines the Patriot's Trail and Plymouth Bay Girl Scouts Council Learning Circles in an effort to create Learning Circles for mentoring girls ages 10-12. These circles will provide an opportunity where girls can meet regularly with adults to discuss personal issues of importance.

Raising Confident and Competent Girls. This longitudinal study looks at middle girls' perceptions of their competencies, actual school performance, and perceptions of social support in the following categories: race/ethnicity; social class; acculturation; and residence urbanization.

Sports as Protective of Girls' High-Risk Sexual Behavior. Researchers are conducting secondary analyses of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health dataset to examine the protective effects of sports involvement on adolescents' likelihood of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors.

# Child Care

The Early Childhood Connection. Aimed at children up to 5 years old, the Early Childhood Connection project provides resources for parents, providers, and policymakers by running workshops devoted to topics such as finding quality child care, curriculum for children, using the Internet, combining work and family, and more.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. This NICHD undertaking is the most comprehensive child care study conducted to date in the United States. It analyzes the impact on child development and family functioning of child care and maternal employment from one month of age through first grade. Ten nationwide sites have been selected; the study includes 1,300 infants and their families.

National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST). The National Institute is located at the Wellesley Center for Research on Women and conducts policy-oriented and basic research on issues that affect women. The mission is to improve the quantity and quality of school-age care programs nationally by concentrating on research; education and training; consultation; program and community development; and public awareness. The following are undertakings of NIOST:

Cross-Cities Network (CCN).The CCN brings together leaders from 25 citywide after-school initiatives in major cities across the United States. The three primary goals of this project are to increase the capacity and knowledge of high-level leaders, to improve the effectiveness of citywide after school initiatives, and to contribute to the development of a coherent vision for the field at the national level.

Strategic Planning: Building a Skilled and Stable Workforce for After School Programs. The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST), in collaboration with the AED Center for Youth Development and Policy Research (the Center) is engaged in a 9-month, national strategic planning process for workforce development across the after school field.

Evaluation of Jacksonville Children's Commission's (JCC) After-School Program Initiatives. TEAM UP is a solution of the Jacksonville community to help its families meet the challenges of raising youth in today's society by providing a safe, structured, positive learning environment during the after school hours.

Puerto Rican Young Fathers' Involvement with Their Children. The research team aims to describe what predisposes Puerto Rican young men to become the kind of fathers they are by interviewing a random sample of 300 Puerto Rican young fathers (aged 18 to 26).

The Empathy Project. One of the major developmental tasks of preschoolers is to develop empathy (the ability to understand and share in waht others are feeling), sharing and cooperation, and othersocial skills they will need as they mature. Empathy is a building block for other kinds of "prosocial behavior"- that is, helping, sharing, and comforting- and one of the cornerstones of later social competence.

# Education

Women in Community Development (WICD) Higher Education for Lower-Income Women: A Real Route Out of Poverty. Begun in 1997, WICD is a joint venture of Project Hope, the Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development, and the College of Public and Community Service (CPCS) at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. With funding provided by the Nellie Mae Foundation, Senior Research Scientist Fern Marx consulted with WICD staff, program participants, and an evaluation advisory group in order to help the program better understand its work and establish in-house monitoring, accountability, and evaluation activities to guide future program development.

# Education
Curriculum

Shaping a Better World: Global Issues Teaching Guide. A guide for middle school teachers designed to help them teach about the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and the critical issues discussed at that conference.

Bringing Yourself to Work: Caregiving in After-School Environments. A new training model for after-school program staff that places emphasis on the importance of self-awareness among caregivers.

Higher Education Resource Services. HERS, New England now provides an unusual in-service model of administrative training- The Management Institute for Women in Higher Education.

National SEED Project on Inclusive Curriculum (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity). The SEED Initiative is a staff-development equity project for educators. It establishes teacher-led, faculty development seminars in public and private schools to promote gender-fair and multiculturally equitable materials and curriculum.

Summer Institute (for Science Teachers) on Gender Equity. This institute works to help teachers devise gender-equitable teaching methods and materials.

