DEPARTMENT OF

Human Development

 
 

Goals

Child Playing1) To provide access to current knowledge, theory, and practice on critical issues - Read our Newsletter!

2) To leverage technology to make research and evidence-based educational tools more easily and widely available - See our Resources! Multimedia! Publications!

3) To build community-based research partnerships to identify and address local needs

Mission

Reading togetherUrie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory continues to guide the outreach and extension programs in his home department of Human Development. The department’s outreach and extension programs apply leading edge research to the design of programs and policies affecting the well-being of children and families in New York State, the rest of the country, and abroad.

History

Urie BronfenbrennerUrie Bronfenbrenner was the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Human Development and of Psychology at Cornell. A renowned scholar in developmental psychology, he co-founded the Head Start program and developed the groundbreaking theory of human development that places families and individuals in the context of historical, demographic and social change.

Initiatives

  • Supporting quality of care in family day care and family, friend, and neighbor care programs
  • Enhancing the effectiveness of universal prekindergarten
  • Continuing education for human service professionals on coaching low-income families for self-reliance
  • Professional development for youth workers, teachers, and caregivers
  • System-wide capacity building for youth development in New York State
  • Partnering with policy makers and practitioners in elder care to improve the quality of care in nursing homes
  • Primary prevention and interventions to reduce risky behaviors in youth
  • Teaching scientific thinking to teens with a focus on minority and low-income youth
  • Continuing education to the judiciary and other legal professionals, building on nationally recognized expertise in the study of child witnesses
  • Evaluating outreach in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

 

The Human Development Outreach & Extension website is developed and maintained through the Extension Technology Support Project. This initiative is supported by Smith Lever funds from the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.