Spring 2004 | Volume 8, #1 Diversity

FPG

Child

Development

Institute

The University of North Carolina

at Chapel Hillearlydevelopments
news

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the focus of the next issue 

of Early Developments. Upcoming stories include

Early Identification and Newborn Screening

Speech, Language and FXS 

The Behavioral Challenge 

National Fragile X Awareness Day 

Fragile X Information Center 

Video Analysis Reveals Key Behaviors 

Dick Clifford, FPG senior scientist and research 

associate professor in the UNC School of 

Education, received the Chancellor’s Award from 

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is 

given for meritorious or distinguished accomplishments. 

He was one of five university leaders recognized in the 

categories of devotion to duty, innovations, public service, 

safety/heroism, human relations or other achievements. 

The award recognized that “Clifford’s accomplishments 

have dramatically changed services for young children in 

North Carolina.”

Coming Next
ISSN 1536-4739

Editors

Pam Winton, Virginia Buysse

Writer

John Manuel

Designer

Gina Harrison

Photographer

Don Trull

Assistant Editor

Satsuki Scoville

www.fpg.unc.edu

www.ncedl.org

Early Developments is published three times 

a year by the FPG Child Development Institute 

at The University of North Carolina at Chapel 

Hill. It is funded in part by UNC-Chapel Hill and 

in part by PR/Award Number R307A60004, 

administered by the Office of Educational 

Research and Improvement, National Institute 

on Early Childhood Development and Education, US Department of Education. Content 

of articles does not necessarily represent the 

position of the US Deparment of Education. 

Endorsements by the federal government 

should not be assumed.

To subscribe or

to change your address

contact Jay Hargrove

CB #8185, UNC-CH

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8185

(919) 966-0888

hargrove@mail.fpg.unc.edu

To order additional copies

contact FPG Publications Office

(919) 966-4221

FPGPublications@unc.edu

Periodicals postage paid at 

Chapel Hill, NC

Total design, production, & printing costs 

of this issue of Early Developments

were $10,316. 

10,000 copies of this document were 

printed at a cost of $9040, or90¢ each.

Photo Notes:

Stock photos on pages 16, 18, 23 (#1, #2) 

Image on page 12 from photo by 

Camille Catlett

Photos on page 23 (#3, #4) courtesy of 

Project U-STARS

|ed|

early developments

Spring 2004 | Volume 8 #1 

Director’s Notes

4

Nuestros Niños

6

Taking Up the Challenge

10

Bringing Diversity 

to Early Childhood 

Workforce

12

contents

Secrets to Success

16

Social Identity in 

Diverse Schools

18

Finding the Stars 

in a Multi-Colored Sky

22

FPG Publications

 24

Afterword: From 

Different Worlds

26
4 early developments | spring 2004 

BY NOW IT SHOULD NOT BE NEWS TO ANYONE that 

America is becoming increasingly diverse in its 

population. Signs that we live in a multicultural, 

global society abound in the world today. In fact the word 

“minority” is taking on a new meaning in states such 

as California, where fewer than 50% of the children are 

Caucasian and there are more Hispanic than AfricanAmerican children. These trends will likely characterize 

the US as a whole in the not-so-distant future, and early 

childhood programs need to be ready.

What is it about cultural diversity that challenges early 

childhood programs? One factor is that children enter early 

childhood and early intervention programs from families 

with a wide range of values and cultural experiences. 

Sometimes those values and experiences differ from those 

of the teachers and caregivers in those programs. Another 

factor is that unfortunately in America today, “minority” 

status is statistically more likely to be associated with 

poverty and poor educational outcomes. This means that 

special efforts are needed to support some children to 

maximize school success, but also that we need to be 

careful and not unfairly characterize an entire group of 

individuals. Poverty is probably the single factor that most 

significantly influences success in school and society, 

irrespective of one’s ethnic or cultural background. But 

racism, discrimination, and perceived minority status also 

work in subtle yet powerful ways. 

This issue of Early Developments highlights some of 

the work at FPG designed to meet this need. One key 

concern is the extent to which individuals working in early 

childhood programs understand children and families from 

different cultures and behave in ways that are respectful of 

cultural differences. One FPG project is designed to assess 

beliefs, practices and barriers perceived by early childhood 

professionals who work with Latino children. Building on 

this information, FPG is testing the efficacy of a three-day 

workshop designed to raise the knowledge, attitudes, and 

skills of child care providers in working with culturally 

and linguistically diverse families. Consistent with models 

used by other projects at FPG, the training includes a selfassessment tool that is used to help raise participants’ 

awareness of their own attitudes and behaviors, and to 

develop a training and technical assistance plan.

In addition to “front-line” service providers, a second 

need is for more diversity among our nation’s early 

childhood leaders. An FPG project called Walking the 

Walk strives to increase the number of culturally and 

linguistically diverse people entering the early childhood 

profession through campus-community partnerships 

across North Carolina. And researchers at FPG are taking 

advantage of a special program funded by the National 

Institutes of Health to promote research careers of 

individuals from diverse cultures.

Finally, we are engaged in direct work with children. 

In contrast to much research that has focused on school 

Director’s Notes

by Don Bailey

4 early developments | spring 2004
spring 2004 | early developments 5

failure in low-income and minority children, projects at 

FPG focus on factors that contribute to school success. One 

project is finding out about children’s constructions and 

negotiations of social identities in culturally diverse schools. 

And another project uses science activities as the context in 

which to identify and nurture talent in young children from 

diverse cultures.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is one 

of the most well known of all American speeches. Much 

progress has been made since his time, but the dream has 

yet to be fully realized. Each April our country celebrates 

the Week of the Young Child in recognition that the early 

childhood years are where it all begins. In addition to 

assuring that children have the early experiences necessary 

for school success, so that no child is left behind, we also 

need to assure that all children finish the early childhood 

period with an appreciation for and understanding of 

individual differences. Attitudes about individual differences 

are formed during the early childhood years, in part 

by living and interacting with a wide or narrow range 

of people, and in part by the attitudes and experiences 

provided by adults. What should teachers and parents do 

to facilitate understanding and acceptance of individual 

differences? How overt and planned should these 

strategies be? How can this be done without reinforcing 

generalizations about groups that do not reflect individual 

variation within groups? Can strategies be identified that 

assure a lifetime of appreciation and respect for human 

diversity? Much discussion about these topics has occurred 

in the early childhood literature. This has resulted in 

various “multicultural” curriculum models and guidelines. 

However, research on this topic at the early childhood 

level is scant and teachers have very little guidance as to 

the best strategies to use. Much work is needed to identify 

meaningful and appropriate practices that really make a 

difference in attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. The research 

being conducted at FPG outlined in this issue is making an 

important contribution to achieving this end. |ed|

spring 2004 | early developments 5
6 early developments | spring 2004 

T

HE CHILDREN ENROLLED in Kara Thompson’s pre-kindergarten 

classroom are working in various interest centers. Several children 

are looking at a book together in the book corner. Others are tracing 

letter forms in the writing center, playing with blocks, and putting 

puzzles together. Kara notices that Benita is quietly observing the 

other children in the dramatic play area, but she does not enter into play with 

them. Benita only recently enrolled in the program and Kara is still trying to 

figure out how much English Benita understands while helping her to get 

adjusted to the classroom.

