Oscar Barbarin, Principal Investigator
Oscar A Barbarin, Ph.D. is the L. Richardson and Emily Preyer Bicentennial Distinguished Professor for Strengthening Families in the School of Social Work, and a Fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Rutgers University in 1975 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in social psychology at Stanford University in 1983. Until 2000, he was a professor of Psychology and Social Work at the University of Michigan. He served as President of the American Orthopsychiatric Association from 2001-2003. His research has focused on the social and familial determinants of ethnic and gender achievement gaps. He is principal investigator of the PAS initiative, a national study whose focus is the socio-emotional a and academic development of boys of color. His work on children of African descent extends to a 20 year longitudinal study of the effects of poverty and violence on child development in South Africa.
Donna Marie Winn, Co-Investigator
Dr. Winn is an Investigator at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Sociology and Center for Social Demography and Ethnography at Duke University. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with dual areas of specialization in child and family processes and organizational behavior. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who has expertise in developing programs and tools to help children and young adults grow socially, emotionally, and academically. For over 20 years, she has worked with schools, community-based organizations, adults, families, and children. Dr. Winn has led and/or consulted on many evidence-based programs both nationally and internationally including Fast Track, On Track, GREAT Schools and Families, Building Bridges, Preschool Behavior Project, Project Kid Start, Black Parenting Strengths and Strategies, Committee for Children’s Second Step & Woven Words, Helping Parents Help Children, and the NECD Family Preservation Program. She is a member of the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention’s Girls Study Group panel to prevent adolescent delinquency. She has authored numerous scientific articles and children’s books. Dr. Winn is the Co-Investigator for the PAS initiative, a multi-site demonstration program that focuses on promoting the social-emotional and academic development of boys of color.
Pam Frome, Project Director
Dr. Frome is an Investigator at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1998. Her research has focused on program evaluation within educational contexts, particularly on factors that influence student achievement. In addition, she has studied the mechanisms, both external social factors and internal psychological processes, that influence students’ achievement-related beliefs, behaviors, and choices. Currently, her research focuses on the social and familial determinants of ethnic and gender achievement gaps. Dr. Frome is the Project Director for the PAS Initiative, a national multi-site demonstration program that focuses on promoting the social-emotional and academic development of boys of color.
Crystal Smith, Project Administrative Coordinator
Crystal Smith joined the PAS project initiative in December 2006. She has a BA in Mass Communications from Bennett College and a BA in Studio Art from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her professional background is graphic design but she has worked in several areas including: web programming, publications layout and design, marketing, data research, and high level administrative support. She has been at the FPG Child Development Institute for five years.
Dina Castro, Investigator
Dr. Castro is a Principal Investigator and an early childhood researcher at the FPG Child Development Institute. She has more than 20 years of experience working on early childhood research and intervention in the United States and Latin America. Dina also serves as co-principal investigator for the Nuestros Niños Project funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education to conduct a national study of policies and practices of early childhood programs to address the needs of Latino children and families. She is a professional psychologist, with a Master's degree in Public Health and a doctoral degree in Education. Dina is a native of Peru, where she worked as university professor. She has lived in the United States (North Carolina), since 1991. Her areas of expertise include language development and assessment of second language learners, parental involvement in early childhood programs, language and culture in the early years. She is also a trained program evaluator and has extensive experience conducting professional development and parent education programs.
Marvin McKinney, PAS Consultant
Marvin McKinney is a visiting Research Fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and a program consultant. He attained his Ph.D. in 1978 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in Curriculum and Instruction. Combined he has over 30 years of experience in education research, grant procurement, and consultation. He has won numerous fellowships and awards including the Bush Professional Fellowship in Child Development and Public Policy from The Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute in 1982.
