Research Projects

AI-powered, Targeted Instructional Support for Early Childhood Teachers

This project harnesses AI to provide early childhood educators with real-time feedback that supports children's development in language, literacy, and STEM—skills essential for lifelong learning. Using an easy-to-use app, teachers can simply place a phone nearby to record classroom interactions and receive instant insights, including evaluation scores, personalized tips, and progress tracking. By removing the need for time-consuming human observation, this technology makes high-quality, evidence-based instructional support more accessible, especially in under-resourced classrooms.

Systematic Assessment of Book Reading (SABR) 2.0

This tool examines qualities of teacher and child talk through observation of classroom shared book reading. The SABR is a reliable and valid measure of classroom quality. The tool captures the frequency of key behaviors that are known to promote young children’s language and literacy skills. The system is well aligned with the national learning standards and state standards for prekindergarten through grade 1, and can be used by teachers, school leaders, and intervention specialists to promote effective teaching.

TeacherRead

TeacherRead is a shared book reading program designed to support the development of children’s language and literacy skills in prekindergarten (pre-K). The program uses interactive instructional approaches that are most effective for teaching these skills in pre-K. The idea behind these approaches is that teachers can make simple adjustments to their book reading practices to better promote children’s development of these foundational skills.