# Employment
Aging

Assessing the Relational Resources of Older Workers (ARROW). A project of the Center for Research on Women, ARROW received funding from the National Institute on Aging in 2001. This study is investigating the workplace-relevant relational beliefs of older workers and is developing a measure to assess relational beliefs among this population. Project staff are collecting data through in-person, semi-structured interviews with Boston-area workers aged 55+ both female and male.

# Global Issues
Economic & Social Status of Women

Experiencing Globalization: The Construction of Gender and Ethnicity in the TNC Workplace. This project focuses on Korean immigrant women workers' experiences of globalization in the workplace. Because work and identity are central features of modern life, this study enhances our understanding of the globalization process and how it intersects with the specific features of the workplace to configure many dimensions of identity.

# Health and Health Care
Mental Health

Women Involved in Living and Learning (WILL)/Westhampton Reports: A Research Agenda for the WILL Program. Westhampton College and WCW attempt to address low self-esteem through a three-pronged attack: women's studies coursework; co-curricular programming on gender issues; and collective action that fosters self-awareness and confidence. This project is based on successful work completed by Westhampton and seeks to create a new agenda to improve self-esteem and confidence.

# Literature

Women's Review of Books. A publication that reviews the latest books on or by women, in addition to offering comment and criticism.

# Sexual Assault/Harassment

Project on Teasing and Bullying. The Project on Teasing and Bullying seeks to examine and counteract the effects of the culture of bullying on children and youth. Central to this work is the impact of societal messages about gender and gender roles on the development of aggressive and violent behavior. The project addresses these complex issues through a combination of research, action, and advocacy.

Sexual Harassment in the Schools. Addresses gender violence and the need for acknowledgment and information about gender violence in the schools and curriculum.

# Welfare Reform

The Effects of Maternal Welfare on Children's Outcomes. Funded by the William T. Grant Foundation, this project investigates the effects of partial welfare receipt on things like the well-being of children, measuring development, health, education, and fertility behavior.

# Work and Family

The Changing Workforce. The U.S. workforce is changing, with rising rates of employment in service industries, diversification of the workfroce with respect to gender and race or ethnicity, and rising rates of employment among workers over the age of 50.

RECENT PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE STONE CENTER

# Communication
Mental Health

Gender Relations Project. This project seeks to promote healthy, mutually enhancing connections between women and men and boys and girls, and in couples, families, schools, and organizations.

The Jean Baker Miller Training Institute. The institute follows the Relational/Cultural Model developed by the Stone Center, which advocates that growth-fostering connections are the central human necessity and disconnections are the source of psychological problems. Jean Baker offers residential and training programs for people with master's degrees in clinical areas, RNs, MDs, and PhDs.

Wellesley Relational Model Instrument Development. The Relational Model was developed in 1991 as a theoretical feminist paradigm for the assessment of women's psychological development and well-being. It is distinguished due to its emphasis on gender difference and on the power of caretaking and relationships in women's lives.

# Education
K-12

Reach Out to Schools: Social Competency Program. This program is a comprehensive social and emotional learning program for children in kindergarten through fifth grade, their teachers, and their parents. It features an Open Circle Curriculum, which aims to foster positive relationships in a cooperative classroom environment and enhance the necessary skills to solve interpersonal problems. Additionally, it offers training programs for parents, teachers, and staff.

Reach Out to Schools: Social Competency Program Assessment Project. The goal of this initiative is to improve the social skills of children, encourage problem resolution, increase relationship building, and foster a caring and respectful environment for elementary aged school children.

# Education
Mental Health
Higher Education

Assessment of Relational Health and Psychological Development Among College Women. In conjunction with the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute and Office of Counseling Services, this project aims to address relational health and the psychological development of college-age women.

# Violence Against Women
Mental Health

Adult Memories and Consequences and Recovery from Child Sexual Abuse. Currently being undertaken by center staff, this longitudinal study looks at adult memories, negative outcomes, and resiliency of women and men who were sexually abused as children.

Longitudinal Research on Partner Violence, Child Physical Abuse, and Child Sexual Abuse. A comprehensive follow-up study, this project studies families in which physical and/or sexual abuse has occurred with the aim of creating programs and policies that will prevent and treat family violence and promote child safety and family functioning.

de Alwis, Rangita de Silva. 2010. New and Emerging Developments in Gender and Law in China.

