UNC School of Education

William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Early Childhood, Intervention and Literacy and Professor of Psychology

Coordinator of Early Childhood, Intervention and Literacy research specialization in Education (M.A./Ph.D.)

T 919.843.5623
F 919.962.1533
lynnevf@email.unc.edu

301K Peabody Hall
CB 3500

Lynne Vernon-Feagans has a long-standing interest in young children at risk for school failure. She began her career as a developmental psychologist and linguist and used that background to understand the school and home languages of children as they relate to literacy and school success. A particular interest is children who live in poverty, children with learning/language disabilities and children with hearing loss due to otitis media (ear infections). Vernon-Feagans’ teaching focuses on an ecological and contextual framework of learning with an emphasis on the proximal and distal processes affecting the child at home, in childcare settings, at school and in the community.

• Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
• Center for Developmental Science
• National Research Center on Rural Education Support

• Post-doctoral training, 1975 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Child Development Institute
• Ph.D. 1975 - University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Developmental Psychology and Linguistics
  
• B.A. 1967 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Economics

• Rural Children and Families in Poverty
• The Transition to School for Struggling Learners
• Language and Literacy at Home and at School
• Literacy Interventions for Kindergarten and First Grade
• Research Overview

• Family, Poverty and Intervention
• Language, Literacy and Schooling

• Farmer, T. & Vernon-Feagans, L. Elementary School Transition Project. National Research Center for Rural Education Support. (9/15/04-9/15/09; $10,000,000)
• Vernon-Feagans, L. & Cox, M. The development of young children growing up in rural poor communities. Approved for Funding by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development  (7/1/02–6/30/07); $16,500,000)
• Cox, M. & Reznick, S. (Vernon-Feagans, investigator) The North Carolina Research Collaborative Center. The National Science Foundation. ( 9/1/01 - 8/31/06; $2,500,000)
• McWilliam, R. & Vernon-Feagans, L. (Vernon-Feagans, Principle Investigator last year of grant) Preparation of Leadership Personnel. (9/1/97-8/31/03; $888,164)
• Vernon-Feagans, L., Frank, T., & Manlove, E. Otitis Media, Behavior and Attention in Daycare. Funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (8/1/96-6/30/01- 7/31/02; $2,869,967)
• Vernon-Feagans, L. & Vazquez, A. Otitis media, Behavior and Attention in Daycare. Minority suppelement. Funded by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (8/1/97- 7/31/02; $200,000)
• Beard, J.,Vernon-Feagans, L & Hendricks, M. Iron deficiency and cognitive/ affective processes in new mothers: An intervention in Cape Town, South Africa (1/1/99-6/30/00; $130,000)

Vernon-Feagans, L., Hurley, M. M., Yont, K. M., Wambolt, P. M., Kolak, A.  (in press).  The e ffects of childcare quality and otitis media on children's naturalistic language at 18, 24  and 36 months of age. Journal of Applied  Developmental Psychology.

Kainz, K. & Vernon-Feagans, L. (in press). The ecology of early reading development for children in poverty. The Elementary School Journal.

Pancsofar, N & Vernon-Feagans, L. (in press). Mother and father language input to young c hildren: Contributions to later language development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

Vernon-Feagans, L. & Blair, C. (2006). Measurement of School Readiness: Introduction to a Special Issue of Early Education and Development. Early Education and Development, 17, 1-5

Vernon-Feagans, L., Manlove, E. E. (2005). Otitis media, the quality of child care, and the social/communicative behavior of toddlers A replication and extension. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 20 (3), 306-328.

Guzell, J.R., & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2004). Parental perceived control over caregiving and its relationship to parent-infant interaction. Child Development, 75 (1), 134-146.

Vernon-Feagans, L., Head-Reeves, D.& Kainz, K. (2004) An ecocultural perspective on early literacy: Avoiding the perils of school for nonmainstream children. In B.H. Wasik (Ed.) Handbook of Family Literacy. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ., pp 427-448.

Yont, K.M., Snow, C.E. & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2003) The role of context in mother-child interactions: an analysis of communicative intents expressed during toy play and book reading with 12 month-olds. Journal of Pragmatics, 35, 435-454.

Vernon-Feagans, L. Hurley, M. & Yont, K (2002). The effect of otitis media and daycare quality on mother/child bookreading and language use at 48 monts of age. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 113-133.

Manlove, E.E. & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2002). Caring for infant daughters and sons in dual earner households: Maternal reports of father involvement in weekday time and tasks. Infant and Child Development, 11, 305-320.

Miccio, A.W., Yont, K.M., & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2002). Impact of otitis media on toddlers attending daycare: A longitudinal study of consonant acquisition. In D.J. Lim, C.D. Bluestone, & M.L. Casselbrant (Eds.), Proceedings of recent advances in otitis media. (pp.550-553). Ontario: Decker Periodicals.

Vernon-Feagans, L. & Wamboldt, P. (2002). The relationship between family functioning and otitis media at 12-months of age. In D.J. Lim, C.D. Bluestone, & M.L. Casselbrant (Eds.), Proceedings of recent advances in otitis media. Ontario: Decker Periodical.