Kimberly Nesbitt
My research focuses on the internal processes and external influences that enhance or disrupt the development of executive function and academic skills in early childhood. I also pursue a line of applied research that examines the educational and instructional practices that contribute to the emergence of more sophisticated cognitive abilities and enable young children from diverse backgrounds to learn and achieve in early educational environments. I publish in the educational and psychological literature, including Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly. In addition to teaching practicum courses in early childhood education, I am the program coordinator for UNH’s accredited undergraduate teacher certification program in early childhood education. and serves on numerous early learning and childhood committees in New Hampshire.
Research Interests
- Academic Achievement
- Applied Research
- At-Risk Children/Youth
- Child Psychology/Development
- Cognition
- Early Childhood Development
- Early Childhood Education
- Effectiveness Research
- Statistics
- Teacher Education
- Teacher Effectiveness
Courses Taught
- HDFS 525: Human Development
- HDFS 635: Tch&Lrn Early Childhd Settings
- HDFS 695: Independent Study
- HDFS 697W: Special Topics/Research Method
- HDFS 707: Practicum
- HDFS 785: Seminar for Student Teachers
- HDFS 786: Seminar for Student Teachers
- HDFS 788: Student Teachng Young Children
- HDFS 797/897: Adv/Teach w the Brain in Mind
- INCO 590: Rsrch Exp/Family Studies
Selected Publications
Dickinson, D. K., Collins, M. F., Nesbitt, K., Toub, T. S., Hassinger-Das, B., Hadley, E. B., . . . Golinkoff, R. M. (2019). Effects of Teacher-Delivered Book Reading and Play on Vocabulary Learning and Self-Regulation among Low-Income Preschool Children. Journal of Cognition and Development, 20(2), 136-164. doi:10.1080/15248372.2018.1483373
Dickinson, D. K., Nesbitt, K. T., Collins, M. F., Hadley, E. B., Newman, K., Rivera, B. L., . . . Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2019). Teaching for breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge: Learning from explicit and implicit instruction and the storybook texts. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 47, 341-356. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.07.012
Dickinson, D. K., Nesbitt, K. T., & Hofer, K. G. (2019). Effects of language on initial reading: Direct and indirect associations between code and language from preschool to first grade. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 49, 122-137. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2019.04.005
Nesbitt, K. T., Fuhs, M. W., & Farran, D. C. (2019). Stability and instability in the co-development of mathematics, executive function skills, and visual-motor integration from prekindergarten to first grade. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 46, 262-274. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.02.003
Fuhs, M. W., Nesbitt, K. T., & Jackson, H. (2018). Chronic Absenteeism and Preschool Children's Executive Functioning Skills Development. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 23(1-2), 39-52. doi:10.1080/10824669.2018.1438201
Toub, T. S., Hassinger-Das, B., Nesbitt, K. T., Ilgaz, H., Weisberg, D. S., Hirsh-Pasek, K., . . . Dickinson, D. K. (2018). The language of play: Developing preschool vocabulary through play following shared book-reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 45, 1-17. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.01.010
Farran, D. C., Meador, D., Christopher, C., Nesbitt, K. T., & Bilbrey, L. E. (2017). Data-Driven Improvement in Prekindergarten Classrooms: Report From a Partnership in an Urban District. Child Development, 88(5), 1466-1479. doi:10.1111/cdev.12906
Hadley, E. B., Dickinson, D. K., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Nesbitt, K. T. (2016). Examining the Acquisition of Vocabulary Knowledge Depth Among Preschool Students. Reading Research Quarterly, 51(2), 181-198. doi:10.1002/rrq.130
Nesbitt, K. T., Baker-Ward, L., & Willoughby, M. T. (2013). Executive function mediates socio-economic and racial differences in early academic achievement. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(4), 774-783. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.07.005
Baron, A., Malmberg, L. -E., Evangelou, M., Nesbitt, K., & Farran, D. (n.d.). The Play’s the Thing: Associations between Make-Believe Play and Self-Regulation in the Tools of the Mind Early Childhood Curriculum. Early Education and Development, 1-18. doi:10.1080/10409289.2019.1613327
Fuhs, M. W., Nesbitt, K. T., & O’Rear, C. D. (n.d.). Approximate number system task performance: Associations with domain-general and domain-specific cognitive skills in young children. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 4(3), 590-612. doi:10.5964/jnc.v4i3.141
Fuhs, M. W., Farran, D. C., & Nesbitt, K. T. (n.d.). Preschool classroom processes as predictors of children’s cognitive self-regulation skills development.. School Psychology Quarterly, 28(4), 347-359. doi:10.1037/spq0000031
Nesbitt, K. T., Farran, D. C., & Fuhs, M. W. (n.d.). Executive function skills and academic achievement gains in prekindergarten: Contributions of learning-related behaviors.. Developmental Psychology, 51(7), 865-878. doi:10.1037/dev0000021
Fuhs, M. W., Farran, D. C., & Nesbitt, K. T. (n.d.). Prekindergarten children’s executive functioning skills and achievement gains: The utility of direct assessments and teacher ratings.. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(1), 207-221. doi:10.1037/a0037366
Fuhs, M. W., Nesbitt, K. T., Farran, D. C., & Dong, N. (n.d.). Longitudinal associations between executive functioning and academic skills across content areas.. Developmental Psychology, 50(6), 1698-1709. doi:10.1037/a0036633
Lipsey, M. W., Nesbitt, K. T., Farran, D. C., Dong, N., Fuhs, M. W., & Wilson, S. J. (n.d.). Learning-related cognitive self-regulation measures for prekindergarten children: A comparative evaluation of the educational relevance of selected measures.. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(8), 1084-1102. doi:10.1037/edu0000203