National Center for Latino

Michael L. López, Ph.D. is Executive Director and co-founder of the National Center for Latino Child & Family Research, a nonpartisan, national center dedicated to research on issues relevant to practices and policies affecting the lives of Latino children and families. Some of his current, research efforts include: (1) research consultant for the $600 million dollar First 5 LA universal preschool initiative, (2) member of the Research Working Group of the White House Initiative on the Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, (3) consultant to the National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics, (4) co-author of a recent study: “Latino Infants & their Families: A National Perspective of Protective & Risk Factors for Development.”; (5) co-author of a review of the psychometric properties of currently available language and literacy measures used with Spanish-speaking, ELL preschoolers; and (6) Co-Principal Investigator for the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Survey Design Project.

Prior to launching the Center, Dr. López directed the Child Outcomes Research and Evaluation team in the Administration for Children and Families. He has directed a number of large-scale, national, research projects, including the National Head Start Impact Study, the first ever randomized study examining the impact of Head Start on children’s school readiness. In his current capacity, Dr. López is particularly interested in supporting new, high quality, applied policy research and programmatic activities on topics of relevance to Latino children and families, including: language and literacy development, early childhood care and education, bilingual education, early childhood prevention and intervention programs, and young children’s mental health, with an emphasis on at-risk, low-income and/or culturally and linguistically diverse populations.

Contact information:

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