About -> People -> Donna Bryant

Donna Bryant

Dr. Bryant is a Senior Scientist and the Associate Director of the FPG Child Development
Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Research Professor in the School
of Education.  She currently leads the Child Care Bureau-funded QUINCE study (Quality
Interventions for Early Care and Education), a 5-state study of quality enhancement interventions
and is interesting in professional development content and systems.  She co-directed the National
Center for Early Development and Learning, which completed in 2005 a multi-state study of
public pre-K.  Dr. Bryant has conducted studies of center-based child care, family child care, and
family and health services as well as early intervention and prevention for children at risk for
developmental disabilities. She conducted studies with the Head Start Quality Research Center
Consortium and the Head Start Mental Health Consortium and is currently conducting a study of
the Partners for a Healthy Baby home visiting curriculum with several Early Head Start programs.

From 1993-2003 she led the evaluation team for North Carolina's Smart Start initiative and is
currently leading the national evaluation of the Bounce Learning Network. Bounce is an affiliation
of Educare sites in several cities that are delivering high-quality early education for children from
birth to age 5.  Dr. Bryant has authored many papers and chapters on early intervention and early
childhood education and is the co-author of 2 books, one on home visiting and another on early
intervention.

The FPG Child Development Institute is a multidisciplinary institute at UNC-CH dedicated
to ensuring that that every child has a safe, healthy, and stimulating childhood. Over 50
investigators, 25 faculty members, and 350 staff work on more than 70 projects addressing a
wide range of issues facing young children and their families and use this information to improve
practice and enhance policy.

Early, D. M., Bryant, D., Pianta, R., Clifford, R., Burchinal, M., Ritchie, S., Howes, C., & Barbarin,
O. (in press). Are teachers' education, major, and credentials related to classroom quality and
children's academic gains in pre-kindergarten? Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

Bryant, D.  (in press).  North Carolina's Early Childhood Initiative: The Smart Start Story and Its
Evaluation.  In A. R. Tarlov & M. P. Debbink (Eds.). Nurturing the National Treasure: Early
Childhood Development and Education from Birth to Age 5.  New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Chang, F., Crawford, G., Early, D. M., Bryant, D., Howes, C., Burchinal, M., Barbarin, O. A.,
Clifford, R. M., & Pianta, R. (in press).  Spanish-speaking children's social and language
development in pre-kindergarten classrooms. Early Childhood Research Quarterly.