Dr. Rob Corso is an Assistant Research Professor at Vanderbilt University and the Project Coordinator for the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) project. Dr. Corso also coordinates the evaluation for the Hilton/Early Head Start Training Program. Previously he served as the Principal Investigator for the Head Start Disability Services Quality Improvement Center in Region V and the Project Coordinator of the Early Childhood Research Institute on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate. Dr. Corso’s expertise includes the evaluation of professional development projects for programs serving young children and their families. He has conducted many large-scale evaluations of programs serving children and families and has developed outcomes frameworks for measuring the impact of in-service training for national efforts aimed at improving the capacity of Early Head Start, Migrant and Seasonal Head Start, and child care. In addition, Dr. Corso served as an administrator for an early intervention, Head Start and child care program. He has co-authored several works around professional development and the delivery of culturally and linguistically responsive early childhood education.
Lise Fox, Ph.D
Dr. Lise Fox is a professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies of the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Fox is a Co-Principal Investigator for Department of Education (OSEP) funded Center for Evidenced Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior and a faculty member with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, Child Care and Head Start, funded Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. She is also the director of the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
Dr. Fox has been a classroom teacher, teacher educator, program developer, and researcher. Her accomplishments at USF include the development of a model early intervention program for young children with autism (Individualized Support Project) and the development of model approaches to working with young children with challenging behavior in natural environments (child care, community, home). She is well known for her skills in practical approaches to addressing issues surrounding the inclusion of young children with problem behavior in community settings. She has numerous publications in the area of positive behavior support, early intervention, and the inclusion of children with disabilities.
Barbara Smith, Ph.D
Dr. Barbara J. Smith is Research Professor, School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center. Her areas of interest include early childhood special education/early intervention policies and program development, leadership and collaboration, and research utilization. She received her master's degree in early childhood special education and doctorate in special education and public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has held early childhood and early childhood special education positions for the past thirty years including: early childhood teacher, Executive Director of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children; Policy Specialist, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC); and Program Specialist, US Office of Special Education Programs. She has worked with NAEYC and other early childhood leadership organizations to help shape quality inclusive early childhood environments and the policies and guidelines that support them. Dr. Smith has authored over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 15 books and chapters. She is currently Principal Investigator for several federally funded, multi-year grants. She is the recipient of the Division for Early Childhood's (DEC) Merle Karnes Award for Service to the Division and the DEC award for Service to the Field. She currently serves on several national Boards and Commissions. Dr. Smith is key faculty on two national research and training centers related to children’s social emotional development and challenging behavior: the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, and the Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior.
Dr. Rob Corso is an Assistant Research Professor at Vanderbilt University and the Project Coordinator for the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) project. Dr. Corso also coordinates the evaluation for the Hilton/Early Head Start Training Program. Previously he served as the Principal Investigator for the Head Start Disability Services Quality Improvement Center in Region V and the Project Coordinator of the Early Childhood Research Institute on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate. Dr. Corso’s expertise includes the evaluation of professional development projects for programs serving young children and their families. He has conducted many large-scale evaluations of programs serving children and families and has developed outcomes frameworks for measuring the impact of in-service training for national efforts aimed at improving the capacity of Early Head Start, Migrant and Seasonal Head Start, and child care. In addition, Dr. Corso served as an administrator for an early intervention, Head Start and child care program. He has co-authored several works around professional development and the delivery of culturally and linguistically responsive early childhood education.
Dr. Lise Fox is a professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies of the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Fox is a Co-Principal Investigator for Department of Education (OSEP) funded Center for Evidenced Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior and a faculty member with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, Child Care and Head Start, funded Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. She is also the director of the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
Dr. Barbara J. Smith is Research Professor, School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center. Her areas of interest include early childhood special education/early intervention policies and program development, leadership and collaboration, and research utilization. She received her master's degree in early childhood special education and doctorate in special education and public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has held early childhood and early childhood special education positions for the past thirty years including: early childhood teacher, Executive Director of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children; Policy Specialist, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC); and Program Specialist, US Office of Special Education Programs. She has worked with NAEYC and other early childhood leadership organizations to help shape quality inclusive early childhood environments and the policies and guidelines that support them. Dr. Smith has authored over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 15 books and chapters. She is currently Principal Investigator for several federally funded, multi-year grants. She is the recipient of the Division for Early Childhood's (DEC) Merle Karnes Award for Service to the Division and the DEC award for Service to the Field. She currently serves on several national Boards and Commissions. Dr. Smith is key faculty on two national research and training centers related to children’s social emotional development and challenging behavior: the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, and the Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior.
