Dr. Hurry and Viv Moriarty's recent research for the Youth Justice Board on the evaluation of 44 projects with an education focus aimed at reducing youth offending is likely to have a high profile and policy significance. All this work puts CDL on the research map across a wide range of educational issues. Newer colleagues like Viv Moriarty who joined CDL in the last two years has brought further specialism and research interests to the Group on Early years curriculum and the professional development of ECE educators in Europe. Dr. Ursula Pretzlik is a specialist on children's experience of illness and deafness. Dr Pretzlik and Professor Nunes have been researching the impact of deafness on young learners.
New staff are joint grant holders with experienced colleagues.
Dr. Rhona Stainthorp is an elected member of the Society for Scientific Studies in Reading, a USA based learned society for advancement of research in all aspects of literacy. Dr Stainthorp has been invited to spend a week as a visiting fellow at Wisconsin University USA to address a conference and discuss research projects. She is a member of DfEE working group to develop part of KS1 Literacy Strategy Framework document. The Department for Education and Employment read the review, recognised the distortion of many UK press reports, and pointed this out when sending their homework guidelines to all primary and secondary headteachers. Savant skills research with the late Neil O'Connor on people with the unusual skill of naming the days corresponding to dates in the past and future led to Dr. Cowan presenting a paper at the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Cardiff, and contributing to a symposium on savant skills at the BPS London Conference.