Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research | | | |
Greetings and best wishes to you as we begin the 2025-26 academic year. I hope your summer break was both restful and productive.
This year we are excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of NAECR. This milestone marks 10 years of engaging in, generating, and supporting interdisciplinary research to benefit children age 8 and younger. Join us on October 28, 8:30-10 a.m. in CPEH 227 for an open house and refreshments to celebrate. We’d like to thank our steering committee and advisory board for their invaluable guidance over the past ten years!
We are also pleased to introduce a new resource this year: the NAECR Spark Series. This resource is designed for early childhood researchers who want to explore emerging topics together — starting with AI in early childhood research. Group members will meet three times this academic year for informal, idea-rich conversations to share what they’re trying, learn from peers, brainstorm possibilities and spark collaborations. We will share more information about this opportunity in the coming weeks.
We look forward to several additional events for the early childhood research community:
- On Oct. 7, we will hold our fall NAECR Knowledge event, "Five Ways to Use AI in Your Research Workflows." Dr. Guy Trainin will share practical ways to use AI tools in your research that will boost productivity and streamline tasks.
- On Nov. 18 our fall NAECR Networking event will highlight the latest early childhood research from across the University of Nebraska system.
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Our fifth Policy Fellows cohort will meet with First Five Nebraska throughout the year to learn about the policy process and how to communicate research to a policy audience. We will introduce this year’s fellows in a future issue.
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Finally, please save the date for the 2026 Summit on Research in Early Childhood on April 28, 2026, at Nebraska Innovation Campus. More information to come soon!
One of our primary aims for NAECR is to create connections and collaborations among early childhood researchers from across the University of Nebraska system. To ensure this, we continue to offer various supports and resources.
In addition to NAECR News, NAECR researchers can:
If there are new colleagues on any NU campus who could benefit from an affiliation with NAECR, please share their information and we will invite them to participate.
We look forward to connecting with you. Please let us know how we can support you and continue to build a vibrant early childhood research community at the University of Nebraska.
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Lisa Knoche, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor
Director, Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research
Co-director, Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families & Schools
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Social Service Review Call for Papers
Social Service Review is celebrating its 100-year birthday in 2026. To celebrate, the journal is planning to publish a collection of papers summarizing what we've learned and what we still need to learn across various areas of social welfare research.
These papers can be on any social welfare related topic, including early care and education policies and programs.
Abstracts are due Sept. 15, 2025, and full papers (if invited) will be due Feb. 1, 2026.
Learn more.
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Here are recent publications from NAECR researchers:
Exploring the Effects of a Problem-Posing Intervention with Students at Risk for Mathematics and Writing Difficulties
Jing Wang*, Special Education & Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Pamela Bazis*, Special Education & Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Qingli Lei, Special Education, University of Illinois Chicago
The Home Literacy Environment Within a Broader Framework of Home Learning
Amy Napoli*, Child, Youth, & Family Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Jamlick Bosire, Education & Human Development, University of Missouri
David Purpura, Health & Human Sciences, Purdue University
* Denotes NAECR Researcher
** Denotes NAECR Student Researcher
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Would you like to see your work featured here? Contact us at naecr@unl.edu
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NAECR can assist you in finding research partners for your funding applications and staff in CYFS are available to assist with your proposal development for these or other funding opportunities.
Please contact Lisa Knoche if you are interested in building a collaborative team, need assistance with proposal development or would like to discuss funding opportunities for your research.
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Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood
The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood is an incubator of promising research and development projects that appear likely to improve the welfare of young children, from infancy through 7 years, in the United States.
Funding is provided in the areas of early childhood welfare, early childhood education and play and parenting education.
Letter of inquiry due date: Sept. 30, 2025
Learn more.
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New! Minority Health Disparities Initiative Health Equity Conference
Call for Proposals
Feb. 20, 2026
Lincoln, Nebraska
The Minority Health Disparities Initiative is accepting proposals for the 2026 Health Equity Conference poster session. The session aims to highlight various health equity research projects through brief presentations, allowing for more personal conversation and discussion.
Proposals are welcomed from faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, government organizations, and community members or organizations.
Proposal due date: Dec. 5, 2025
Learn more.
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New! Administration for Children and Families'
National Research Conference on Early Childhood
Call for Proposals
June 22-24, 2026
Arlington, Virgina
NRCEC 2026 will present the latest research surrounding Head Start, child care, home visiting, child welfare, special education, pre-kindergarten, early elementary and other early childhood programs.
The call for proposals is coming soon.
Learn more.
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2026 Nebraska Young Child Institute Conference
Call for Proposals
July 16-17, 2026
Kearney, Nebraska
The Nebraska Young Child Institute conference is a multidisciplinary event bringing together professionals to assess and respond to the most pressing needs of young children and families.
NYCI is currently accepting conference proposals featuring content relevant to professionals working with young children and their families and focused on addressing a range of topical areas.
Proposal due date: Sept. 12, 2025
Learn more.
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University of Nebraska Kearney-Community
Early Childhood Conference
Oct. 17-18, 2025
Kearney, Nebraska
The 9th Annual UNK-Community Early Childhood Conference is themed "Promoting Knowledge and Well-being for Children, Families and Educators."
Sessions will feature Speaker Jani Koslowski, author of Every Child Can Fly: An Early Childhood Educator's Guide to Inclusion, and Anne Meeker Watson, a music therapist, early interventionist and founder of the SING.PLAY.LOVE.® program.
Learn more.
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New! NAECR Knowledge: Five Ways to Use AI in Your Research Workflows
Oct. 7, 2025
Noon – 1 p.m. CDT
Virtual
This event will feature Guy Trainin, professor of education in Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education and UNL.
Dr. Trainin will share practical ways to use AI tools in your research to boost productivity, streamline tasks and more.
The event is free, but registration is required.
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New! NAECR 10-year Anniversary Open House
Oct. 28, 2025
8:30 – 10 a.m. CDT
CPEH 227
Join us to celebrate 10 years of engaging in, generating and supporting interdisciplinary research to benefit children age 8 and younger.
Refreshments will be available.
The event is free, but registration is required.
Registration information is coming soon.
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New! NAECR Networking: University of Nebraska
Early Childhood Research
Nov. 18, 2025
Noon – 1 p.m. CST
Virtual
This event will highlight the latest early childhood research across the University of Nebraska system. Participants will have time for questions and discussion with presenters.
The event is free, but registration is required.
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2025 Prenatal-to-3 Research to Policy Summit Childhood Conference
Sept. 30, 2025
1 – 2:30 p.m. CDT
Virtual
The Prenatal-to-3 Research to Policy Summit is an annual event focused on translating research into actionable policies.
This year’s Summit will focus on the 2025 State Policy Roadmap, expert insights on evidence-based policies, the interaction of state and federal policy choices, and opportunities to advance policy in 2026. Summit information and registration will be available soon.
Learn more.
| | Is there an upcoming conference you want to publicize? A new publication you would like to share? Let us know! | |
Connecting Research and Policy
Learn more and sign up for alerts about legislation relevant to early childhood researchers.
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NAECR Student Researchers
Students involved in early childhood research at the University of Nebraska can access a number of resources through NAECR.
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Find a Researcher
Find and collaborate with other early childhood researchers across the NU system.
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NAECR News archives available
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NAECR News will be shared twice a month to inform the early childhood research community across the NU system.
If this newsletter has been forwarded to you and you would like to be added to the mailing list, please email us using the button above.
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