The Stone Center and Center for Research on Women publishes the WCW Publications Catalog annually in January/February. This catalog contains working papers, works-in-progress, special reports, curriculum, books, and tapes of current Center work.

In the News is an insert published twice a year in the membership newsletter, Memberlink.

WCW Progress Report details project information, funding, major research findings, lists of events, conferences, colloquia, institutes, workshops, etc.

Research Report is published twice a year in the spring and fall and updates readers on the status of the center's projects and programs.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN

Links to Learning: Supporting Learning in Out-of-School Time Programs, NIOST (2002). This lively video, aimed at practitioners and policy makers, delivers a clear message about the unique role after-school programs play in supporting children's learning and development.

New Perspectives on Compensation Strategies for the Out-of-School Time Workforce, Gwen Morgan and Brooke Harvey (2002). In this paper we touch briefly upon the unique characteristics of the out-fo-school time workforce that contribute to inadequate compensation and we explore workforce compensation more deeply from the perspective of economics.

Working Together for Children and Families: A Community's Guide to Making the MOST of Out-of-School Time, MOST Initiative (2001).

Fact Sheet on School-Age Children's Out-of-School Time, NIOST (2001).

A Place of Their Own: Designing Quality Space for Out-of-School Time, NIOST (2001).

The Road to SAC Professionalism: Emerging Models, Trends, and Issues in Credentializing, Liz Nilsen (1999). This paper presents and discusses results from a nation-wide survey conducted on current state efforts toward establishing school-age credentials.

Literacy: Exploring Strategies to Enhance Learning in After-School Programs, Kathryn Hynes, Susan O'Connor, An-Me Chung (1999). This paper explores different ways that after-school programs can support children's literacy development.

MOST Initiative: Making the MOST of Out-of-School Time: The Human Side of Quality (1998). A short video discussing the importance of the relationships that children develop in out-of-school programs, with ideas on how to support children's social and emotional needs.

SACC Project Fact Sheet on School-Age Children (1998). A fact sheet providing demographics of how children use their out-of-school time.

Homework Assistance and Out-of-School Time: Filling the Need, Finding a Balance, Susan O'Connor and Kate McGuire (1998). A research paper designed to help out-of-school programs design their role in providing homework assistance.

Homework and Out-of-School Time Programs: Filling the Need, Finding a Balance, Susan O'Connor and Kate McGuire (1998). A booklet summarizing the main points from the paper on homework assistance.

Making the MOST of Out-of-School Time: Technology's Role in Collaboration, Lilian Coltin and Kate McGuire (1997).

Growing Together: Connections Between School-Age Care and Youth Work Professionals, Marie E. Esposito (1997).

Twelve Key Elements for Higher Education Training: A Conceptual Framework for the Field of School-Age Care, Marie E. Esposito and Joan Costley (1997).

I Wish the Kids Didn't Watch So Much TV: Out-of-School Time in Three Low Income Communities, Full Report, Beth Miller, Susan O'Connor, Sylvia W. Sirignano, and Pamela Joshi (1997). Describes the findings of a study of children's out-of-school time.

#4 Out-of-School Time: Effects on Learning in the Primary Grades, Beth Miller (1995). Describes some of the major issues raised by research on the effects of out-of-school time on children's learning and discusses possible responses to the issues raised by the literature.

SACC Project National Study of Before-and After-School Programs, Executive Summary, U.S. Dept. of Education (1993). An assessment of the prevalence, structure, and features of formal programs that offer enrichment, academic instruction, recreation, and supervised care for children between the ages of 5 and 13 before and after school, as well as on vacations and holidays.

Older Women in the United States, Betty Greenfield, Nancy Emerson Lombardo, and Rosalind C. Barnett (1999). Conference report discussing the changing context for older women in the U.S. and examining some of the outdated and restrictive ideas embedded in society about older women's physical abilities, relationships, and economic options.

Relational Resources and Older Adults, Anne E. Noonan (2001). This paper suggests areas in which relational/cultural theory can inform more mainstream gerontological research.