Increasingly, early childhood teachers are serving children who are from culturally 

and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In order to determine how well early 

childhood programs are addressing the needs of Latino children and families, FPG

has conducted a national survey of state administrators of early childhood programs. 

Released in 2004, the survey examined administrators’ challenges, strategies, 

and beliefs around serving Latino children and families. Four types of early 

childhood programs were represented: child care and Head Start, as well as 

Part B-Section 619 preschool programs and Part C infant-toddler programs for 

children with disabilities or at-risk conditions. 

Survey 

Highlights 

Issues in 

Serving 

Latino 

Children

Nuestros 

Niños

6 early developments | spring 2004

Our

Children
spring 2004 | early developments 7

According to the survey, the enrollment of Latino children 

in these early childhood programs is increasing. Of the four 

programs represented, Head Start administrators estimated 

the highest percentage (28%) of Latino children enrolled.

“Head Start administrators also reported that more than 

one-third of the parents of these children primarily speak 

Spanish and this presents a big challenge with respect to 

outreach and parental involvement,” says Virginia Buysse, 

FPG senior scientist and principal investigator of the study.

Across all of these programs, administrators reported that 

the most urgent challenges in serving the Latino population 

were the lack of Latino or bilingual staff and the lack 

of sufficient preparation and training of early childhood 

professionals. Other challenges given high ratings included 

communication difficulties with Latino families and a lack 

of information in Spanish about early childhood programs.

“These findings suggest that communication difficulties 

continue to serve as a significant barrier for Latino 

families in terms of their full access and utilization of early 

childhood services,” Buysse says. “Outreach activities to 

promote early childhood services must take into account a 

family’s home language and use many different strategies to 

make this information widely accessible and acceptable to 

Latino communities.”

Administrators who reported using more strategies also 

reported lower ratings on challenges. “This suggests that 

programs that use a wide variety of strategies to serve 

Latino families may have found ways to overcome the 

challenges they initially encountered in working with 

this population,” says Dina Castro, FPG researcher and 

co-principal investigator of this study. Among the most 

frequently used strategies were translating written materials 

into Spanish, hiring professional interpreters, and referring 

families to other community agencies. The least frequently 

used strategies included conducting an assessment of 

needs and resources specific to the Latino community 

and preparing parents for leadership roles. Ideally, 

programs could plan the use of these different strategies 

systematically to allow a gradual move away from solving 

immediate problems to working toward goals that have a 

more lasting impact on the well-being of Latino children 

and families.

All four groups of administrators gave uniformly high 

ratings to two different curricular approaches for promoting 

cultural diversity. These include the additive approach (also 

known as “heroes and holidays”) in which ethnic content, 

concepts, or themes are added to a standard curriculum, 

and the transformational approach, which involves 

spring 2004 | early developments 7
8 early developments | spring 2004 

embedding materials (e.g., books, artifacts) and activities 

throughout the curriculum and learning environment to 

enhance children’s appreciation of other racial, ethnic, and 

cultural experiences. “There is growing consensus that 

early childhood programs must shift from relying solely 

on additive strategies toward a transformational approach, 

the goal of which is to create a classroom environment 

that not only promotes acceptance of diverse cultural 

beliefs and practices, but also validates the experiences of 

children from diverse groups by making these activities an 

integral part of the classroom’s daily routines,” Buysse says. 

Administrators also generally endorsed a third approach 

for promoting diversity that involves providing additional 

educational opportunities to increase school readiness for 

at-risk children from diverse cultural groups. One example 

of this approach is North Carolina’s More at Four prekindergarten program, which currently serves over 10,000 

children in the 2003–2004 school year.

Administrators were asked to rank their use of three 

parental involvement strategies: providing opportunities 

for Latino parents to participate in making decisions 

about program policies, involving Latino parents in their 

children’s education, and encouraging participation of 

Latino parents in parent education and parent support 

activities. As a group, Head Start administrators reported 

the highest mean ratings, and Part C administrators the 

second highest ratings on all three parental involvement 

strategies presented.

Experts in the field view the 

preservation of a child’s home 

language as a critical aspect of 

language development for English 

language learners. Administrators 

responding to this survey generally 

agreed on the importance of this 

approach. Further, administrators 

generally agreed with the notion 

that learning two languages at 

the same time does not cause 

confusion or language delays 

in young children, and that 

teaching both languages actually 

facilitates English language 

learning—findings consistent with 

recommendations in the literature.

8 early developments | spring 2004
spring 2004 | early developments 9

The study found less agreement among groups of 

administrators on issues related to child assessment. 

Administrators generally agreed that standardized tests, if 

used at all, should be translated into Spanish rather than 

administered through interpreters. (Some experts propose 

that a more effective approach would involve increasing 

the availability of culturally and linguistically competent 

assessors.) Administrators were divided about whether 

it was advisable to assess young Latino children in their 

home language or use both their home language and 

English (some experts endorse the second approach).

“In many ways, the findings of this survey confirm what 

we already thought,” says Castro. “We knew the enrollment 

of Latinos in early childhood programs was increasing. 

We knew the language barrier was a major challenge. The 

survey also provided new information about what early 

childhood programs are doing to meet the needs of Latino 

children. For instance, it was encouraging to learn how 

many programs are making an effort to reach out to Latino 

parents, despite difficulties in communicating with these 

families.”

The national survey is one component of a larger FPG

project called Nuestros Niños. As part of this project, FPG

researchers are assessing program practices to promote 

diversity and conducting ethnographic observations in 

classrooms that enroll Latino children in Florida, North 

Carolina, and Washington. They also are interviewing 

parents, teachers, and other professionals participating in 

their study to examine the same issues addressed in the 

national survey. |ed|

To Learn More

Nuestros Niños Project

www.fpg.unc.edu/~nuestros/

Addressing the Needs of Latino Children: A National Survey 

of State Administrators of Early Childhood Programs

www.fpg.unc.edu/~nuestros/pdfs/NNExecSummary.pdf

spring 2004 | early developments 9

...it was encouraging 

to learn how many 

programs are making 

an effort to reach out 

to Latino parents, 

despite difficulties in 

communicating with 

these families.
10 early developments | spring 2004 

Taking Up the 

Challenge

ONE OF THE KEY FINDINGS OF FPG’s national survey of early childhood 

programs is the need for a more qualified workforce to serve the 

nation’s growing Latino community. FPG has responded to that challenge 

through the creation of New Voices/Nuevas Voces, a project that seeks to 

enhance the capabilities of a diverse array of professionals working with Latinos 

in the state of North Carolina.

New Voices gives early childhood professionals and others the training and 

technical assistance to raise their knowledge, attitudes, and skills in working 

with culturally and linguistically diverse families. Offered at different locations 

across North Carolina, the training takes place over a three-day period 

and covers modules on the foundations of cultural diversity, cross-cultural 

communication, understanding diverse families and their roles, supporting 

language development in young English learners, and working with culturally 

and linguistically diverse children.

“The focus of the training is on Latino families, but the modules’ content 

includes general information about working with families from diverse culture 

and language backgrounds,” says Dina Castro, principal investigator of New 

Voices.

