Marsico Institute
About Us
MIELL works in collaboration with faculty across the University of Denver who are interested in early childhood research and policy.
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Staff
Douglas Clements, Ph.D.
Douglas Clements, Ph.D., is currently the Executive Director of the Marsico Institute. He is also the Kennedy Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Learning and a Professor at the University of Denver's Morgridge College of Education.
Previously a kindergarten teacher for five years and a preschool teacher for one year, he has since conducted research and published widely in the areas of:
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While a SUNY Distinguished Professor at the University of Buffalo, he was a member of President Bush's National Math Advisory Panel, convened to advise the administration on the best use of scientifically based research to advance the teaching and learning of mathematics, and coauthor of the Panel's report. He was also a member of the National Research Council's Committee on Early Mathematics and co-author of their report. He helped develop the Common Core State Standards committee of the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, writing national academic standards and the learning trajectories that underlie them.
Currently, Julie Sarama and he are conducting several research projected funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES). For example, "Scaling Up TRIAD: Teaching Early Mathematics for Understanding with Trajectories and Technologies" and " Longitudinal Study of a successful scaling up project Extending TRIAD" are the third and fourth large research projects funded by the IES to evaluate our model for scaling up successful educational innovations (TRIAD = Technology-enhanced, Research-based Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development). Two recent research projects have just been funded by the NSF. In "Using Rule Space and Poset-based Adaptive Testing Methodologies to Identify Ability Patterns in Early Mathematics and Create a Comprehensive Mathematics Ability Test," we are developing a computer-adaptive assessment for early mathematics. In "Early Childhood Education in the Context of Mathematics, Science, and Literacy," we are developing an interdisciplinary preschool curriculum. See the "Research Projects" tab of Dr. Clement's Portfolio for more detail.
Melissa S. Mincic, Ph.D.
Melissa Mincic, Ph.D., is currently the Assistant Director of the Marsico Institute. She has over 12 years of research experience focused on children’s social-emotional and academic development. Her own research has included the development and evaluation of a classroom-based storybook reading intervention designed to enhance preschool-aged children’s emergent literacy and social-emotional skills.
She has also developed and administered an administrative interview protocol regarding adaptations to early childhood education program policies, practices, and budget allocations necessary to implement a social-emotional program framework with fidelity.
Additionally, she has lead and assisted with small- and large-scale projects encompassing a wide range of research activities, including:
- Early childhood programming framework approach supporting young children’s social-emotional and academic skills development
- Development of a social-emotional assessment of school readiness
- Social-emotional curriculum development and evaluation
- Early childhood community needs assessments
- Development of new systems and tools to support services for young and school-aged children
Supporting her own work and collaborative community-based work, Dr. Mincic has won an American Educational Research Association/Institute of Education Sciences Dissertation Fellowship Grant and a Colorado Library Service and Technology Act Grant from the Colorado Department of Education’s Colorado State Library. Previously, Dr. Mincic was selected as a William A. Morrill Public Service Fellow and won the American Educational Research Association Special Interest Group 32 (Early Education and Child Development) Dissertation Award.
She is published in the peer-reviewed journals Early Education and Development, the Journal of Genetic Psychology, Cognition and Emotion, and Learning and Individual Differences and has served as an editor for Early Education and Development and the Journal of International Students. She has presented research and has also reviewed submissions for presentation at professional meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the Conference on Human Development.
Also active in the early childhood policy arena, Dr. Mincic currently serves as secretary for the Denver Metro District of the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children and is a Results Work Group subcommittee co-chair for the Early Childhood Colorado Partnership.
Sheridan Green, Ph.D.