Parting Company: Understanding the Loss of a Loved One, Cynthia Pearson, Margaret L. Stubbs (1999).

The Cost and Quality of Full Day, Year-round Early Care and Education in Massachusetts: Preschool Classrooms, Nancy L. Marshall, Cindy L. Creps, Nancy R. Burstein, Frederic B. Glantz, Wendy Wagner Robeson, Steve Barnett (2001). This report reveals what key factors are related to better-quality early care and education for peschoolers.

The Relevance of Self at Work: Emotional Intelligence and Staff Training in After-School Environments, Michelle Seligson and Marybeth MacPhee (2001). This paper examines how adult educators in after-school programs can mobilize their inner-resources and social-emotional aptitude to achieve good relationships with their coworkers and with the children in their care.

Parent Involvement as a Predictor of Student Achiveement for Low-Income Children, Michelle Porche (2000). This paper investigates the relationship between parent involvement over time and children's academic achievement for a sample of low-income families participating in a longitudinal study of language and literacy development.

How Do You Advance Quality Child Care? SACC (1999).

Estimating the Unmet Need for Child Care Services in Massachusetts, Magaly Queralt, Ann Dryden Witte (1999). In this paper the authors propose a novel way of conceptualizing unmet need for social services as well as a systematic and unique method of identifying the geographic areas where it exists, using a child care illustration.

After-School Programs and the K-8 Principal: Standards for Quality School-Age Child Care (Revised), National Association of Elementary School Principals (1999). This publication was developed to provide practical assistance with: guidelines for administration and programming; resources for information, collaboration, and funding; checklists for program evaluation and improvement planning.

A Resource Guide for School-Age Child Care, Kathryn A. Wheeler (1998). A listing of books, videos, and organizations that would be of interest to after-school providers.

Child Care in Massachusetts: Where the Supply Is and Isn't, Magaly Queralt, Ann Dryden Witte (1997). This publication uses sophisticated graphics and statistical modeling to examine the availability of child care to low-income families.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE STONE CENTER

Drug and Alcohol Abuse

The Relational Model of Women's Psychological Development: Implications for Substance Abuse, Stephanie S. Covington, Janet Surrey (2000). This paper describes the basic tenets of the Stone Center's Relational Model of women's development and considers the model's implications for the etiology, treatment, recovery, and prevention of substance abuse in women.

Videotapes and Manuals of Project W.A.I.T. (Wellesley Improv Theatre):

 

• Education
  
  
• Employment Issues
  
  
• Family
  
  
• Health and Health Care
  
  
• Lesbian and Gay Studies
  
  
• Mental Health
  
  
• Sexual Harassment
     Violence Against Women
     Mental Health

Gender and Race Patterns in the Pathways from School-Based Sports Participation to Self-Esteem, Allison J. Tracy and Sumru Erkut (2001). This working paper uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on Caucasian and African American girls and boys.

The Skin We're In: Teaching Our Children to Be: Emotionally Strong, Socially Smart, Spiritually Connected, Janie Victoria Ward (2000). In 1990-1991 the author received a Rockefeller Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to design and implement a research project on raising balck adolescents around issues of race in the post civil rights era. IN 1996-1997, as a Visiting Research Scholar at the Wellesly Centers for Women, her analysis of that data became the foundation of this latest work.

Protective Effects of Sports Participation on Girls' Sexual Behavior, Sumru Erkut, Allison Tracy (2000). Based on secondary analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this paper shows that among high school girls, participation in sports is associated with a later age of becoming sexually active.

Raising Confident and Competent Girls: How Middle Schools Can Support Girls, Fern Marx, Sumru Erkut, Jacqueline Fields, Jacklyn Blake Clayton (2000). This is a facilitators' training manual for conducting a research-based workshop for middle school educators, staff of youth-serving organizations, and parents.

Doing Research in a Disadvantaged Population: Methods of Obtaining and Retaining Samples, Sumru Erkut, Cynthia Garcia Coll, Odette Alarcon (1999). Drawing on two studies of community-based samples of minority youth, this paper describes methods used to increase volunteering and retention that are important for the validity of results obtained in longitudinal studies.

