Child Development

Degrees Offered: M.A., M.A.T., C.A.G.S., Ph.D.
http://ase.tufts.edu/epcd/programsGrad.asp
617-627-3355

The Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development graduate programs integrate research and theory with practice. Concentrations are offered in clinical developmental psychology, cognitive development, educational studies, family studies, language and literacy, children with special needs, and new technologies and human development. Applied settings available to students include Tufts' two lab schools, hospitals, juvenile courts, and early intervention programs.

Master's program applicants may pursue a degree with a thesis or with supervised applied experience, or one aimed at teaching licensure (a master's of arts in teaching or M.A.T.). Doctoral students complete a supervised internship as well as a dissertation.

The department also holds a joint master's degree program in elementary education with the Department of Education, and in child and family policy with the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning.

Current research areas include families in cultural context; creativity and giftedness; stress, coping, and physical health; impact of parent-child relationships' on social/cognitive functioning; social policies; curriculum and cognitive development; literacy; dyslexia intervention; and adaptation of children at risk.

Graduates have found careers in teaching, research, counseling, administration, health, human services, and social policy.

FACULTY/SPECIALTY

Betty Allen
M.Ed., Lesley College
Inclusion in regular classrooms, anti-bias education

Marina Bers
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Children's understanding of technology

Kathleen A. Camara
Ph.D., Stanford University
Family relationships, social development, research methodology

M. Ann Easterbrooks
Ph.D., University of Michigan
Family development, social and emotional development, infancy

Mary Eisenberg
Ph.D., Tufts University
Director, Curriculum Lab
Early Childhood Education

David Elkind
Ph.D., University of California-Los Angeles
Cognitive development, perceptual development, Piaget

David Henry Feldman
Ph.D., Stanford University
Cognitive development, developmental and educational theory, creativity

Martha Julia Garcia-Sellers
Ph.D., Harvard University
Cross-cultural studies, parent-child interaction, preventive intervention

Calvin Gidney III
Ph.D., Georgetown University
Sociolinguistic development, language of African-American children, children's language attitudes

Francine Jacobs
Ed.D., Harvard University
Child and family policy, program evaluation

Deborah Leekennan
M.A., University of New Mexico
Multicultural and anti-bias education, curriculum development, special needs

Richard M. Lerner
Ph.D., City University of New York
Lifelong development, personality and social development in adolescence

Jayanthi J. Mistry
Ph.D., Purdue University
Sociocultural development, cultural issues in education

Rebecca Staples New
Ed.D., Harvard University
Early childhood education, sociocultural development

Ellen Pinderhughes
Ph.D., Yale University
Child development in diverse family contexts, racial/ethnic minority child development

Martha Pott
Ph.D., Tufts University
Coordinator, MA Internship Program
Personal-social development

Marion Reynolds
M.A., University of New Mexico
Elementary curriculum development and teacher education

Fred Rothbaum
Ph.D., Yale University
Parent-child relationships, family and culture, child-clinical psychology

W. George Scarlett
Ph.D., Clark University
Early childhood behavior problems, spiritual development, play

Donald Wertlieb
Ph.D., Boston University
Clinical aspects of family and child development, stress and coping

Maryanne Wolf
Ed.D., Harvard University
Dyslexia, cognitive neurosciences, developmental psycholinguistics, reading

Janet Zeller
Ed.D., Harvard University
Education, special education, school-home community relations