Joan E. Test, Ed.D., is Assistant Professor, Childhood
Education and Family Studies, Missouri State University,
Springfield. She is the faculty liaison to the Child Development
Center at Missouri State and teaches courses in
child and human development. Her research focuses on
the influence of social interactions on children’s development
in families and early childhood settings.
Denise D. Cunningham, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor,
Childhood Education and Family Studies, Missouri State
University, Springfield. She has many years of experience
as the director of an early childhood center and as a teacher
and literacy coach in the St. Louis Public Schools. Her research
interests include creating high-quality environments
to promote children's language and literacy development.