Lynn Young, a pre-kindergarten teacher in Wake County schools and one of 

the participants of the New Voices program, used the information to change 

some of her classroom practices. One example is a storybook activity in which 

she read the book Too Many Tamales with children in her classroom and later 

sent home an English or Spanish version of the same book (depending on the 

child’s home language) for children to read with their parents. Once the children 

were familiar with the story, Lynn invited one of the Latina mothers to make 

tamales at school and share them with the children. On the day of the visit, with 

help from an interpreter, this mother explained to the children what ingredients 

are used and how tamales are made.

Nuevas Voces

New Voices
spring 2004 | early developments 11

The technical assistance component 

of the project is supervised by Betsy 

Ayankoya, co-principal investigator. 

“We offer six months of technical 

support to all participants, which 

includes conference calls to discuss 

specific areas of interest, on-site 

consultation, a listserv to allow 

participants to share news and 

questions, and access to resources 

through the project’s web page,” 

says Ayankoya.

Participants 

have included 

preschool teachers, 

speech language 

pathologists, early 

interventionists, and 

occupational and 

physical therapists, 

among others. One 

of those is Karen 

Haas, now a physical 

therapy consultant 

in Greenville, North 

Carolina. Haas 

received the training 

as a member of a 

regional Early Intervention Training 

and Technical Assistance System 

(EITTAS) team.

“I wanted the training so I could 

be a better consultant to the people 

I work with, who are other physical 

therapists,” Haas says. “After my 

training at FPG, I sponsored my 

own workshop for professionals in 

northeastern North Carolina on how 

to more effectively serve the Latino 

community.

“The FPG

[New Voices] staff 

was extremely 

responsive,” Haas 

says. “They were 

willing to work with 

participants to help 

them with their 

particular areas of 

concern. Based on 

our feedback, they 

made revisions to 

the content for the 

second training.”

Haas does not 

speak Spanish 

and works 

only with other 

professionals, 

but from past 

experience, she 

knows how 

valuable cultural 

sensitivity is in 

working with 

families with 

young children. 

Haas provides her 

therapists with 

materials written 

in Spanish, which 

New Voices helped 

provide. Haas 

is also trying to 

weave the content 

of the training 

into workshops on other topics, such 

as assistive technologies and writing 

therapy goals.

FPG’s New Voices project is now 

conducting interviews of Latino 

families to incorporate family 

perspectives into its training 

curriculum. Investigators are also 

working on a book to show service 

providers how Latino families perceive 

the services they are getting, and help 

increase providers’ understanding 

of Latino families strengths and 

needs. “Rather than a textbook, this 

represents first-hand experiences of 

Latino families,” Castro says. “It will 

help service providers understand the 

perspective of Latino parents.”

The New Voices training and 

technical assistance model is currently 

being field tested in North Carolina, 

and will be available to a national 

audience by the end of the project. 

This project is funded by the US

Department of Education, Office of 

Special Education Programs. |ed|

To Learn More

New Voices/Nuevas Voces Project

www.fpg.unc.edu/~nv

After my training at 

FPG, I sponsored 

my own workshop 

for professionals in 

northeastern North 

Carolina on how to 

more effectively 

serve the Latino 

community.
12 early developments | spring 2004 

Higher Ed

Brings 

Diversity 

to 

Early 

Childhood 

Workforce

E

ARLY EDUCATION AND INTERVENTION PROFESSIONALS increasingly are 

encountering children and families from a variety of cultures, yet 

early childhood programs are largely unprepared to address these 

diverse educational and linguistic needs. One of the key challenges in 

meeting the needs of our rapidly diversifying population is to increase 

the diversity of teachers and other early childhood specialists and 

administrators. While children and adolescents of color will make up as much 

as 40% of the US youth population by 2005, the majority of our early childhood 

educators are white and female. Colleges and universities train our educators, yet 

they have not succeeded in recruiting, retaining and supporting large numbers 

of racial and ethnic minorities into their early childhood personnel preparation 

programs. FPG’s Walking the Walk program seeks to break this impasse by forging 

campus-community partnerships across North Carolina dedicated to increasing the 

number of culturally and linguistically diverse people entering the early childhood 

profession and supporting faculty who prepare those individuals.

Over the past three years, Walking the Walk has provided training and technical 

assistance to six teams of university and community college faculty, community 

providers, parents and state agency leaders. Five of the teams are community based 

and one is statewide. Several of the former have gone on to develop their own 

impressive programs.

In Raleigh, team members Patsy Pierce, professor of Child Development at 

predominantly white Meredith College, and Ida Bailey, former professor at 

predominantly black Shaw University, developed a collaborative effort known as 

the Early Intervention Seedlings program. Enacted in 2002, the program brought 

together Meredith and Shaw students pursuing early childhood teaching degrees to 

learn how to work with ethnically diverse young children with special needs and 

their families. The program included classroom instruction by Pierce and Bailey, 

observation of children with special needs at a Raleigh child care center, and home 

visits with the children’s families. Former students, most of whom are now working 

as early childhood professionals, give the program uniformly high praise.

“It was one of my best experiences in college,” says Amanda Austin, a former 

Meredith student and now a preschool teacher at Hillburn Drive Elementary School 

in Raleigh. “We did a lot of activities both in and out of classrooms. I especially 

enjoyed the home visits. We worked with a diverse group of families, including an 
spring 2004 | early developments 13

Video and Curriculum 

Boosts Race Relations

During the racially divisive decade of the 1970s, an embittered Ku Klux Klansman and an outspoken black woman activist 

managed to overcome their hatred for one another and form a lifelong mutual friendship. That story, and the film on which it was 

based, are the subject of a training curriculum developed by FPG and three other Triangle institutions for use in middle school, 

secondary school, and college audiences.

The 2001 video documentary An Unlikely Friendship tells the story of how white supremacist C.P. Ellis and black activist Ann 

Atwater developed a close friendship despite deeply-held racial prejudices. Producer Diane Bloom says the film is not just 

about black-white relations in the US, but about all forms of group hatred. “It is a hopeful and optimistic film, because if two 

people as different as Ann and C.P. could transcend stereotypes and form such a strong and loving bond, so can the rest of 

us,” Bloom says.

FPG researchers, along with members of the Kenan Institute for Ethics and the Office of Institutional Equity at Duke University, 

saw the potential for using this film as an educational tool to promote race relations.

“The film was first shown several years ago and audience response was extremely positive, especially in regard to its capacity 

for educating the general public and students about civil rights and race relations,” says Pam Winton, a senior scientist at FPG. 

“Based on that, we decided to produce a curriculum and video guide to support its use in the classroom.” Faculty grants from 

the Carolina Center for Public Service at UNC funded the development of the video and the curriculum. Area teachers and 

students were involved with the development of the material. 

The project was co-directed by Pam Winton and Camille Catlett. The 20-page curriculum and video guide includes 

objectives, activities, role-plays, and discussion questions for various age levels. The curriculum is free online at 

www.fpg.unc.edu/~walkingthewalk/pdfs/unlikely_friendship.pdf. An Unlikely Friendship kit, which includes the video and 

printed curriculum, is $69.95 and can be ordered by mailing Character Development Group, PO Box 9211, Chapel Hill, NC 

27515-9211, or emailing respect96@aol.com, or calling 919.967.2110.

Hispanic family whose child is now in my class.”

Meredith alumna Tulia Pascht, who now works for 

Project Enlightenment at the Wake County Public 

Schools System, also praised the hands-on nature of the 

experience. “I enjoyed the mixture of classes at Meredith 

and visits to the Jordan Family Center,” she says. “We 

were able to work with little children and immediately 

apply the things we learned in class.”

