Emily Snell | Temple University (original) (raw)

Papers by Emily Snell

This paper reviews high-quality empirical studies on book reading practices in early childhood th... more This paper reviews high-quality empirical studies on book reading practices in early childhood that have resulted in increases in child vocabulary. The overarching purpose of this work is twofold: first, to tease apart the myriad ways in which effective book readings can be delivered; and second, to identify questions that remain about book reading and vocabulary learning. We examine various aspects of effective book readings, including the contexts in which the book reading was conducted, the words that were taught through the book reading, the dosage of reading that children received, and the outcome measures used. Findings reveal that six strategies—reading and re-reading texts, explicitly defining words, encouraging dialogue about book-related vocabulary through questions and discussion, re-telling, using props, and engaging children in post-reading activities—are consistently implemented across the studies; however, they are used in widely varying combinations. There is great variability across studies in the number of words taught, the criteria for word selection, and the measures used to assess word learning. Moreover, in many studies, children learn only a small proportion of the number of words taught. Finally, this review identifies critical remaining questions about how to optimize vocabulary learning through book reading that require systematic investigation in order to inform effective practice.

Child Development Perspectives, 2016

Recent attention to the word gap has renewed public interest in the striking vocabulary dispariti... more Recent attention to the word gap has renewed public interest in the striking vocabulary disparities between children in poverty and their higher income peers during the 1st years of life. Children's outcomes-and the nation's well-being-could be improved by additional research into the mechanisms of vocabulary learning, as well as translational research that produces effective, feasible early-education practices in homes and schools. In this review, we first explain the nature and extent of the word gap and then briefly describe research on how children learn words during the early years. Next, we summarize limits of available interventions. Finally, we detail pressing questions that demand additional study and suggest research that could provide answers. Ultimately, we call for new research on word-learning experiences at home and in school that will support reading and academic success for children at risk.

Journal of Education For Students Placed at Risk, Mar 31, 2015

This article describes how a research-practice partnership has informed the iterative development... more This article describes how a research-practice partnership has informed the iterative development of a web-mediated early childhood language and literacy professional development (PD) intervention. Funded through the Investing in Innovation (i3) program, this new PD model is based on an effective in-situ intervention. As we translated the face-to-face model into a largely web-mediated approach, we partnered with educators to ensure that the resulting intervention was feasible and effective in real-world classrooms serving children at risk. Specifically, an educator advisory board provided ongoing input about the PD. Further, pilot teachers completed the training and provided feedback through a survey about the usability and effectiveness of the training modules, coaching, and instructional strategies in classroom settings. Findings suggest that research-practice partnerships that gather teachers' situated, comprehensive, and insightful perspectives can be invaluable in developing PD interventions. Collaboration between school districts and university researchers is essential in this iterative development process.

... I would like to thank the members of my committee, Greg Duncan, Emma Adam, and Tom Cook, for ... more ... I would like to thank the members of my committee, Greg Duncan, Emma Adam, and Tom Cook, for their suggestions, support, and time. I would also like to thank Patricia Pendry, Ann Person, Lindsay Monte, Heather Hill, Leah Doane, Amy Claessens, Mimi Engel, and Anita ...

Development and Psychopathology, 2015

Evocative effects of child characteristics on the quality and quantity of child care were assesse... more Evocative effects of child characteristics on the quality and quantity of child care were assessed in two studies using longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. We focus on the influence of child characteristics on two important aspects of the child care experience: language stimulation provided by caregivers and quantity of care. In Study 1, associations between the developmental status of children aged 15 to 54 months and the language stimulation provided by their caregivers were examined using path models, and longitudinal child effects were detected across the earliest time points of the study. In Study 2, the associations among child behavior, temperament, development, and time in care were examined. Little evidence was found for such child effects on time in care. The results are discussed in terms of the effects of child care on child development and implications for developmental processes, particularly for children at greatest risk for developmental delay or psychopathology.

Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 2015

This article describes how a research-practice partnership has informed the iterative development... more This article describes how a research-practice partnership has informed the iterative development of a web-mediated early childhood language and literacy professional development (PD) intervention. Funded through the Investing in Innovation (i3) program, this new PD model is based on an effective in-situ intervention. As we translated the face-to-face model into a largely web-mediated approach, we partnered with educators to ensure that the resulting intervention was feasible and effective in real-world classrooms serving children at risk. Specifically, an educator advisory board provided ongoing input about the PD. Further, pilot teachers completed the training and provided feedback through a survey about the usability and effectiveness of the training modules, coaching, and instructional strategies in classroom settings. Findings suggest that research-practice partnerships that gather teachers' situated, comprehensive, and insightful perspectives can be invaluable in developing PD interventions. Collaboration between school districts and university researchers is essential in this iterative development process.

The Reading Teacher, 2015

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

American Journal of Public Health, 2000

The powerful influence of behavioral choices on health status is well established. The implicatio... more The powerful influence of behavioral choices on health status is well established. The implications and challenges for urban populations are formidable. Understanding urban environments will better prepare health promotion professionals to deal effectively with the forces affecting health-related behaviors. In thinking about urban health promotion in the United States, researchers often distinguish between 2 frameworks; one contending with urbanization, which affects most of us, and another contending with inner-city environments, where many of the deepest needs are. Urbanization confers both benefits and liabilities, but the single greatest challenge for health promotion may lie in reestablishing positive social connections. In contrast, 2 key features of the inner-city environment may be the negative ecological forces within neighborhoods and the lack of control over one's fate. Too often, prescriptions for the inner city stereotype its problems and ignore its strengths. For the inner city, important foundation stones for the future include ways to build on these strengths through positive connections and increased community control through coalition building.

This paper estimates the ability of the elderly to pay for necessary health care services and eme... more This paper estimates the ability of the elderly to pay for necessary health care services and emerging technologies. Projections from the Long Term Care Financing Model paint a promising picture of the income and assets that elders in the future will have avail- able to support discretionary, uncovered health care and service costs. Nevertheless, policymakers should pay close attention to

Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2013

This study uses geocoded address data and information about parent&am... more This study uses geocoded address data and information about parent's economic behavior and children's development from four random-assignment welfare and anti-poverty experiments conducted during the 1990s. We find that the impacts of these welfare and anti-poverty programs on boys' and girls' developmental outcomes during the transition to early adolescence differ as a function of neighborhood poverty levels. The strongest positive impacts of these programs are among boys who lived in high-poverty neighborhoods at the time their parents enrolled in the studies, with smaller or non-statistically significant effects for boys in lower poverty neighborhoods and for girls across all neighborhoods. This research informs our understanding of how neighborhood context and child gender may interact with employment-based policies to affect children's well-being.

Journal of Family Psychology, 2007

Associations between children's sleep behaviors and demographic characteristics, child school sch... more Associations between children's sleep behaviors and demographic characteristics, child school schedules and out-of-school activity choices, and family functioning were estimated using data from a nationally representative sample of 2,454 children aged 5-19 years. Total hours of sleep as well as bedtimes and waketimes were estimated using a time-diary approach. Predictors of sleep behaviors were examined separately for younger (5 to 11.9 years) and older children (12 to 19 years) and for weekday and weekend sleep behaviors. Older African American children, younger Asian children, and all children with earlier school start times and longer travel times to school reported fewer overall hours of sleep. Greater time watching television predicted fewer hours of weekday sleep for younger children, whereas greater time on homework predicted less sleep for older children. For both younger and older children, greater time spent on religious activities was associated with fewer hours of sleep while time spent eating meals was associated with greater hours of weekday sleep. For younger children, parental warmth was associated with earlier weekday bedtimes, and parenting stress was associated with less weekday sleep. For older children, family economic strain predicted later bedtimes, and parental rules predicted greater hours of sleep due to earlier bedtimes. For weekend sleep, African American ethnicity was once again associated with fewer sleep hours for older children, whereas Hispanic ethnicity and higher parental education predicted fewer sleep hours for younger children. There was less of an impact of family functioning variables in weekends, and a larger impact of activity choices: watching television, using the computer or playing video games, sports, religious activities, socializing, and part-time employment were all associated with fewer total hours of sleep on weekend nights.