The Femininity Ideology Scale: Development and Validation of a New Measure of Gender, Deborah L. Tolman, Michelle V. Porche (1999). This paper describes the development and validation of the Femininity Ideology Scale (FIS) through three studies with racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse early, middle, and late adolescent girls.

Normative Study of Puerto Rican Adolescents- Final Report, Sumru Erkut, Odette Alarcon, Cynthia Garcia Coll (1999). This final report of the longitudinal study of Puerto Rican adolescents' development includes a discussion of the methodological advances and notable findings generated by the research team as well as the results of the cross-sectional and longidudinal hypotheses that guided the study.

Raising Confident and Competent Girls: Implications of Diversity, Sumru Erkut, Fern Marx, Jacqueline P. Fields, and Rachel Sing (1998). A study of African-American, Caucasian, Chinese-American, and Puerto Rican middle school girls' self evaluations.

Stereotyped Perceptions of Mainland Puerto Rican Adolescents' Behaviors, Sumru Erkut, Odette Alarcón, Cynthia García Coll, Laura Szalacha, and Wanda Guzman (1996). Describes two studies, one that examines the extent of Puerto Rican youth's self-reported risk taking and another that investigates community perceptions of the risk-taking of Puerto Rican youth.

Books for Boys and Girls Today: An Annotated Bibliography of Non-sexist Books for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers, Carrie Spillane, and Maureen Crowley (1996). A list of books for infants, toddlers and preschoolers; also includes publisher information for each book.

Mutual Psychological Development Among Latina Girls, Nancy P. Genero (1996). A video in which the speaker discusses Latina adolescent girls' perceptions of their close relationships.

Language Development from Birth to Six Months, Wendy Wagner Robeson (1996). Discusses stages of language development through which infants pass before speaking their first words. It outlines activities that adults and others can use to promote and encourage early communication efforts in infants, and explains why they enhance linguistic development.

Raising Competent Girls: An Exploratory Study of Diversity In Girls' Views of Liking One's Self, Sumru Erkut, and Fern Marx (1995). A study of middle school girls' understanding of what it means for a girl to like herself and what advice they would give new parents on how to raise their baby girl so she will grow up to have a positive regard for herself.

Engaging in Culturally Sensitive Research on Puerto Rican Youth, Odette Alarcón, Sumru Erkut, Cynthia Garcia Coll, and Heidie A. Vázquez (1994). A description of two culturally sensitive longitudinal studies of normal development of Puerto Rican adolescents and Puerto Rican children growing up in the U.S.

Girls in Schools: A Bibliography of Research on Girls in U.S. Public Schools (Kindergarten through Grade 12), Susan McGee Bailey (1992). Books, reports and journal articles listed by topic headings, including sex and gender socialization, teen pregnancy and parenting, vocational education, sexual harassment, and women in educational leadership.

New Economic Trends for Women's Employment: Implications for Girls' Vocational Education, Lynn C. Burbridge (1992). Reviews literature on the effectiveness of secondary level vocational education programs and on the impact of these programs on girls and young women.

Body Talk, Margaret L. Stubbs (1990). A set of four pamphlets designed to help early adolescents find answers to their questions about pubertal growth.

After School Programs for Low-Income Young Adolescents: Overview and Program Profiles, Fern Marx (1989). Discusses the incidence and consequences of self-care for young, low-income adolescents, provides criteria for developing good programs, and profiles 18 programs that are successfully serving this population.

Becoming a Woman: Considerations in Educating Adolescents About Menstruation, Margaret L. Stubbs, Jill Rierdan, and Elissa Koff (1988). Reviews findings on the psychological significance of menstruation and offers recommendations for improving menstrual education for both girls and boys.

Sign up for the The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) 2013 Summer Seminars:

http://niost.org/Summer-Seminars/summer-seminars-2013

Apply for the 2013 SEED Leadership Training (Deadline May 15, 2013):

http://www.wcwonline.org/Projects-Extra-Information/join-us-for-seed-training

Earn 5 CEUs >> JBMTI Conference: Raising Connected and Competent Boys: New Models of Strength and Resilience:

http://www.jbmti.org/Upcoming-Events/raising-21st-century-boys-connected-competent-thriving