Gladys Carter is a former Shaw student who now 

teaches at Carver Elementary School. She valued the 

(continued on page 14)

spring 2004 | early developments 13
14 early developments | spring 2004 

assessment tools as well as the practical experience 

provided through the training. “We learned about 

assessment tools to check children for developmental 

delays and then how to help the parent help the child,” 

Carter says. “We’d visit the child’s home and track their 

progress from prior visits. The parents were so receptive. 

When they saw that their child had developmental delays, 

they wanted help.”

As much as they valued the work with diverse children 

and their families, the students marveled at how well they 

bonded with each other. 

“I’m a relatively older person and most of the other 

students were in their twenties,” Carter says. “I didn’t know 

how well I would be received. But the first day, we did an 

exercise called ‘Bump’ where we all shared some difficulty 

about our lives. When you heard these experiences, you 

couldn’t help but embrace the other people in the group. 

All of a sudden, age, race, and economic background didn’t 

matter.”

“I really enjoyed the richness of the group,” Pascht says. 

“There were Latinos, African Americans, northerners, 

southerners, Asian Americans...I learned a lot about how 

all these different groups are treated and how hard they had 

to work to overcome this.”

“The sharing of experiences was incredible,” Austin says. 

“It has helped me relate to my own students. I have an 

Hispanic child who has some severe learning disabilities. 

I’ve done three home visits with the family and we’ve 

learned some ways to help him deal with these problems. 

The grandmother said to me in Spanish, ‘You’re an angel 

to our family. Nobody has believed in him before. Now, he 

loves school.’” 

Another Walking the Walk team is located in WinstonSalem, North Carolina. Team member Ellen Wenner 

has followed up on her FPG training by applying for and 

receiving funds to translate materials into Spanish for 

her Early Childhood Credentials class at Forsyth Tech 

Community College. This past summer, Wenner contracted 

with Nelly Blanco, a More at Four teacher’s assistant, to 

instruct the classes in Spanish. “We had ten students who 

were Limited English Proficient, and this prepared them 

to either work in a child care program or assist the lead 

teachers,” Wenner says.

This year, Wenner has contracted with Rafael Perez, 

Director of Customized Spanish Programs at Forsyth 

Tech, to instruct the Early Childhood Credential classes in 

Spanish. “The program has been very successful,” Perez 

says. “I had sixteen Hispanic students in October who 

wanted to get their license. Some are now working at child 

care centers; others will have programs in their own homes. 

There is a tremendous need for Spanish-speaking child care 

professionals in this area. The Hispanic community is huge 

and growing constantly.”

Forsyth Tech has received an additional grant of $10,000 

to translate their Early Childhood Certificate program into 

Spanish. The school is also looking for college instructors 

who can teach the courses.

Asked how Walking the Walk has helped her promote 

diversity in the early childhood workforce, Wenner says, 

“Quite simply, it was the [FPG] institute that brought a new 

focus to the issue of diversity for me and my staff. It was 

the spark to help me rethink what we do in our community 

and how I, through my position, help others become more 

aware of the needs of the Latino community and diversity 

issues in general.”

The state Walking the Walk team identified the challenge 

that there were multiple diversity initiatives or training 

opportunities within different state and local agencies, 

but efforts were fragmented and information about these 

opportunities was not widely available. The team set the 

goal of conducting a statewide survey to identify agencies 

and programs currently providing diversity training. After 

conducting the survey, the team made the results available 

online, so others can find out about diversity training 

resources, programs and agencies, organized by North 

Carolina county.

Walking the Walk is an outreach project funded by the 

US Department of Education, Office of Special Education 

Programs and co-directed by Pam Winton and Camille 

Catlett.|ed|

To Learn More

Walking the Walk

www.fpg.unc.edu/~walkingthewalk

Diversity Resource Guide

www.fpg.unc.edu/whatsnew/pub_summary.cfm?apubsid=321

Moving Towards Cross-Cultural Competence in Lifelong Personnel 

Development - A Review of the Literature

Technical Report #3

October 2000 

by Ann H. Hains, Eleanor W. Lynch, & Pamela J. Winton

www.clas.uiuc.edu/techreport/tech3.html

Database of diversity training opportunities in North Carolina

www.fpg.unc.edu/~walkingthewalk/diversity_survey/trainings_avail.cfm
spring 2004 | early developments 15

NIH Aids 

Scientists at FPG

As part of its efforts to increase diversity among early childhood 

professionals, FPG seeks grants to support research being 

conducted by its own staff through a special program offered 

by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Launched in 1989, 

NIH’s Research Supplements for Underrepresented Minorities 

program was established to address the shortage of minority 

scientists participating in biomedical research and the health 

related sciences. The program offers grants in the form of 

administrative supplements to support research activities and 

career development from high school to the faculty level. 

The funds are available only to principal investigators already 

holding NIH grants.

For 2003, NIH awarded administrative supplements to two 

grants under the direction of FPG director Don Bailey. These 

supplements will be used to enhance the work of two African 

American staff members—Lynette Aytch and Blair Edwards. 

Aytch holds a doctorate in school psychology and has 

completed a post-doctorate 

fellowship in early intervention 

at FPG . She is lead author of 

the Early Intervention Services 

Assessment Scale (EISAS) and 

is principal investigator for 

the Quality Care for Children 

initiative (QCCI) grant funded 

by the District of Columbia’s 

Office of Early Childhood 

Development. As PI of the 

QCCI project, Aytch trains 

a corps of early childhood 

professionals to provide 

consultation and technical 

assistance to child care 

providers to improve the quality 

of infant toddler care. 

The NIH supplement will support her participation in the 

Fragile X Center research team. Her research will focus on 

parent adaptation and well-being in caring for a child with Fragile 

X syndrome (FXS), the most common genetic disorder of mental 

retardation syndrome.

“At FPG, my work has principally focused on instrument 

development and outreach projects,” Aytch says. “At this point 

in my career, my goal is to 

further enhance my research 

skills through collaboration 

with a multidisciplinary 

research team. I am 

particularly interested in 

understanding cultural-ethnic 

influences on adaptation and 

well-being in families of color 

with a child with FXS. This 

supplement offers a wonderful 

opportunity to develop as a 

research scientist and be part 

of a cutting-edge project.”

Edwards holds a Bachelor 

of Science degree with a 

focus in psychology from 

UNC-Chapel Hill. She began work with FPG in an administrative 

support position, and with the help of the NIH supplement, 

has advanced to a research assistant position working on 

two longitudinal cognitive studies. She is currently receiving 

training in the use of assessment tools for FXS and collecting 

data related to academic achievement, attention, memory, and 

executive function abilities in children with this condition.

“I am interested in all aspects of child development, but 

especially in working with special populations in longitudinal 

research design,” Edwards says. “My particular interest in 

school psychology will be especially helpful to the project, 

since many aspects of the protocol concern cognitive 

development and neuropsychological performance. This 

project will be very beneficial to my future goals, such as 

graduate school. Furthermore, this supplement provides greater 

insight into the field of research.” ■

Aytch

Edwards

spring 2004 | early developments 15
16 early developments | spring 2004 

S

OME AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN from low-income 

families do not succeed as well in school compared 

to their middle-class peers. Yet other low-income 

African American children do very well in school. FPG

researchers Joanne Roberts, Susan Zeisel, and Peg 

Burchinal have spent the last five years seeking to 

identify those factors that predict African American 

children’s school competence. They hope that once 

these factors are known, intervention efforts can be 

developed that will improve children’s school success.

Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau 

(MCHB), this study has three specific objectives. The 

first is to describe the acquisition of social skills, 

peer relations, language, and academic 

skills from infancy through adolescence 

for each youth in the study. Second, the 

study seeks to understand the extent 

the youth’s school success can be 

linked to their social skills, language 

skills, family environment, 

child care experiences prior to 

kindergarten, peer relations, 

and school experiences in 

elementary and middle schools. 

Third, for the same group of 

youth, the study seeks to 

determine the multiple 

child, family, and school 

predictors of school 

competence within an 

ecological model of child 

development.

The project leaders are 

now following a group 

of 74 African American 

Secretsto Success

African 

American 

Children’s 

School 

Competence
spring 2004 | early developments 17

children primarily from low-income families, whose 

development, family, and school environments they have 

prospectively documented since infancy.

“What’s really unique about this project is the length of 

time we’ve been able to follow these children,” Roberts 

says. “There are few studies that have followed a large 

group of African American children from infancy through 

elementary school.” 

In terms of child measures, researchers have assessed the 

children’s language, cognitive development, Afrocultural 

beliefs and practices, social behavior, peer adjustment, and 

school competence. Family measures have included such 

factors as maternal education, parental involvement, and 

monitoring. For school measures, researchers have assessed 

such factors as classroom quality, teachers’ perceptions of 

relationships with students, and classroom demographics.

Data collection has been completed for the first two 

phases of the project through fifth grade and is now being 

analyzed. The findings reaffirm the importance of the 

early childhood environment. Research has found that 

the responsiveness and support of the home environment 

predicted children’s language development and academic 

achievement from infancy through the first three years 

of elementary school. Additionally, findings revealed the 

importance of quality child care on children’s language 

development.

“This stresses the importance of the home environment 

in a child’s language development, which has important 

implications for families,” Burchinal says. “It also stresses 

the importance of a high quality child care environment. 

These factors are going to impact children’s chances for 

success for years to come.”

Roberts, Zeisel, and Burchinal are now into the third 

phase of the project, which will follow the youth from sixth 

through eighth grade. This phase of the project will look 

more closely at peer relations by adding to the sample a 

best friend for each of the study youth.

“Essentially, we want to know who the youth in our 

project socialize with and how that impacts their school 

competence,” Zeisel says. 

This year, researchers will be submitting a grant to study 

the youths’ use of African American vernacular English and 

how that impacts their school success. |ed|

To Learn More

Preschool to School Project

www.fpg.unc.edu/~aaschool/

Parents’ report of vocabulary and grammatical development of African American 

preschoolers: Child and environmental associations. Roberts, J. E., Burchinal, M., 

& Durham, M. (1999). Child Development, 70(1), 92-106.

spring 2004 | early developments 17
Children’s Social 

Identities in Culturally 

Diverse Schools
P

UBLIC SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE must strive to 

accommodate the varied academic and social 

needs of culturally diverse student bodies, 

foster tolerance among students, and ensure 

students’ safety. To meet these challenges, 

school administrators and teachers require 

an understanding of the ways in which social differences 

such as race, ethnicity, gender, class, and ability impact 

how children view themselves, their peers, and the world 

around them. FPG scientist Debra Skinner’s ethnographic 

study, Children’s Constructions and Negotiations of Social 

Identities in Culturally Diverse Schools (funded by the 

W. T. Grant Foundation), seeks 

to improve our understanding 

of how elementary school 

students, specifically fourth 

and fifth grade students, 

understand and negotiate 

human differences and 

similarities in and beyond their 

classrooms. The research team, 

which also includes FPG senior 

scientist Virginia Buysse and 

project ethnographers Rebecca 

Schaffer and Tammy Morgan, 

is conducting several hundred 

hours of classroom observations 

and interviews with approximately 150 students and 8 

teachers at 2 diverse public 

schools in North Carolina over 

a 2-year period. The goal of 

this research is to produce a 

detailed account of the ways in 

which pre-adolescent students 

perceive themselves and others, 

how these students interact 

with their peers, and how schools’ policies and practices 

influence the students beliefs and practices about diversity.

Skinner’s study is designed to capture the language 

that students use to classify various “social types” within 

their schools. These terms are often based on physical 

appearance, social class differences, race/ethnicity, 

academic ability, and other characteristics deemed 

important by students in particular contexts. For example, 

preliminary analyses suggest that terms such as “nerd” and 

“retard” are commonly used by fourth and fifth graders 

to classify students based on perceived academic ability, 

to indicate or explain a student’s lack of popularity, or 

to tease, taunt, or put down another 

student. “Another common term that 

the children use to describe, and often 

to tease and taunt each other, is ‘gay.’ 

They sometimes use it to describe 

students who behave in a manner that 

is stereotypically identified with the 

opposite gender, such as when a girl 

plays a ‘boy’s game’ during recess or 

when a boy hugs someone. They also 

use it as a more general taunt to express 

their dislike for another student,” 

Morgan says. Students who chronically 

violate classroom norms for appearance 

or behavior are often singled out by 

their peers and labeled as “crazy” or 

“different.” 

Linguistic terms or labels for certain 

social types encapsulate bodies of 

cultural knowledge that students 

draw upon not only to describe other 

students but also to demonstrate their 

own relationship to a particular cultural 

group. For example, students who 

express an interest in hip-hop culture 

Linguistic terms 

or labels for certain 

social types 

encapsulate bodies 

of cultural knowledge 

that students draw 

upon not only to 

describe other 

students but also to 

demonstrate their 

own relationship to 

a particular cultural 

group.

spring 2004 | early developments 19
20 early developments | spring 2004 

and/or rap music may use the term “shortie” to refer to 

all female students or the term “bling” or “bling bling” 

to refer to jewelry. In doing so, these students attempt to 

prove that they are conversant in this vocabulary and, 

therefore, affiliated with this culture. Schaffer notes that 

students’ use of such terms often provides insight into 

cultural boundaries that they deem important. For example, 

when a white student with few or no African American 

friends uses a term such as “bling bling,” that student may 

be accused of “acting black” by African American peers. 

However, a white student who has a number of African 

American friends may use the same term without causing 

any concern among African American peers, although that 

student may be accused of “acting black” by other white 

students. Arguments about whether or not a student is 

“acting black” provide important windows into the ways in 

which students understand and help construct boundaries 

between social groups in the classroom and beyond. 

They are also strong examples of symbolic encounters, 

which arouse the emotions of those involved and require 

participants to reconsider their own identities and their 

relationships to others. These encounters often reveal some 

One significant preliminary finding 

is that teachers who employ critical 

multicultural lessons that explore 

histories of inequality and oppression, 

incorporate students’ knowledge 

of their own cultural backgrounds, 

encourage students to connect what 

they are learning to their own lives, 

and provide safe spaces in which 

students can openly explore their 

ideas and feelings about sensitive 

topics are best able to promote true 

tolerance and understanding.
spring 2004 | early developments 21

Trying on 

Different 

Hats

Matt, a 10-year-old Caucasian fourth grader 

with a wiry build, a very light complexion, a 

pale blonde brush cut, and bright blue eyes, 

provides an excellent example of the ways in 

which children draw on a wide variety of cultural 

symbols and public discussions in creating their 

own identities and understandings of the world. 