Housing Policy Debate, 2006

Voucher‐based programs have become the most common form of housing assistance for low‐income fami... more Voucher‐based programs have become the most common form of housing assistance for low‐income families in the United States, yet only a slim majority of households that are offered vouchers actually move with them. This article uses data from 2,938 households in the Moving to Opportunity demonstration program to examine whether child characteristics influence the probability that a household will successfully

Health Services Research, 2002

Objective. To assess the coming challenges of caring for large numbers of frail elderly as the Ba... more Objective. To assess the coming challenges of caring for large numbers of frail elderly as the Baby Boom generation ages.

Health Affairs, 2003

This paper estimates the ability of the elderly to pay for necessary health care services and eme... more This paper estimates the ability of the elderly to pay for necessary health care services and emerging technologies. Projections from the Long Term Care Financing Model paint a promising picture of the income and assets that elders in the future will have available to support discretionary, uncovered health care and service costs. Nevertheless, policymakers should pay close attention to the finances of the "Tweeners"--people who are middle class with low levels of discretionary assets available for health and long-term care.

Despite recent reductions in neighborhood crime and poverty, children and adults in many unsafe n... more Despite recent reductions in neighborhood crime and poverty, children and adults in many unsafe neighborhoods are traumatized by witnessing or living in constant in fear of violence. After reviewing the evidence on neighborhood violence and mental health, we focus on the promise of residential mobility intervention programs to reduce neighborhood-violence-related mental health problems. Most of our attention is devoted to

This paper reviews high-quality empirical studies on book reading practices in early childhood th... more This paper reviews high-quality empirical studies on book reading practices in early childhood that have resulted in increases in child vocabulary. The overarching purpose of this work is twofold: first, to tease apart the myriad ways in which effective book readings can be delivered; and second, to identify questions that remain about book reading and vocabulary learning. We examine various aspects of effective book readings, including the contexts in which the book reading was conducted, the words that were taught through the book reading, the dosage of reading that children received, and the outcome measures used. Findings reveal that six strategies—reading and re-reading texts, explicitly defining words, encouraging dialogue about book-related vocabulary through questions and discussion, re-telling, using props, and engaging children in post-reading activities—are consistently implemented across the studies; however, they are used in widely varying combinations. There is great variability across studies in the number of words taught, the criteria for word selection, and the measures used to assess word learning. Moreover, in many studies, children learn only a small proportion of the number of words taught. Finally, this review identifies critical remaining questions about how to optimize vocabulary learning through book reading that require systematic investigation in order to inform effective practice.

Child Development Perspectives, 2016

Recent attention to the word gap has renewed public interest in the striking vocabulary dispariti... more Recent attention to the word gap has renewed public interest in the striking vocabulary disparities between children in poverty and their higher income peers during the 1st years of life. Children's outcomes-and the nation's well-being-could be improved by additional research into the mechanisms of vocabulary learning, as well as translational research that produces effective, feasible early-education practices in homes and schools. In this review, we first explain the nature and extent of the word gap and then briefly describe research on how children learn words during the early years. Next, we summarize limits of available interventions. Finally, we detail pressing questions that demand additional study and suggest research that could provide answers. Ultimately, we call for new research on word-learning experiences at home and in school that will support reading and academic success for children at risk.

