ERIKSON INSTITUTE
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Mission Statement
Erikson Institute is the nation’s premier graduate school in the field of early childhood development, serving a diverse group of nearly 300 graduate students in a single year, as well as more than 2,500 professional development participants. The faculty at Erikson, some of the nation’s leading voices in the field of early childhood, conduct research which bridges theory and practice, generating new knowledge that invigorates our courses and improves life for children and families in Chicago and throughout the nation.
About This Cause
Erikson Institute is the nation’s premier graduate school in the field of early childhood development, a field it helped to establish. Founded in Chicago at the height of the civil rights era in 1966, Erikson was developed in response to the critical need for early childhood professionals to staff Head Start and other emerging programs for young children at-risk. It was among the first to recognize the pivotal importance that culture plays in areas such as school performance. It was among the first to incorporate emerging research on infancy into its programs and develop linkages between early childhood development and such fields as clinical social work. Since its founding, Erikson courses have been taught with a self-reflective, multidisciplinary approach, ensuring that its 1,800 alumni throughout the world conduct their work with an understanding of the whole child, within the context of his or her family and culture and environment. The mission of Erikson is to continually bring the newest scientific knowledge and theories of children's development and learning into its classrooms and out to the community so that professionals serving children and families are informed, inspired, and responsive. Through a blend of onsite and state-of-the-art online offerings, Erikson serves a diverse group of nearly 300 graduate students in a single year, as well as more than 2,500 professional development participants, who participate in the following programs: • The Master’s Programs prepare students as preschool and elementary teachers, social workers, program directors, therapists, and child life specialists, among other careers. • The Doctoral Program in child development, offered jointly with the Graduate School of Loyola University Chicago, focuses on applied child development research and emphasizes the impact of culture, social class, and social relationships on young children’s learning and development. • Certificate Programs offer specialized training in three emerging fields: Infant Studies, Bilingual/ESL Education, and Infant Mental Health. • Professional Development Programs improve skills and knowledge through specially designed courses, seminars, workshops, and on-site consultation and training. An astonishingly high percentage of Erikson alumni—more than 80%—go on to occupy positions of leadership, extending their influence on children and families far beyond a one-on-one service model. They become lead teachers, program directors, and principals. They head early education initiatives for public and private agencies, apply their knowledge to new fields, and develop new practices and specialties. As a thought leader in the field of early childhood, Erikson is consistently asked to partner with community-based organizations, school districts, and state agencies to resolve longstanding problems facing children and families. Erikson currently works with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, among others, to significantly improve the care and education of young children in Chicago and across the state. Erikson has a particularly long history of collaboration with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) — a collaboration aimed at significantly improving the educational outcomes of young children and the quality of professional preparation and practice of pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade teachers. Currently, Erikson has five major projects underway with 52 CPS partner schools, making an impact on 760 teachers and staff and 13,700 students: • The Early Mathematics Collaborative, which was awarded a highly competitive federal i3 grant, helps children close the mathematics achievement gap by increasing the quality of early math teachers. • The New Schools Project builds positive and powerful early education experiences through responsive professional development and close partnerships with individual schools. • The federally funded Child-Parent Center expansion project is implementing a comprehensive early childhood intervention program in Chicago and around the country. Erikson is providing professional development services in partnership with the University of Minnesota. • Parent Groups are led by Erikson for pregnant and parenting teens who receive services through Prevention Initiative agencies. • Two-semester internships place Erikson’s master’s degree students in preschools and elementary schools around the city. In 2003, Erikson Institute launched its first direct clinical services program, an opportunity to bring Erikson’s unparalleled experience and insight in child development directly to parents and children in need, and provide internships for Erikson students. Through the Fussy Baby Program, Erikson helps parents who are struggling with an infant that cries excessively, helping to build parental efficacy and prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma, the most common and often devastating form of child abuse seen in infants. Within three years, the program grew from serving 68 to 905 families in the Chicago area, and garnered national media attention. Its success has led to the development of the Fussy Baby Network, comprised of affiliate sites in major hospitals and human service agencies in Oakland, Baltimore, Boston, Denver, New Orleans, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle. The program has also served as a springboard from which Erikson has expanded its direct services. In 2009, Erikson opened the Center for Children and Families (CCF) at its Chicago site, providing assessment and intervention services to children birth to age eight with social-emotional, behavioral, and developmental challenges. Our interdisciplinary team of clinicians and practitioners at CCF, representing Erikson staff as well as medical practitioners from the University of Chicago Hospitals Department of Pediatrics, has now seen over 1,900 Chicago-area families in need. Erikson Institute has a faculty of 35 who are currently conducting research in the areas of bilingual education, early literacy, special education, and maternal depression, among others. Their research typically bridges theory and practice, generating new knowledge that invigorates our courses and improves life for children and families in Chicago and throughout the nation. This is exactly the kind of knowledge needed to develop effective programs, services, and policy for young children and families. So, in addition to this work, Erikson established the Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy in 2005 specifically to conduct and disseminate research that informs, supports, and encourages effective early childhood policy in the Great Lakes region. The center's researchers seek to answer important unanswered questions about the optimal organization, funding, assessment, and replication of high-quality early childhood programs and services. The center then channels this new knowledge to legislators, advocates, foundation officials, and other participants in the policy process.