One morning, Matt entered the classroom, 

chanting lines from a popular rap song and 

bobbing his head up and down. Later that day, 

during a social studies lesson on slavery, Matt 

told the class that he “hates slavery because 

most of my friends are African American.” He 

later repeated this information to a visiting 

researcher and then explained that slavery “isn’t 

right because no one should treat people that 

way.” Matt was outspoken about his feelings on 

this topic. At the same time, Matt was wearing 

a confederate soldier cap, which he bought on 

a field trip to a local history museum. He was 

also wearing a baseball hat (backwards and 

underneath the confederate soldier cap), a 

bandage on his right cheekbone (similar to the 

bandage worn by the rapper, Nelly, who wears 

it in honor of his incarcerated brother), and an 

oversized basketball jersey. He said he “was for 

the South” in the Civil War, because he loves the 

South and because he hates slavery. His “best 

buddy,” who is African American, nods his head 

as Matt explains his position and then informs 

Matt that they had better hurry to get a good seat 

in the cafeteria. They run off, laughing about 

some lyrics that Matt has been working on. 

of the sources of information about group differences on 

which children draw when making social distinctions. 

These sources may include school curricula, the mass 

media, parents, religious institutions, and other domains 

that provide information about social categories. 

The study also examines peer relationships and 

friendships within culturally diverse classrooms to 

identify the extent to which social differences and school 

practices affect student relationships. Researchers will 

examine factors that influence friendship patterns such 

as ability tracking, social class, religious affiliations, and 

nationality. The study is also concerned with the ways in 

which features of the school and classroom environment 

influence children’s understandings and experiences 

of cultural diversity. Multicultural curricula and ability 

tracking (pull-out programs for academically gifted and/or 

special needs students) are two of the features that appear 

to be significant factors in students’ understandings of 

difference and interactions with their peers. One significant 

preliminary finding is that teachers who employ critical 

multicultural lessons that explore histories of inequality 

and oppression, incorporate students’ knowledge of their 

own cultural backgrounds, encourage students to connect 

what they are learning to their own lives, and provide 

safe spaces in which students can openly explore their 

ideas and feelings about sensitive topics are best able to 

promote true tolerance and understanding. When children 

are encouraged to ask questions and explore their own 

complicated relationships to cultural identities and social 

issues, they are better able to understand their own social 

positions and empathize with other students. Another 

significant preliminary finding is that assigning bilingual 

students who are fluent in English to assist students who 

are not yet proficient in English can produce a range of 

social outcomes for both students. For example, while some 

bilingual students expressed pride in being able to help 

their peers and saw these requests as opportunities to make 

new friends, others were concerned that being paired with 

a student who lacked English proficiency would reduce the 

amount of time they would be able to spend with other 

friends.

 In addition to presenting these and other findings to 

researchers and practitioners, Skinner and her colleagues 

are working closely with school teachers and the Global 

Fund for Children to develop recommendations for 

improving multicultural curricula to help children value 

diversity and become productive, caring members of a 

global society. |ed|

spring 2004 | early developments 21
22 early developments | spring 2004 

WHEN TEACHERS WITNESS A YOUNG CHILD BENDING A PAPER CLIP

INTO ODD SHAPES, refusing to take no for an answer, or pushing 

classmates into engaging in some questionable activity, they 

may well see signs of trouble that need to be suppressed. These 

are often the children who do not succeed in school. FPG senior 

scientist Mary Ruth Coleman wants teachers to consider another possibility—

that this child is a natural scientist whose talents need to be encouraged.

Acting on the recommendations of FPG’s survey on African American 

Children’s School Success, Coleman has developed a program called U-STARS

(which stands for Using Science Talents and Abilities to Recognize Students) 

designed to both identify and nurture the talents of children at a young age, 

especially those considered at-risk for school failure. 

“Teachers tend to look at these kids with an at-risk mind set and ask, ‘how can 

we discipline them?’ ” Coleman says. “But instead of discouraging this behavior, 

we want teachers to look at enrichment activities that take advantage of this 

curiosity, this tenacity and consider these kids ‘at-potential.’ The field that values 

these traits is science.”

U-STARS has three components: an observation scale used to identify students 

with potential in science, a family intervention component designed to engender 

understanding and support from the students’ families, and science and literature 

materials designed for use in elementary school classes. Coleman has designed 

these components so that any one component can be used independently from 

the others. “Replication of the entire project takes a high level of commitment by 

the entire school,” she says. “Therefore, we’ve designed it so individual teachers

can use just parts of it even if their school does not choose to adopt the model.” 

For the observation component, teachers are given 180 hours of preparation 

in how to recognize gifted behavior in children. U-STARS has developed an 

observation form through which teachers can note behaviors, such as “asks 

unusual, provocative questions” or “is able to lose self in something of interest” 

that indicate curiosity and creativity or strong interests. 

The science and literature materials have been developed by U-STARS in a way 

that allows science to be incorporated into everyday literacy activities. Sherri 

Wells, a second grade teacher at Spring Hope Elementary School in Spring 

Hope, North Carolina, offers an example. “We just finished an animal module in 

Finding the Stars in a 

Multi-Colored Sky
spring 2004 | early developments 23

which we read a story about animals in 

winter and what habitats they need to 

survive,” Wells says. “I had the children 

cut out a picture of an animal from a 

magazine and come up with their own 

habitat—shelter, food.

“Children thrive on it,” Wells adds. 

“Those who may struggle with reading 

or paying attention enjoy the scientific thought process 

much more than having you sit there and read to them.”

Alice Freeman teaches first grade at Johnson 

Elementary School in Rocky Mount. She says U-STARS

training gave her a new focus and excitement about 

science. “U-STARS was a great experience,” Freeman says. 

“I realized we didn’t reach all of our children by teaching 

just reading and math. When we did 

science, you’d see real excitement, 

particularly in some of the lower 

performing children.”

All U-STARS materials are tied to the 

standard course of study for grades K-3, 

as well as to national science standards 

and national literature standards. “Other 

approaches to identifying bright children 

who have been underrepresented 

have required teachers to add in pieces from outside the 

curriculum,” Coleman says. “That pulled students and 

teachers away from the core classes and took away precious 

teaching time.”

U-STARS evolved out of a project run in the mid-1990s 

with schools in two eastern North Carolina counties—

Johnston and Northampton. The goal of this project was 

early identification of children with potential. Researchers 

developed the observation form and taught teachers how to 

do screening of young children.

Having laid the seed for the program, FPG then sought 

a grant to develop the science and literature model for 

teachers and a family support component. The project was 

to be run in three northeastern North Carolina counties 

(Nash-Rocky Mount, Edgecombe, and Northampton) 

that have high percentages of minorities. The first year of 

the project, Hurricane Floyd hit eastern North Carolina 

and destroyed or closed many of the schools. Despite 

this setback, 40 teachers received 180 hours of training, 

virtually all of whom have stayed with the project.

With a grant from the Jacob Javits Foundation, U-STARS

is now being expanded nationwide. More than 35 school 

districts in North Carolina are officially signed onto the 

project. The State of Louisiana has committed to U-STARS, 

as have school districts in Colorado, and the cities of 

Albuquerque and Baltimore. The grant 

provides for a random comparison of 

schools employing U-STARS with nonparticipating schools. The latter will be 

folded into the project after two years. 