Journal of Education For Students Placed at Risk, Mar 31, 2015

This article describes how a research-practice partnership has informed the iterative development... more This article describes how a research-practice partnership has informed the iterative development of a web-mediated early childhood language and literacy professional development (PD) intervention. Funded through the Investing in Innovation (i3) program, this new PD model is based on an effective in-situ intervention. As we translated the face-to-face model into a largely web-mediated approach, we partnered with educators to ensure that the resulting intervention was feasible and effective in real-world classrooms serving children at risk. Specifically, an educator advisory board provided ongoing input about the PD. Further, pilot teachers completed the training and provided feedback through a survey about the usability and effectiveness of the training modules, coaching, and instructional strategies in classroom settings. Findings suggest that research-practice partnerships that gather teachers' situated, comprehensive, and insightful perspectives can be invaluable in developing PD interventions. Collaboration between school districts and university researchers is essential in this iterative development process.

... I would like to thank the members of my committee, Greg Duncan, Emma Adam, and Tom Cook, for ... more ... I would like to thank the members of my committee, Greg Duncan, Emma Adam, and Tom Cook, for their suggestions, support, and time. I would also like to thank Patricia Pendry, Ann Person, Lindsay Monte, Heather Hill, Leah Doane, Amy Claessens, Mimi Engel, and Anita ...

Development and Psychopathology, 2015

Evocative effects of child characteristics on the quality and quantity of child care were assesse... more Evocative effects of child characteristics on the quality and quantity of child care were assessed in two studies using longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. We focus on the influence of child characteristics on two important aspects of the child care experience: language stimulation provided by caregivers and quantity of care. In Study 1, associations between the developmental status of children aged 15 to 54 months and the language stimulation provided by their caregivers were examined using path models, and longitudinal child effects were detected across the earliest time points of the study. In Study 2, the associations among child behavior, temperament, development, and time in care were examined. Little evidence was found for such child effects on time in care. The results are discussed in terms of the effects of child care on child development and implications for developmental processes, particularly for children at greatest risk for developmental delay or psychopathology.

Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 2015

This article describes how a research-practice partnership has informed the iterative development... more This article describes how a research-practice partnership has informed the iterative development of a web-mediated early childhood language and literacy professional development (PD) intervention. Funded through the Investing in Innovation (i3) program, this new PD model is based on an effective in-situ intervention. As we translated the face-to-face model into a largely web-mediated approach, we partnered with educators to ensure that the resulting intervention was feasible and effective in real-world classrooms serving children at risk. Specifically, an educator advisory board provided ongoing input about the PD. Further, pilot teachers completed the training and provided feedback through a survey about the usability and effectiveness of the training modules, coaching, and instructional strategies in classroom settings. Findings suggest that research-practice partnerships that gather teachers' situated, comprehensive, and insightful perspectives can be invaluable in developing PD interventions. Collaboration between school districts and university researchers is essential in this iterative development process.

The Reading Teacher, 2015

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

American Journal of Public Health, 2000

The powerful influence of behavioral choices on health status is well established. The implicatio... more The powerful influence of behavioral choices on health status is well established. The implications and challenges for urban populations are formidable. Understanding urban environments will better prepare health promotion professionals to deal effectively with the forces affecting health-related behaviors. In thinking about urban health promotion in the United States, researchers often distinguish between 2 frameworks; one contending with urbanization, which affects most of us, and another contending with inner-city environments, where many of the deepest needs are. Urbanization confers both benefits and liabilities, but the single greatest challenge for health promotion may lie in reestablishing positive social connections. In contrast, 2 key features of the inner-city environment may be the negative ecological forces within neighborhoods and the lack of control over one's fate. Too often, prescriptions for the inner city stereotype its problems and ignore its strengths. For the inner city, important foundation stones for the future include ways to build on these strengths through positive connections and increased community control through coalition building.

