Center for Child & Family Policy | Duke University

Leslie M Babinski

Director, Center for Child and Family Policy; Associate Research Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy; Director, School Research Partnership

Leslie Babinski became the director of the Center for Child and Family Policy in July 2019. She is an associate research professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy and director of the School Research Partnership. She has worked at the Center since September 2008.

Babinski is principal investigator for two Institute for Education Sciences-funded grants. The goal of the first project, Developing Consultation and Collaboration Skills (DCCS): ESL and Classroom Teachers Working Together with Students and Families, is to design a new, innovative professional development program for ESL and classroom teachers to work collaboratively to develop skills in language and literacy instruction for Latino English learners.

The goal of the second project, A Neuroscience-based Health Curriculum to Promote Academic and Behavioral Success, is to design a new ninth grade healthful living class. This course incorporates information about the brain mechanisms behind health behaviors such as: sleep, stress, nutrition, exercise, interpersonal relationships, drug and alcohol use, and mental and emotional health.

Research Interests

• Teacher professional development
• English language learners and academic development
• Adolescent health behaviors and decision making
• School-based interventions for children and adolescents
• Evaluation of educational initiatives

Research Interests:
Education, Program Evaluation, Child Development, Early Childhood

Education:

• Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley - 1993
• M.A. University of California, Berkeley - 1988
• B.S. The University of Scranton - 1985

Typical Courses Taught:

• CCS 150, CHILDREN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
  
• PUBPOL 391, INDEPENDENT STUDY
  
• CHILDPOL 393, RESEARCH INDEPENDENT STUDY
  

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Synergy for the Influence of the Month of Birth in ADHD (SIMBA) study group, (2023). Association between relative age at school and persistence of ADHD in prospective studies: an individual participant data meta-analysis.. Lancet Psychiatry, 10(12), 922-933. [doi]  [abs]


2. Babinski, LM; Murray, DW; Hamm, JV (2023). Self-Regulation Challenges and Supports in Middle Level Education: Health Education Teachers’ and School Counselors’ Views. RMLE Online, 46(6), 1-16. [doi]  [abs]


3. Knotek, SE; Babinski, LM "Mentoring and Developmentally Productive Environments to Support Talent Development." Talent Development as a Framework for Gifted Education: Implications for Best Practices and Applications in Schools. January, 2021: 205-229. [doi]  [abs]


4. Babinski, LM; Murray, DW; Wilson, WA; Kuhn, CM; Malone, PS (2018). Impact of a Neuroscience-Based Health Education Course on High School Students' Health Knowledge, Beliefs, and Behaviors.. J Adolesc Health, 63(4), 489-496. [doi]  [abs]


5. Babinski, LM; Amendum, SJ; Knotek, SE; Sánchez, M; Malone, P (2018). Improving Young English Learners’ Language and Literacy Skills Through Teacher Professional Development: A Randomized Controlled Trial. American Educational Research Journal, 55(1), 117-143. [doi]  [abs]