These schools have committed release 

time for their teachers 

and in-kind support for 

training.

“It’s a big commitment,” 

says Coleman. “The 

schools will help us with 

data collection across 

the district vis-à-vis 

opportunities and access 

to advanced learning for 

K-12 students.”

U-STARS PLUS, the latest version of the program, is 

developing a leadership cadre in participating school 

districts to help sustain the model. Teachers who are trained 

under the program can act (be hired) as consultants. 

Coleman and colleagues have done some preliminary 

data collection validating the observation form. “Our 

observation of and teachers’ identification 

of talented kids was a one-to-one match,” 

Coleman says. “What teachers really 

like about the project is that it helps 

them relate to the students differently. 

The observation tool becomes a new set 

of lenses. The teachers might only do 

individual observations for three-to-six kids 

per class, but once they start, it changes 

the way they view all of their kids.”

And the program is spiking teacher interest as well. 

“I’ve been teaching for ten years and was getting tired of 

teaching the same-old same-old,” Wells says. “U-STARS

was an opportunity for me to learn something new. I enjoy 

science and now, for the first time, I feel comfortable 

teaching it.”

“So many youngsters and teachers have lost their passion 

for learning,” says Susan Lamar, U-STARS board member 

and former director of Gifted Education programs at the 

Nash-Rocky Mount Schools. “Science is the hook for 

bringing the excitement back. Even children that might be 

discipline problems turn around and learn. These lessons 

enable their talents to shine.” |ed|

To Learn More

Project U-STARS

www.fpg.unc.edu/~ustars/
24 early developments | spring 2004 

fpg

f

or more information 

about FPG publications, 

see the FPG web site at

www.fpg.unc.edu

or contact the 

FPG Publications Office at 

919•966•4221 or 

FPGPublications@unc.edu

Adaptive behavior in children with fragile X 

syndrome. Hatton, D.D., Wheeler, A.C., Skinner, 

M.L., Bailey, D.B., Sullivan, K.M., Roberts, Jane 

E., Mirrett, P., & Clark, R.D. (2003). American 

Journal on Mental Retardation, 108(6), 373-390.

Adult interactions and child engagement.

McWilliam, R.A., Scarborough, A.A., & Kim, H. 

(2003). Early Education and Development, 14(1), 

7-27. 

African American families. Barbarin, O., & 

McCandies, T. (2003). In James J. Ponzetti, Jr. 

(Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Marriage 

and Family (pp. 50-56). New York, NY: Macmillan 

Reference USA.

Child care and common communicable illnesses, 

ages 37 to 54 months. NICHD Early Child Care 

Research Network. (2003). Archives of Pediatrics 

& Adolescent Medicine 157(2) 196-200.

Diversity, child care quality, and developmental 

outcomes. Burchinal, M.R., & Cryer D. (2003). 

Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 18(4), 401-

426.

Documenting delay and disability in early 

development with the WHO-ICF. Simeonsson, 

R.J., Pereira, S., & Scarborough, A. A. (2003). 

Psicologia, 17(1), 31-41. 

Don’t just talk louder/The medium is not the 

message. NIH/DOE/VA Consortium on Informed 

Consent Research Involving Human Subjects. 

(2003). IRB: Ethics & Human Research, 25(5).

Early intervention practices and communication 

intervention strategies for young males with fragile 

X syndrome. Mirrett, P.L., Roberts, J.E., & Price, J. 

(2003). Language, Speech, and Hearing Services 

in Schools, 34, 320-331.

Ethnicity and culture. Barbarin, O., McCandies, T., 

Coleman, C., & Atkins, T. (2003). In Paula AllenMeares & Mark Fraser (Eds.), Intervention with 

Children and Adolescents: An Interdisciplinary 

Perspective (pp. 27-53). Boston, MA: Allyn and 

Bacon.

Evaluating infant-family programs. Buysse, V., & 

Boyce, L. (Eds.). (2003). Zero to Three, 23(6). 

Families matter—Even for kids in child care.

NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. 

(2003). Journal of Developmental and Behavioral 

Pediatrics, 24(1), 58-62. 

Four variables for success. Coleman, M.R. (2003). 

Gifted Child Today, 26(1), 22-24.

Friendship formation in inclusive early childhood 

classrooms: What is the teacher’s role? Buysse, 

V., Goldman, B. D., & Skinner, M. L. (2003). Early 

Childhood Research Quarterly, 18(4), 485-501.

Helping women with disabilities and domestic 

violence: Strategies, limitations, and challenges 

of domestic violence programs and services.

Chang J.C., Martin, S.L., Moracco, K.E., Dulli, 

L., Scandlin, D, Loucks-Sorrel, M.B., Turner, T., 

Starsoneck., L., Dorian, P.N., & Bou-Saada, I. 

(2003). Journal of Women’s Health, 12(7), 699-

708.

Latent class and latent transition analysis. Lanza, 

S.T., Flaherty, B.P., & Collins, L.M. (2003). In J.A. 

Schinka & W.F. Velicer (Eds.), Research Methods 

in Psychology (pp. 663-685). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Making meaning of school readiness in schools and 

communities. Wesley, P. W., & Buysse, V. (2003). 

Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 13(3), 351-

375. 

Marital relationship and individual psychological 

characteristics that predict physical punishment 

of children. Korrel, K., Ulku-Steiner, B., Cox, 

M., & Burchinal, M. (2003). Journal of Family 

Psychology, 17(1), 20-28.

Otitis Media and speech-language sequelae: A 

meta-analysis of prospective studies. Roberts, J.E., 

Zeisel, S.A., Rosenfeld, R., & Reitz, P. (2003). In 

Rosenfeld, R., & Bluestone, C. (Eds.), EvidenceBased Otitis Media, Second Edition (pp. 383-

399). Ontario, Canada: BC Decker. 

Otitis Media in young children with disabilities.

Zeisel, S.A., & Roberts, J.E. (2003). Infants and 

Young Children, 16(2), 106-119. 

24 early developments | spring 2004
spring 2004 | early developments 25

recent 

publications

Oxytocin antagonism alters rat dams’ oral grooming 

and upright posturing over pups. Pedersen, C.A., 

& Boccia, M.L. (2003). Physiology and Behavior, 

80, 233-241.

Screening for fragile X syndrome: Parent attitudes 

and perspectives. Skinner, D., Sparkman, K., & 

Bailey, D.B. (2003). Genetics in Medicine, 5(5), 

378-384. 

The comprehensive language approach to early 

literacy: The interrelationships among vocabulary, 

phonological sensitivity, and print knowledge 

among preschool-aged children. Dickinson, D.K., 

McCabe, A., Anastasopoulos, L., Peisner-Feinberg, 

E.S., & Poe, M. (2003). Journal of Educational 

Psychology, 95, 465-481.

To ensure the learning of every child with a 

disability. Mainzer, R., Deshler, D., Coleman, M.R., 

Kozleski, E., & Rodriquez-Walling, M. (2003). 

Focus on Exceptional Children, 35(5), 1-12.

Selected New FPG Products

Many products developed at FPG are available for free online. You may also 

purchase products from the FPG Publications Office, phone 919.966.4221 or email 

FPGpublications@unc.edu. The FPG online catalog currently includes information on 

more than 300 publications. Visit the FPG web site at www.fpg.unc.edu to learn more. 