This paper estimates the ability of the elderly to pay for necessary health care services and eme... more This paper estimates the ability of the elderly to pay for necessary health care services and emerging technologies. Projections from the Long Term Care Financing Model paint a promising picture of the income and assets that elders in the future will have avail- able to support discretionary, uncovered health care and service costs. Nevertheless, policymakers should pay close attention to

Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2013

This study uses geocoded address data and information about parent&am... more This study uses geocoded address data and information about parent's economic behavior and children's development from four random-assignment welfare and anti-poverty experiments conducted during the 1990s. We find that the impacts of these welfare and anti-poverty programs on boys' and girls' developmental outcomes during the transition to early adolescence differ as a function of neighborhood poverty levels. The strongest positive impacts of these programs are among boys who lived in high-poverty neighborhoods at the time their parents enrolled in the studies, with smaller or non-statistically significant effects for boys in lower poverty neighborhoods and for girls across all neighborhoods. This research informs our understanding of how neighborhood context and child gender may interact with employment-based policies to affect children's well-being.

Journal of Family Psychology, 2007

Associations between children's sleep behaviors and demographic characteristics, child school sch... more Associations between children's sleep behaviors and demographic characteristics, child school schedules and out-of-school activity choices, and family functioning were estimated using data from a nationally representative sample of 2,454 children aged 5-19 years. Total hours of sleep as well as bedtimes and waketimes were estimated using a time-diary approach. Predictors of sleep behaviors were examined separately for younger (5 to 11.9 years) and older children (12 to 19 years) and for weekday and weekend sleep behaviors. Older African American children, younger Asian children, and all children with earlier school start times and longer travel times to school reported fewer overall hours of sleep. Greater time watching television predicted fewer hours of weekday sleep for younger children, whereas greater time on homework predicted less sleep for older children. For both younger and older children, greater time spent on religious activities was associated with fewer hours of sleep while time spent eating meals was associated with greater hours of weekday sleep. For younger children, parental warmth was associated with earlier weekday bedtimes, and parenting stress was associated with less weekday sleep. For older children, family economic strain predicted later bedtimes, and parental rules predicted greater hours of sleep due to earlier bedtimes. For weekend sleep, African American ethnicity was once again associated with fewer sleep hours for older children, whereas Hispanic ethnicity and higher parental education predicted fewer sleep hours for younger children. There was less of an impact of family functioning variables in weekends, and a larger impact of activity choices: watching television, using the computer or playing video games, sports, religious activities, socializing, and part-time employment were all associated with fewer total hours of sleep on weekend nights.

Housing Policy Debate, 2006

Voucher‐based programs have become the most common form of housing assistance for low‐income fami... more Voucher‐based programs have become the most common form of housing assistance for low‐income families in the United States, yet only a slim majority of households that are offered vouchers actually move with them. This article uses data from 2,938 households in the Moving to Opportunity demonstration program to examine whether child characteristics influence the probability that a household will successfully

Health Services Research, 2002

Objective. To assess the coming challenges of caring for large numbers of frail elderly as the Ba... more Objective. To assess the coming challenges of caring for large numbers of frail elderly as the Baby Boom generation ages.

Health Affairs, 2003

This paper estimates the ability of the elderly to pay for necessary health care services and eme... more This paper estimates the ability of the elderly to pay for necessary health care services and emerging technologies. Projections from the Long Term Care Financing Model paint a promising picture of the income and assets that elders in the future will have available to support discretionary, uncovered health care and service costs. Nevertheless, policymakers should pay close attention to the finances of the "Tweeners"--people who are middle class with low levels of discretionary assets available for health and long-term care.

Despite recent reductions in neighborhood crime and poverty, children and adults in many unsafe n... more Despite recent reductions in neighborhood crime and poverty, children and adults in many unsafe neighborhoods are traumatized by witnessing or living in constant in fear of violence. After reviewing the evidence on neighborhood violence and mental health, we focus on the promise of residential mobility intervention programs to reduce neighborhood-violence-related mental health problems. Most of our attention is devoted to