SEATTLE, Jan. 15, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Developmental psychologist Tia Kim, Ph.D., has recently accepted Committee for Children's offer to lead their Programs, Partnerships, and Research department.
A 35-year pioneer in the rapidly growing field of social-emotional learning (SEL) and the creator of the highly acclaimed Second Step program, nonprofit Committee for Children's reputation for quality curricula has earned them excellent working relationships with schools and researchers alike. The organization's Programs, Partnerships and Research department is tasked with performing rigorous research, translating their findings into easy-to-teach and effective programs for students in preschool through grade 8. The department also establishes partnerships with university-based researchers who conduct independent outcome evaluations on Committee for Children programs.
Kim earned her doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of California, Riverside, then completed three years of post-doctoral training at the Academic Center of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention. She served as an Assistant Professor in the department of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State, Brandywine, before coming to Committee for Children, where she has served for the past two years as the organization's Senior Research Scientist.
Kim's vision for the department focuses on both program and content development and evaluation of program effectiveness. "Because we know how important SEL is for the healthy development and success of children, my plan for the department and organization as a whole is to continually gather knowledge about the implementation and effectiveness of our programs to help us improve them and ensure positive outcomes for children who use them. The more we learn from everything from implementation fidelity to results from large-scale randomized control trials, the better we can carry out our mission to foster the social and emotional development, safety, and well-being of children," says Kim.
Joan Cole Duffell, Committee for Children's executive director, adds, "Dr. Kim stepped up from her position as our senior researcher to serve as interim director of the department. During this three-month period she clearly demonstrated that she was ideally suited to lead our organization's program and research initiatives. We're excited about the ways in which Dr. Kim's background in research, coupled with her innovative ideas and fresh perspective, promise to move us forward as an organization."
About Committee for Children
Seattle-based nonprofit Committee for Children is the world's leading provider of research-based educational programs that teach skills to prevent violence, sexual abuse and bullying all over the United States and around the world. To learn more, go to www.cfchildren.org.