Sheridan Green, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher at Marsico Institute for Early Learning and Literacy. She is an applied researcher and methodologist specializing in design, measurement, and quantitative analysis. Collaborating with academic and community partners, her work spans early childhood care and education, child and youth development, and child welfare. She is currently the lead evaluator for the Colorado Humanities Writers-in-the-Schools program and the implementation study of an Early Head Start parent intervention designed to reduce biological markers of toxic stress. She manages the Buell Foundation's Infant and Toddler Provider Study examining the effects of statewide professional development strategies on caregiver-child interactions. In recent years, she was the lead evaluator for a federally funded, multi-state child welfare workforce intervention to improve climate and culture (metro, rural, and tribal sites); and for the Community Infant Program, an intensive mental health home-visitation programs for families with children ages 0 to 3. She also led the evaluations for the federally funded Denver Public Schools Early Reading First program, the Colorado Coalition for Adoptive Families program, as well as a unique TANF-child welfare collaboration called Jeffco Community Connection. She holds her Masters in Human Development and Family Studies with a specialization in child and family programming, and a doctorate in Applied Statistics and Research Methods. Her statistical training and experience includes a wide range of multivariate techniques, latent modeling, propensity score analysis, missing data procedures, and advanced psychometric analysis. Her research interests center on infant mental health, parent-child relationships, and the effects of intervention and education on the quality of early childhood teacher-child interactions, including the use of music and the arts to strengthen interactions, early learning, and literacy.
Jessica Craig, B.A.
Jessica Craig, B.A., is the Office Manager and Project Coordinator for the Marsico Institute. Jessica is currently pursuing an M.A. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Denver, Morgridge College of Education. Jessica brings over 12 years of volunteerism and professional involvement in the nonprofit sector. Her talents and work experience include donor management, event coordination, client relations, funding research, contracting, grants and budget management. Formerly an early childhood educator, she has developed young children's curricula and has coordinated numerous early childhood projects. Jessica has worked closely with diverse communities and is highly interested in social-emotional development and its effects on early literacy. Her other interests include early childhood intervention and mental health for children and families. At the Marsico Institute, Jessica manages the day-to-day operation of the office and provides administrative support to the directors. She is committed to advancing the successful execution of the institute's strategic plans, aiding the directors and team in these efforts. She maintains and enhances the institute's website, and coordinates closely with the college's human relations and logistics teams. On the financial side, Jessica manages and oversees institute budgets, as well as prepares grant and contract documents. She is highly skilled in planning and coordinating logistics for special community events, such as the Marsico Institute's Community Lecture Series.
Vivienne Houghton, M.L.I.S.
Vivienne Houghton completed her Masters in Library and Information Science at the University of Denver in 2012. Vivienne loves web design, information architecture and content strategy. She is currently the Web Content Manager and has been editing content for the MIELL and Early Childhood Colorado websites since 2010. Vivienne is passionate about early literacy. She was in the first cohort of Early Childhood Librarianship Fellows at DU. As part of her capstone, she developed an Early Literacy Online Resource Guide to address the lack of early literacy information on the websites of Colorado’s public libraries as featured on the Colorado State Library's website.
Graduate Students
Brenda Garcia, B.A.
Brenda is a third year Education Specialist candidate in the Child, Family, and School Psychology program with a certificate in Early Childhood. Brenda came to DU with her bachelor's in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Brenda has experience teaching preschool, elementary and high school students. She has worked closely with diverse communities and is highly interested in advocating for at risk- youth and their families. Brenda's other interests include early literacy, early childhood intervention and mental health. At MIELL, she is assisting with Buffering Toxic Stress for Infants and Toddlers, Early Literacy Technical Support, and the Marsico Buell-Infant Toddler Study.
Sara Catherine Sadd, B.S.
Sara is a third year Educational Specialist candidate in the Child, Family and School Psychology program with a certificate in Early Childhood. Sara came to DU with her bachelor's in Human Development and Family Studies as well as an Early Childhood Teaching License from Colorado State University. Sara has experience teaching preschool, elementary school and working with diverse families. She is especially interested in working with children and families who have been exposed to trauma. Sara's other interests include early childhood mental health, social-emotional curriculum development and early literacy. At MIELL, she is assisting with the Early Literacy Technical Support Project as well as the Marsico-Buell Infant-Toddler Study.
Iris Schendstok, B.S.
Iris is a first year Educational Specialist candidate in the Child, Family, and School Psychology program with a certificate in early childhood. Iris came to DU with her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southwestern University. Iris has experience working with children in a variety of settings, especially pre-school and elementary schools. She is particularly interested in working with families who have recently immigrated to navigate the school environment and in promoting insurance coverage of therapeutic horse riding for children with special needs. At MIELL, she is assisting with the Marsico-Buell Infant-Toddler Study and Buffering Toxic Stress for Infants and Toddlers.