School of Behavioral Sciences and Education

Faculty:

Dr. Richard Fiene
Associate Professor of Human Development & Family Studies
Professor in Charge, Psychology Program
Director, Capital Area Health and Human Development Institute Director, Urban Community Partnership Initiative.

Office Hours

Office: Harrisburg, W-311 Olmsted
Phone: (717) 948-6061 || E-mail: rjf8@psu.edu

Academic Preparation

Ph.D., Newport University, 1978, Psychology
M.A., SUNY Stony Brook, 1973, Psychology
B.A., SUNY Stony Brook, 1971, Early Childhood Education

Selected Publications/Presentations

Fiene (2007). Child Development Program Evaluation & Caregiver Observation Scale, in T Halle (Ed.), Early Care and Education Quality Measures Compendium, Washington, D.C.: Child Trends.
Fiene (2007). Using Child Care Programs As A Portal to Changing the Eating Behaviors of Young Children, in L. Birch and W. Dietz (Eds.), Eating Behaviors of the Young Child, Princeton, New Jersey: Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Fiene and Isler (2007). Home based and family child care: Characteristics and quality issues, In C. J. Groark, K. E., Mehaffie, R. B. McCall & M. T. Greenberg (Eds.),Evidence-Based Programs, Practices, and Policies for Early Childhood Care and Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press .
Weinraub, Shlay, Kochanoff & the Universities Children’s Policy Collaborative (Fiene, Greenberg, McCall, Groark, Mehaffie, Nelkin & Ethridge-Smith) (2006). Findings from the 2002 Pennsylvania Family Survey and their relevance for the future, Commonwealth, Pennsylvania House of Representatives (LORL).
Fiene (2006). Early Childhood Initiatives in Other States, in J.M. Perzel, Education in Pennsylvania: Early Childhood Education: Universal Pre-K and Other Alternatives, Volume 4, Spring, 2006, Harrisburg: Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Fiene (2003). Licensing related indicators of quality child care, Child Care Bulletin, Winter 2002-2003, pps 12-13.
Fiene, Greenberg, Bergsten, Carl, Fegley, & Gibbons (2002). The Pennsylvania early childhood quality settings study, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Governor’s Task Force on Early Care and Education.
Fiene (2002). Improving child care quality through an infant caregiver mentoring project, Child and Youth Care Forum, 31(2), 75-83.
Fiene (2002). Thirteen indicators of quality child care: Research update. Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, US Department of Health and Human Services.
Johnson, Fiene, Keat, Darling, Pratt, Iutcovich (2001). Mastering course content and learner satisfaction: A comparison of regular classroom instruction with three variations of internet delivery. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp 267-274.
Iutcovich, Fiene, Johnson, Koppel, & Langan (2001). Professional development and the quality of child care: An assessment of Pennsylvania's child care training system. In Early education and care, and reconceptualizing play , Elsevier Science Ltd., Volume 11, 115-168.
Fiene, & Kroh (2000). Measurement tools and systems, in Licensing Curriculum, National Association for Regulatory Administration, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Research Interests

Child Care/Early Care and Education
Public/Social Policy and Evaluation
Infant and Child Development

Biography

Dr. Richard Fiene is Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Health and Human Development and the Capital College at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Fiene, a research psychologist, has spent his professional career conducting research on child care quality. His research at the national and state levels has centered on child care licensing, early childhood program accreditation, quality rating systems, and child care/early childhood development training systems and their impact on child care quality, in particular infant child care.

Dr. Fiene also was the Director of the Division of Licensing Systems & Research in the Office of Licensing and Regulatory Management, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. Dr. Fiene has been the Research Director and a Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary in the Pennsylvania Office of Children Youth and Families, Co-Chaired the Cross Systems Licensing Project in the Pennsylvania Departments of Public Welfare, Aging, and Health, and was the Research Director for the Child Care/Early Childhood Development Training System.