Juniper Gardens Children's Project
Strengthening Children's Lives Through Science and Community Engagement

Welcome

Juniper Gardens Children's Project (JGCP) began in the mid-1960s when residents of Northeast Kansas City, Kansas, joined with KU faculty to address concerns about child development in a low-income community. Their goal, which has become the ongoing mission of the JGCP, is to improve area children's developmental and educational experiences, and thus their academic and social achievements.
 
Since its inception, the project has sought to develop meaningful solutions to what local citizens view as major problems. JGCP also provides a place for KU faculty and students to learn from the wisdom and experiences of the urban community. Together, the community and the university have designed programs to intervene in and improve the parenting, care, and instruction received by children in the Greater Kansas City area and the United States. 
 

Featured Project 

Class-Wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a classroom management system comprised of four research-based activities that improve class-wide engagement during academic instruction. CW-FIT has been adapted for use with students of varying ages. Currently, our researchers are exploring the benefits of the intervention with middle school students. 
 

 

Recent Publications

  • "Training peer partners to use a speech-generating device with classmates with ASD: Exploring communication outcomes across preschool contexts," in the Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research. (In press, link coming soon.) Authored by Kathy Thiemann-Bourque, S. McGuff and Howard Goldstein. 
  • "Long-term effects of a cell phone enhanced parenting intervention," in the journal Child Maltreatment. (In press, link coming soon). Authored by Jennifer Lefever, Kathy Bigelow, Judy Carta... Dwight Irvin and Steve Warren. 
  • "Monitoring academic and social skills in elementary school: A psychometric evaluation of the Classroom Performance Survey," in the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions. (2017). Authored by Paul Caldarella, Ross Larsen, Leslie Williams, Joe Wehby, Howard Wills and Debra Kamps. 
  • "Measuring social-communication in the community: Novel tools for advancing family participation," in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. (In press, link coming soon). Authored by Dwight Irvin, A. Bard, Anna Wallisch, and L.M. Little. 
  • "An automated approach to measuring child movement and location in the early childhood classroom," in the journal Behavior Research Methods. (2017). Authored by Dwight Irvin, Stephen Crutchfield, Charles Greenwood, W.D. Kearns and Jay Buzhardt. 

​​See more publications


Donation

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What's New
Job Opportunities
  • Assistant Researcher We are looking for a part-time (50-75% FTE), bilingual (Spanish/English) assistant researcher. The assistant researcher on this project will be part of a research team, and will administer and score standardized and progress monitoring assessment measures for infants and toddlers with and without special needs. Assessments are conducted in child care/early learning center-based programs, and in children's homes in Wyandotte County (Kansas City, KS). Training and professional development will be provided for assessment administration and data entry. View the full job posting and apply here.   
  • Research Aides We are looking for research aides who will be responsible for data collection activities with preschool parents and teachers, including administering literacy assessments to children, observing classroom instruction and interactions, and assisting in preparation and delivery of data reports in the Kansas City Metro, as well as data management and entry at our offices in downtown Kansas City, KS. View the full job posting and apply here.
  • Student Hourly Positions We are seeking to fill student hourly positions. These students will be responsible for data collection activities with preschool students and teachers, including administering literacy assessments to children, observing classroom instruction and interactions, and assisting in the preparation adn delivery of data reports in the Kansas City Metro area, as well as data management and entry at our offices in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. View the full job posting and apply here.  
 
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