The Child Development Institute

Director

Rachel Grob, B.A., Wesleyan University. M.A. (Health Advocacy), Sarah Lawrence College. Ph.D. (Sociology), City University of New York Graduate Center. Research focus on interface of parenting, genetics and advocacy and the social impact of technological innovation. SLC, 1998-present. Currently Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Director, Child Development Institute, Sarah Lawrence College. Investigator in Health Policy Research, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2006-08. Formerly director of Policy Analysis and Planning, Andrus Children’s Center (responsibilities included development of services for children and families and spearheading an Early Childhood Initiative in Yonkers, NY) and assistant to the Deputy Commissioner of Health, Westchester County Health Department. Author of “Parenting in the Genomic Age: The Cursed Blessing of Newborn Screening,” New Genetics and Society, August 2006; “Celebrating and Mobilizing: How We Started a Family Day in Yonkers,” America’s Family Support Magazine, spring 2000, v. 19, No. 1; co-author of “Parenting and Inequality,” published in The Blackwell Companion to Social Inequalities, 2005.

Coordinator

Cheryl French, B.A., UC Santa Barbara. M.A. New York University. Coordinator, CDI, 2007-present. Wearer of many hats: former youth services coordinator for a public library in New Hampshire, assistant director of the University of New Hampshire Writing Center, program administrator for the Portfolio Program at NYU’s graduate school of journalism, teaching intern at NYU’s American Language Institute, and various roles in the theatre world, to name a few. Book reviewer for Voice of Youth Advocates. Extensive experience with children and teens in after-school, public library and tutorial settings. Areas of interest include language development, especially with regard to speakers of more than one language, the arts in education, and literature and literacy.

Faculty Advisory Committee

Lorayne Kay Carbon, B.A., SUNY Buffalo. M.S.Ed., Bank Street College of Education. Director, SLC Early Childhood Center, 2003-present. Former early childhood teacher. Director, Oak Lane Child Care Center. Education coordinator of the Virginia Marx Children's Center of Westchester Community College. Adjunct professor, Westchester Community College. Workshop leader at seminars and conferences on early childhood education. Special areas of interest include social justice issues in the early childhood classroom and creating aesthetic learning environments for young children.

Jan Drucker, B.A. Radcliffe College; Ph.D. New York University. Clinical and developmental psychologist with teaching and research interests in the areas of developmental and educational theory; child development; parent guidance; clinical assessment and therapy with children and adolescents; and the development of imaginative play and other symbolic processes in early childhood and their impact on later development. Professional writings have centered on various forms of early symbolization in development and in clinical work with children. SLC, 1972-

Barbara Schecter, B.A. Sarah Lawrence College. M.A., Ph.D., Teachers College Columbia University. Psychology faculty (1985-present). Director, Graduate Program in Child Development. Developmental psychologist with special interest in cultural psychology, language development, adolescence, gender, and cultural identities; author and researcher on cultural issues in development and metaphoric thinking in children.

Sara Wilford, B.A., Sarah Lawrence College. M.S.Ed., Ed.M. Bank Street College of Education. Director of the Art of Teaching graduate studies program. SLC psychology faculty (1982-present); current Roy E. Larsen Chair in Child Development. Former elementary grades teacher. Teaches courses connecting child development principles to educational practice. Workshop leader for seminars and conferences on early childhood education and literacy development. Member of Editorial Advisory Board for Child Magazine. Author of Tough Topics: How to Use Books in Talking with Children About Life Issues and Problems and What you Need to Know When Your Child is Learning to Read.

Consultants

Margery B. Franklin, B.A., Swarthmore College. M.A., Ph.D., Clark University. Former director of the Child Development Institute. Professor Emerita, SLC (psychology faculty from 1965-2002). Areas of interest include language development, psychology of art and play, educational theory and practice. Author of articles and book chapters on children's language, play, artistic development, developmental theory; co-editor of Development and the Arts: Critical Perspectives; Developmental Processes: Heinz Werner's Selected Writings; Symbolic Functioning in Childhood; and Child Language: A Reader. Fellow of the American Psychological Association and past president of the APA division, Society for Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

Yvette Richardson, B.A., Howard University. M.A., Sarah Lawrence College. First coordinator of the Child Development Institute and founder of the Empowering Teachers Program. Former elementary teacher and lead teacher at SLC's Early Childhood Center as well as instructor in Purchase College's continuing education program. Numerous presentations at national, regional, and local forums. Program design and child development consultant to Kameleon Media's proposed flash animation, interactive, bilingual preschool program, NIKO and KIKA for PBS. 

CDI Professional Advisory Board

Abigail Canfield, Chairperson, Writer

William Crain, Professor of Psychology, The City College of the City University of NY

Margery B. Franklin, CDI Consultant

LaRuth Gray, Associate Director, Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, New York University School of Education

Freddi Greenberg, Editor

Sheila Hanna, Curriculum Chair, Early Childhood Program, Westchester Community College

Roger Hart, Co-Director, Children's Environments Research Group, City University of New York Graduate Center

Mary Hebron, Associate Director, Art of Teaching Graduate Program, Sarah Lawrence College

Monika Heimbold, Former Social Worker

Carol Hillman, Early Childhood Education and Author

Barbara Holland, President, Board of Directors, Union Child Day Care Center (White Plains, NY); Former member, White Plains Board of Education

Edward Miller, Director of Programs, Alliance for Childhood

Marjorie Miller, Former Social Worker

David Netto, Architect

Gladys Pack, Educational Consultant, Former Assistant Superintendent for Restructuring (Yonkers, NY Public Schools)

Yvette Richardson, CDI Consultant

Calvert Schlick, Educational Consultant, Former Assistant Superintendent (Mamaroneck, NY Public Schools)

Alison Van Dyk, Psychotherapist—Play Therapy; Director, St. Luke’s Early Child Education Program

Clarice Dibble Walker, Professor Emerita, Howard University School of Social Work