Biography
Dr. Lisa McCabe is Director of the Cornell Early Childhood Program and a Research Associate at the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research. Her research focuses broadly on early childhood education and care issues for children, families, and child care providers. Currently she is part of a project ("Superstar Practitioners") that aims to identify common dimensions of practitioners’ interpersonal practices and skills that promote high quality program implementation and positive client outcomes across diverse settings, including child care.
Recent work has focused on 1) the evaluation of a unique home visiting training program ("Caring for Quality") for home-based child care providers; 2) an exploration of early education issues in rural settings, with a focus on Universal Pre-Kindergarten program implementation; and 3) an evaluation of New York State’s new Quality Rating and Improvement System, a system to rate and improve the quality of regulated early care and education programs. In addition, Dr. McCabe recently worked with Chemung County to develop a multi-disciplinary training program ("CANDO") focused on child development and mental health.
Dr. McCabe is also part of the Residential Child Care Project where she contributes to evaluations of the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention training system and the Child And Residential Experiences program. In addition to research, she conducts trainings and outreach activities on topics such as addressing children’s challenging behaviors, play-based learning, and children’s stress in group care settings.
Before coming to the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, Dr. McCabe was a Research Scientist at the National Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University where she specialized in policy oriented research focusing on early childhood education and emotional development. She has also worked as a center-based child care provider for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Dr. McCabe received both her M.A. (1995) and Ph.D. (1999) in Human Development from Cornell University.
Dr. McCabe focuses on early care and education, child development, and program evaluation. Current work aims to identify common dimensions of practitioners’ interpersonal practices and skills that promote high quality program implementation and positive client outcomes across diverse settings, including child care. In addition, as part of the Residential Child Care Project, her current work contributes to an evaluation and development of fidelity assessment tools for the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention training system for residential child care facilities. Recent work has also focused on 1) the evaluation of a unique home visiting training program ("Caring for Quality") for home-based child care providers; 2) an exploration of early education issues in rural settings, with a focus on Universal Pre-Kindergarten program implementation; and 3) an evaluation of New York State’s new Quality Rating and Improvement System, a system to rate and improve the quality of regulated early care and education programs. In addition, Dr. McCabe also recently worked with Chemung County to develop a multi-disciplinary training program ("CANDO") focused on child development and mental health.
Casto, H., Sipple, J., & McCabe, L. (in press). A Typology of School-Community Relationships: Partnering and Universal Pre-Kindergarten Policy. Educational Policy.
Bromer, J. McCabe, L. (Eds.) (2013). Understanding and Improving Quality in Family Child Care [Special section]. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(4), 875-983 .
Bromer, J., McCabe, L, & Porter, T. (2013). Special secion on understanding and improving quality in family child care: Introduction and commentary. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(4), 875-878.
McCabe, L.A., Peterson, S.M., Baker, A.C., Dumka, M., Brach, M.J., & Webb, D. (2011). Lessons Learned From Home Visiting With Home-Based Child Care Providers. Zero to Three, 31(5), 22-29.
McCabe, L.A. & Sipple, J.W. (2011). Colliding Worlds: Practical and Political Tensions of Prekindergarten Implementation in Public Schools. Educational Policy, 25, 9-34.
Brown, C.A., Sipple, J.W., & McCabe, L.A. (Eds.). (2011). Politics of Education Association Yearbook, Special issue of Educational Policy, 25.
Stephens, S. A., Kreader, J. L., Smith, S. & McCabe, L. A. with Dohm, S., Cramer, A., & Davidson, S. (2011). QUALITYstarsNY: Field test evaluation report. Trenton, NJ: Center for Assessment and Policy Development. http://qualitystarsny.org/pdf/QSNY_Field_Test_Full_Evaluation_Report_4-19-11.pdf
McCabe, L. A., Sipple, J.W., Casto, H., & Ross-Bernstein, J. (2009, March). Universal pre-kindergarten, early care, and education in rural New York: Research findings and policy implications. A report for the NYS Rural Education Advisory Committee. Albany, NY. http://nyruralschools.org/downloads/REAC%20Policy%20Brief.pdf
McCabe, L. A. & Cochran, M. (2008, October). Can Home Visiting Increase the Quality of Home-based Child Care? Findings from the Caring for Quality Project. (Research and Policy Brief Series, Issue 3). The Cornell Early Childhood Program, Family Life Development Center, Cornell University. http://www.human.cornell.edu/fldc/cecp/resources/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=48184
McCabe, L.A., & Frede, E. (2007, December). Challenging Behaviors and the Role of Preschool Education. (Preschool Policy Brief Issue 16). Rutgers, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research. http://nieer.org/resources/policybriefs/16.pdf.
- Society for Research in Child Development, Member
- National Association for the Education of Young Children, Member
- Rochester Association for the Education of Young Children, Member
- Consulitng Editor and reviewer for Early Childhood Research Quarterly
- Member, Quarterly Business Review Committee, Bright Horizons Cornell Child Care Center
- Board Member, Rochester Childfirst Network
- Co-chair, Early Childhood Development Initiative
Dr. McCabe's extension work focuses on outreach in the area of early childhood education and development. Currently, her work focuses on translation and dissemination of results from the Superstar Practitioners Project, the TCI fidelity and program evaluation, and the Rural Early Education Project.
Dr. McCabe also conducts workshops for child care providers and parents on the following topics: using the ERS rating scales for child care quality improvement, parenting an infant or toddler, challenging behaviors, play and literacy, children's stress in group early care and education settings.
1999, Ph.D. , Human Development, Cornell University
1995, M.A., Human Development, Cornell University
1992, B.A., Human Development and Family Studies, Cornell University