Scott McConnell, professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and director of community engagement at the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED), was named the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs in June 2008. For more information about McConnell's appointment, see the announcement in the Summer 2008 CURA Reporter (download article).

McConnell’s research has focused on the design and evaluation of assessment and intervention programs that promote school readiness, language and early literacy development, and overall well-being for young children who live in poverty, speak languages other than English, have disabilities, or otherwise are at risk for later learning and behavior problems. Currently that work is embodied in a project called Five Hundred under 5, a collaborative initiative among CEED, Hennepin County’s Office of Planning, Minneapolis Public Schools, the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board, and Way to Grow (a community-based family services program) to promote school readiness for young children in North Minneapolis. The initiative has three goals: providing information and resources that engage and empower parents and family members to support children’s development; expanding and enhancing services for families to support the development of school readiness; and researching the factors that promote or inhibit child development to inform the efforts of child and family service programs, policy makers, and others working on behalf of children.

The resources provided by McConnell's appointment as 2008–2009 Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs allowed McConnell and his research team at CEED to pursue two projects related to the Five Hundred under 5 initiative: (1) expanding ongoing research on common pathways to the development of school readiness and good health, and (2) improving the perceived value of research among both policy makers and members of high-poverty communities in the context of university-community partnerships. Results of this research will be published in a future issue of the CURA Reporter.

Project Award Date: 

2008-06-15

Community organization or agency: 

CEED, Hennepin County’s Office of Planning, Minneapolis Public Schools, the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board, and Way to Grow

Sponsoring CURA Program: 

Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs

CURA Contact: