Program Overview

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Overview of the Child Study and Human Development Program

The Tufts MA in Child Study and Human Development provides a strong theoretical foundation in child development, coursework in an area of specialization, mentorship, research skills, and applied opportunities and fieldwork. Graduates of the program go on to become scholars and practitioners who are making a difference in the lives of children and adolescents.

Program Outcomes

Graduates of the Child Study and Human Development MA Program understand how to use theory and research to positively impact the lives of children and families. Many graduates do direct service work in the field of education, while others enter doctoral or other degree or licensure programs, and some work for a few years before going on to pursue further advanced study. Recent graduates of the MA program have secured positions such as:

• Developmental specialist in an early intervention program
• Child development specialist in a community-based nonprofit
• Child advocate in juvenile and family courts
• Family therapist in a therapeutic school
• Mental health specialist in a psychiatric hospital
• Research coordinator in a pediatric unit of a hospital
• Curriculum specialist in a public school
• Technology consultant in an after-school program
• Assistant to the director of a children's television program
• Director of summer camp programs
• Bilingual intensive care coordinator in a community-based nonprofit
• Assistant program coordinator in a hospital-based nonprofit working with individuals with autism
• Transition specialist in an autism program

Application Requirements

• Application fee
• Resume/CV
• Personal statement: In one coherent essay of no more than 2,500 words, please address the following:
  • Why you are applying to the Eliot-Pearson master’s program
  • Your lived experiences, past work experiences, academic work, and other relevant experiences
  • Your aspirations for a career after the graduate program (the role and kind of work you hope to be doing), and which aspects of our program would best support your goals
  • If admitted, how do you see yourself developing in ways you wish to develop
  • Which faculty connect to your interests and why?
  • Please also share any additional information that you think will help the admissions committee understand you and why you are applying to the program
• Official TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test scores, if applicable
  • A minimum score of 95 on the Internet-based TOEFL is generally considered evidence of sufficient English language ability for graduate study. Minimum equivalent scores of 7 on the IELTS and 115 on the Duolingo exam are also considered indication of sufficient ability.
• Transcripts
• Three letters of recommendation
• A supplemental essay answering this prompt:
  • How does the mission of the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development resonate with your interest in the program and your career?
  • Mission Statement: The Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development is an inclusive and interdisciplinary community dedicated to: (1) integrating strengths-based theory, research, and practice to enhance the well-being of children, youth, families, and communities through systems change; (2) adopting learner-centered teaching and applied research; and (3) striving to inspire, educate and hold accountable ourselves and others to become active citizens, practitioners, scholars and change makers, in order to (4) promote an accessible, equitable, and just world.
  • In 500 words or less, write about the first theme and at least one other. Your essay should seek to answer:
    • How do you envision learning to carry out these themes during your time in the MA program?
    • What do you find in our program that will help you implement these themes?
    • What challenges do you see in your ability to implement each of these themes?
• On your application, please indicate which faculty members you might like to work with if you are admitted to the program. These faculty must have one of the following titles: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, or Distinguished Senior Lecturer. Please do not list Research Assistant Professors, Research Associate Professors, Part-Time and Adjunct Faculty, or Affiliated Faculty Members, as they cannot be advisors for master’s students.
• Please note that some applicants may be asked to interview with a faculty member as part of their admissions process.

GSAS Fifth-Year Master's Program

• Tufts undergraduates can pursue this program as part of the GSAS Fifth-Year Master’s Program.

Tuition and Financial Aid

See Tuition and Financial Aid information for GSAS Programs. Note: This program is eligible for federal loans and Tufts tuition scholarships.

Tracks

After their first semester, students determine whether they want to pursue the applied track or the thesis track of the master's program. In the applied track, students work in field placements, such as after school programs, juvenile justice facilities, and hospitals, while receiving support and guidance from Tufts faculty. In the thesis track, students participate in faculty research labs and projects. They attend meetings, conduct literature reviews, locate subjects, collect data, analyze data, and draft research reports, articles, and books for publication.

In addition, students are able to concentrate in one of two specific areas or follow an individualized program of study:

• Clinical-Developmental Health and Psychology;
• Children, Arts, and Media;
• Identity in Global Context;
• Individualized Program of Study

Program Details

• School/Department: Child Study and Human Development
• Program Director: Sara Johnson
• Location: Medford/Somerville
• Format: On-campus
• Commitment Options: Full-time, Part-time (Daytime)
• Average Duration: 2 years
• Credits: 32
• Tuition per Credit: $1799
• Eligible for Aid/Scholarship: Yes

Faculty

Sara Johnson

Associate Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Adolescence and young adulthood; identity development; civic development and engagement; youth contribution; critical consciousness; quantitative methods (including mixture models such as latent class and latent profile analyses); positive youth development

Emma Armstrong-Carter

Assistant Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: child development; research practice partnerships; prosocial development; children's caregiving for family; school policies educational success

Mary Casey

Associate Teaching Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Parent-child relations

Eileen Crehan

Affiliate, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Neurodevelopmental disorders; autism spectrum disorder; sexuality education; social perception; eye tracking; dimensional measurement of psychological symptoms

Julie Dobrow

Teaching Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Children and media; ethnicity/gender and media; adolescents and media use; women's history and biography

Simone Dufresne

Lecturer, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: neurodivergence, autism, social development, experience of higher education students, participatory research

Calvin Gidney

Associate Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Linguistics; literacy, sociolinguistic development; dyslexia in African-American children; language of children's cartoons; children's name-calling

Demond Hill

Assistant Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: (Mental) Health Equity; Human Emotions and Behaviors; Belonging and Human Flourishing; Neighborhood and Built Environment; Racial and Structural Inequality; Complex Trauma, Anxiety, and Stress; Education; Social and Emotional Learning/Development; Program Development; Ethnography, Youth-and-Community Based Participatory Action Research; Qualitative Research

Jordan Jurinsky

Assistant Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: recovery; addiction; substance use; adolescence and emerging adults; community engaged research; recovery high schools; health equity; social contexts

Theo Klimstra

Associate Teaching Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Adolescence and young adulthood; identity development; personality development; narrative identity; quantitative methods (including structural equation models)

Richard Lerner

Professor and Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: The application of developmental science across the life span; developmental systems theory; personality and social development in adolescence; developmental methodology; programs and policies for children, youth, and families; university-community collaboration and outreach scholarship. Developmental Science

Tama Leventhal

Professor and Department Chair of Child Study & Human Development, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Neighborhood and community context; housing context; family context; poverty and socioeconomic status; social policy; adolescence; immigrant young children

Christine McWayne

Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Early childhood education, school success of young children at risk due to poverty, parenting and family-school partnerships in diverse ethnocultural communities, culturally inclusive STEM curriculum, community-based research collaborations.

Jayanthi Mistry

Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Theoretical perspectives on the integration of culture and human development; Narratives of identity and place in communities; Navigating multiple cultural worlds, with a focus on ethnic minority, immigrant, and under-represented communities; Interpretive and Narrative Analysis methods in the study of children and families.

Kerri Modry-Mandell

Associate Teaching Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Pediatric psychology; Developmental Psychopathology; Family Functioning and Adaptation to Pediatric Chronic Illness; Children's Sibling Relationships; Psychological Consultation and Collaboration and Therapeutic Space Design; Grief Support; Pediatric Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Developmental Initiatives

Ellen Pinderhughes

Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Families and children in challenging circumstances; parenting and family functioning among diverse families; ethnic-racial socialization processes; cultural and contextual influences; child and youth outcomes; adoption and foster care

Fernando Salinas-Quiroz

Assistant Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: My research centers trans and nonbinary children and youth, focusing on how they imagine, inhabit, and transform gender, family, and belonging. I work alongside young people to challenge the rigid binaries that limit their lives, and I see research as a space for co-creation, joy, and justice. Through transdisciplinary approaches, I seek to expand our understanding of change—not as a fixed "path of development," but as the complex, shifting, and plural ways children and communities grow. At the core, my scholarship asks how we can build worlds where trans and queer youth not only exist, but thrive.

W. George Scarlett

Teaching Professor, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development

• Research/Areas of Interest: Children's development as earth stewards, children's play, Approaches to children's challenging behaviors, religious and spiritual development across the lifespan, the arts in support of children's development.

Related Programs

• Child Study and Human Development (Doctorate)
• Cognitive Science (Joint PhD)
• Psychology (Doctorate)
• School Psychology (Master's)