Smart Start and preschool child care quality in NC: Change over time and 

relation to children’s readiness. Bryant, D., Maxwell, K., Taylor, K., Poe, M., PeisnerFeinberg, E., & Bernier, K. (2003). Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, FPG 

Child Development Institute.

www.fpg.unc.edu/smartstart/reports/Child_Care_Quality_2003.pdf

Addressing the needs of Latino children: A national survey of state 

administrators of early childhood programs. Executive summary. Buysse, V., 

Castro, D. C., West, T., & Skinner, M. L. (2004). Chapel Hill: The University of North 

Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute.

www.fpg.unc.edu/~nuestros/pdfs/NNExecSummary.pdf

North Carolina early grade retention in the age of accountability. Kindergarten 

Readiness Issues Group, Partners in Research Forum. (2003). Chapel Hill: The 

University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute.

www.fpg.unc.edu/~pir/Retention_Brief.pdf

An unlikely friendship: Curriculum and video guide. Unlikely Friendship Curriculum 

Development and Planning Team. (2003). Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, 

FPG Child Development Institute.

www.fpg.unc.edu/~walkingthewalk/pdfs/unlikely_friendship.pdf

Parent Leadership—Building strong voices for children: Facilitator guide. Wesley, 

P. W. (2003). Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development 

Institute.

spring 2004 | early developments 25
26 early developments | spring 2004 

E

THNICITY, RACE, AND CULTURE continue to be among the most difficult and 

pressing issues we face as a society. This is true for several reasons. North 

Carolina, like many other states in the nation, is undergoing dramatic 

transformation as waves of immigrants are absorbed into communities which 

must accommodate the language, mores and behavioral patterns of the new 

arrivals. For native North Carolinians the difficulty of this challenge applies as 

much to the hordes of Yankees pouring in from the north as it does to Mexican 

immigrants from the south. These dramatic population shifts are coming just at a 

time when the black/white achievement gap and the stubbornly high 

poverty rates among African- and Native American children remind 

us how far we still must go to realize the promise of racial equality in 

education and employment.

The research projects described in this issue of Early Developments

broaden our understanding of the problems we must confront to 

address the needs of diverse populations. This work is a testament 

to the importance of the ethnicity and culture to early child care and 

education. 

FPG is making an important contribution in its positive focus on 

competence and finding solutions. A preponderance of national 

research involving ethnicity and culture gravitates toward the 

negative pole of risk and failure. Researchers at FPG have responded 

to the call to understand the conditions that contribute to the 

success, competence, and resilience of children of color and their 

families. Even more work is needed. In pursuing this line of research, 

we will likely realize that factors that contribute to competence in 

one group may not do the same for another group. Why? Because 

their life conditions and social histories differ. For example, the 

advantages high socio-economic status (SES) offers to whites for 

academic achievement do not accrue in equal measure to African Americans.

Pervasive economic inequities and continuing racial inequalities have 

influenced who attends college and in this way created an imbalance in the 

pool of teachers and scholars who are ethnic minorities. Two projects focus on 

increasing the number of African American and Latino teachers and scholars 

in the early childhood field and enhancing their skills in working with diverse 

populations. Another project demonstrates that cross ethnic prejudice and 

suspicion can be modified though person to person contact. Together they 

represent efforts to create school environments more responsive to ethnically 

diverse children by developing scholars and teachers who reflect the diversity of 

From Different Worlds

The challenge to understand 

the diverse social environments 

of children 

Oscar A. Barbarin is the 

L. Richardson and Emily Preyer 

Bicentennial Distinguished Professor for 

Strengthening Families, School of Social 

Work, and Senior Investigator, FPG Child 

Development Institute. He directs the 

Familial and Social Environments Study, 

which is part of the National Center for 

Early Development & Learning (NCEDL) 

at FPG Child Development Institute.
spring 2004 | early developments 27

the children and by creating a corps 

of educators who engage respectfully 

with those who are different.

Because families exercise 

extraordinary influence over 

development, the success of 

education and other social 

interventions may ultimately depend on how well 

such programs are articulated with and reinforced by 

socialization practices that occur in the family and 

neighborhood, as well as in schools or child care programs. 

The Familial and Social Environments Study which I lead 

explores the social context of a diverse group of children 

enrolled in public sponsored pre-kindergarten programs. 

This project points to several findings. Children of different 

ethnic and cultural groups are growing up in somewhat 

different worlds, developing somewhat distinct world views, 

aspirations and sense of their place in the world outside of 

their ethnic or racial communities. This is not only reflected 

in language, customs and mores. It permeates the very 

nature of family life and shapes day-to-day experiences 

which differ considerably across socio-economic, ethnic, 

racial, and cultural lines. Some children grow up in 

households with two biological parents and children; 

others in extended multi-generational households. Some 

children grow up in families with parents who have stable 

and satisfying employment which offers predictable wages, 

personal autonomy and flexible work schedules. Others 

live in homes where jobs are regimented, lack meaning 

and offer little security. Even these simple differences in 

household composition and work life have tremendous 

implications on how parents socialize, monitor and respond 

in children’s lives. Some children have all of their needs 

met and many of their wants indulged. Others go to bed 

hungry, make do with second-hand clothing or toys and 

endure illness and injuries without appropriate medical 

care. Level of English proficiency, cultural beliefs, values, 

and problem-solving styles also influence the diversity of 

children’s experiences. This breach 

between those who are materially 

advantaged and those who suffer 

hardship, and between ethnic 

groups who have been marginalized 

and treated as dispensable and those 

who have occupied positions of 

privilege in American society was first recognized by the 

Kerner Commission on Civil Disorder. These differences 

come to a head in school, where great effort and good will 

must be invoked to connect children who arrive from such 

different places and environments. 

This work is important because of the challenge we 

face in reducing disparities that now exist in educational 

outcomes for children of color. Our ability to make the 

dream of educational equity a reality will rest in part on 

our ability to understand the child’s social and familial 

environment and to apply that knowledge in building a 

bridge between school and to the child’s world outside of 

the school. To be successful, we must not only understand 

more fully how economic, ethnic and cultural diversity 

gives rise to culturally diverse behaviors, beliefs, priorities 

and problem-solving preferences but also how to transform 

that knowledge into practices which reach across the 

economic and social divide.

The challenge we face is to understand the implications 

of these differences for the developmental needs of children 

and the educational goals we wish them to achieve. 

Ultimately, our challenge is not only to understand but also 

to respect, to value, and to work with this diversity. And if 

that was not difficult enough, there is one final test. Can 

we understand and embrace diversity without invoking 

ethnocentrism, inciting racism, and undermining our sense 

of unity as a nation? The answer is simple. We must! |ed|

 ...we must not only 

understand more fully how 

economic, ethnic and cultural 

diversity gives rise to culturally 

diverse behaviors, beliefs, 

priorities and problem-solving 

preferences but also how to 

transform that knowledge into 

practices which reach across 

the economic and social divide.
ed

early developments

FPG Child Development Institute

CB 8185, UNC-CH

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8185

Address Service Requested

Non-Profit Org

US Postage Paid

Permit 177

Chapel Hill, NC

ISSN 1536-4739

Visit us online

www.fpg.unc.edu

www.ncedl.org