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Research

Our ongoing research, projects, and strong community partnerships have enabled us to continuously contribute to early childhood care and education across multiple disciplines. We welcome you to join our team.

Projects In Progress

  • Doña Ana County Infant and Toddler Bag Project

    • Overview: Empowering families through data-driven, community-centered partnerships.
    • Highlights: Presented at New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force Annual Conference, in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 11, 2022.
    • Collaborators: Doña Ana Early Childhood Coalition NGAGE, Jardín de los Niños, Bold Futures, Glass Family Research Institute for Early Childhood Studies.

  • A New Language Norm

    • Overview: Reimagining equitable education through translanguaging.
    • Progress: Accepted at La Cosecha 2021 and American Educational Research Association 2022. Data collection starts Fall 2022 at NMSU.
    • Collaborators: Faculty in the College of Health, Education, and Social Transformation.

  • Southwest NM Educator McKinney-Vento Act Training

    • Overview: Training for serving homeless and near-homeless families.
    • Events: September (94 virtual attendees) and January 3rd (Jardín de los Niños staff).
    • Collaborators: GFRI, College of Health, Education and Social Transformation, national activists.

  • Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund

    • Overview: Training and support for educators and families during remote/online teaching.
    • Funding: NM Governor.

  • Stahmann Pecan Farm Oral History Project 

    • Overview: Early childhood stories of local families tied to Stahmann Pecan Farm, researched by Dr. Blanca Araujo.
    • Focus: Oral histories highlighting the farm's cultural and historical significance.

    • Early Childhood Educator and Administrator Focus Groups

      • Overview: Reducing inequities in early education.
      • Data Collection: Insights to inform national dialogue and local efforts.
      • Collaborators: NGAGE Doña Ana County Early Childhood Education Coalition, NMSU faculty, early childhood doctoral student.

    • Aspirations, Hopes & Fears

      • Overview: Supporting diverse families with children with disabilities.
      • Collaborators: NMSU faculty and early childhood educators in the borderlands.

    • Gender Bias in Play

      • Overview: Examining gender bias in early childhood education.
      • Focus: Educators' reinforcement of gender norms in academic and social/emotional development.

    • Early Childhood STEAM & Gardening

      • Overview: Integrating gardening and STEAM into early childhood education.
      • Collaborators: CNM Early Childhood Mentor Network.

    • Little Free Libraries/Pantries

      • Overview: Community support for free resource sites for families.
      • Scope: Statewide in NM.

    • E²: Equity in Early Intervention

      • Overview: A five-year grant to train multilingual (Spanish-English) students to provide early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities in New Mexico. Participants receive full tuition, a laptop, monthly stipends and many more...               

Projects That Are Completed

The Treasure Map Experience project has been completed, with data collection and analysis successfully concluded using NVivo software. The research findings now contribute valuable insights to the fields of early childhood education and symbolic representation in young children. A related publication, "The play in research and the research in play: a participatory treasure map experience project" by Wang, W., & Black Delfin, A. (2024), was published in the International Journal of Early Years Education.

 

Summer Camp Musings, One Year after COVID: Early Childhood Summer Camp Teacher Perspectives in a Borderland Early Childhood Lab School. A case study research project to understand the obstacles and negotiations that 3 educators and 2 pre-service teachers had to consider as they facilitated the first in-person summer camp for children aged 2-3 after the pandemic shut down in-person childcare. Research shared at the  Association of Teacher Educators Conference, February, 2022


Kin and Kith (Revised to Family and Friends) Pilot Project. An outreach project that was successful due to local community non-profit collaboration and funded by Brindle Community Foundation. The focus was to provide accessible culturally relevant activities for family and friends of toddlers to increase the enjoyment of playing and supporting their growing child. Research shared at the  Hawaii International Conference on Education, January 2022 and multiple sessions at  New Mexico Association for the Education of Young Children. 


Literacy in Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Program: Longitudinal study considering the ways that future early childhood educators perceive preparedness to teach literacy when entering the field.
Relevant Social Justice Informed Mathematics Field trips: Preparing Pre-service Teachers for an Uncertain Future. This study analyzed the ways that elementary preservice teachers learned to design math-based field trips to enhance integration of social justice issues. Research shared at the  Association of Teacher Educators Conference, February, 2022. 


Pathway to Transfer: Validating the Lived Experiences of Non-traditional Students in an Early Childhood Program to Community to College  in the  Journal of Research and Practice. A collaborative project between a local community college and university that documents some of the experiences that non-traditional students have had while completing their degrees in early childhood. The study provides recommendations such as developing relationships, hosting validating events, and increasing collaboration between the community college and state university as instrumental in creating a supportive transfer system. 

 

Breastfeeding/Chestfeeding: New Parents Experiences with Breastfeeding/Chestfeeding, funded with $10,000, involved a statewide collaboration with the NM Breastfeeding Task Force to provide current data for doulas and lactation specialists, addressing diverse family needs and enhancing support for breastfeeding and chestfeeding across the state.