Alessandra Schneider

Alessandra Schneider Alessandra Schneider is completing her PhD in Developmental Psychology and Education at the Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, OISE, University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Jenkins. Her dissertation research focuses on the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of two parenting measures in Brazil, namely the PICCOLO (Roggman et al., 2013) and the Cognitive Sensitivity scale (Prime et al., 2015). Interested in the role of public policies in fostering early childhood development in low and middle income countries (LMIC), she has worked with the UNESCO Brasilia Office (2001-2009), the National Council of Secretaries of Health in Brazil (CONASS; 2010-), the Bernard van Leer Foundation, UNICEF, the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, and the World Bank to promote transforming research into policy and practice. Alessandra was instrumental in the design of the Primeira Infância Melhor (PIM; the Better Early Childhood) – a home visiting program on parenting and early child development – implemented since 2003 in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Working as technical advisor of CONASS, she coordinated elaboration of the Portuguese version of the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development produced by the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development at the Université de Montréal, in Canada. Her involvement with the Encyclopedia has generated translation into Portuguese (http://www.enciclopedia-crianca.com) and dissemination of over 450 papers on early childhood development, a valuable contribution to the field for Portuguese-speaking countries.