Research and Policy

Early childhood education research has captivated the country during the last decade. Advances in neuroscience enable scientists to capture the developing brain, providing images of healthy and unhealthy development. In addition, new research has increased understanding of what and how babies learn and how young children grow and develop emotionally, socially and cognitively. These research gains have prompted new questions about how policymakers can take what is known from research and make informed choices about what promotes healthy development and where investments are needed.

An NCSL project, Mobilizing Research to Inform Child Care Policy: Focusing on State-Level Dialogue, funded through a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is designed to bridge research and policy in the area of child care and early education. The project includes collaboration with Teacher's College at Columbia University and the Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) center at the University of California-Berkeley. An advisory committee comprised of researchers, legislators and legislative staff guides the project. The project includes development of policy briefs and technical assistance to individual states.

Policy Report Series Combines Research with State Early Childhood Initiatives

The Child Care and Early Education Project recently published four policy reports. Funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the reports are designed to provide policymakers with a comprehensive research background combined with policy options for addressing key issues in child care and early childhood education. As state policymakers consider approaches to improving early learning for young children, research can provide a sound basis for policy and investment decisions. Numerous studies have been conducted that evaluate how policies work and how they affect children's early learning and development.

This series is part of a collaboration between NCSL; Sharon Lynn Kagan, Teacher's College, Columbia University; and Bruce Fuller, University of California at Berkeley. The series is made possible due to the efforts of numerous national experts, including guidance from a national advisory committee comprised of early childhood researchers, state policymakers and staff from national organizations. Specialty-specific research teams also were consulted for guidance and feedback in the writing of each report. A comprehensive research synthesis of early childhood studies, state initiatives, and policy options states could consider are included in the policy reports.

These reports can only be accessed by those with passwords, or can be purchased through the NCSL publications website.

To read portable document format (.pdf) files, you must install Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Connecting Brain Research to Early Childhood Policy

Connecting Brain Research to Early Childhood Policy - This State Legislative Report summarizes state legislative enactments and actions from 1999-2001 that have incorporated early brain development research. This report can be accessed by those with passwords at http://www.ncsl.org/legis/cyf/ccfinance.pdf, or can be purchased through the NCSL publications website.

Culturally Appropriate Early Childhood Education

Most state and federal multicultural and bilingual education policies have focused on elementary and secondary schools. However, as policymakers, researchers and educators realize the importance of a child's early years, multicultural care is becoming more pressing at the preschool level. States have approached early childhood programming through a variety of mechanisms to ensure appropriate practices in their child care and early education settings, including culturally sensitive environments.

This report can be accessed by those with passwords at http://www.ncsl.org/legis/lbriefs/LEGIS109.htm, or can be purchased through the NCSL publications website.

Linking Research and Policy Through Technical Assistance

Pennsylvania, April 10, 2003

NCSL Child Care and Early Childhood Education staff participated in a joint hearing with the House Democratic Policy Committee and the House Education Committee of the Pennsylvania General Assembly as part of field hearings in consideration of Governor Rendell's early education budget proposals. Steffanie Clothier, program manager for the Child Care and Early Childhood Education project, and Josiah Pettersen from NCSL's Education program presented testimony to the committee in Allentown PA, the 3^rd largest city in PA at a local elementary school gym. The hearing included presentations by the Deputy Secretary of Education and a speech by Governor Rendell. Governor Rendell gave details about his education package which included prekindergarten, full day kindergarten and reduction in class size proposals funded by a variety of tax changes. The education budget is still unresolved in Pennsylvania (as of September 1, 2003) and the legislature is expected to return to session in September to complete work

Present at the hearing included: eight legislators, several legislative staff including Nia Wilson, NCSL Human Services and Welfare Legislative staff co-chair, officials from the Department of Education, the former school superintendent, current superintendent, four school board members, representatives from the largest employer Agere (former Western Electric), another business leader, the local hospital, and at least two principles from local elementary schools, Good Schools, an advocacy group, and parents. There were five television cameras and a variety of media present.

National Meeting Session: NCSL/ NHSA Collaboration on Research and Policy Sessions

NCSL collaborated with the National Head Start Association (NHSA) to conduct a research panel and luncheon for NHSA's Annual Training Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday May 27-28, 2003. The panel, titled "The Role of Research in State Policy Making," included how research plays into legislative policy making on early childhood issues, how legislators use research, how researchers approach their subjects, the strengths and limitations of research that has been done, as well as what early childhood research is being done now. The panel included Jack Hailey, Staff Director, Senate Health and Human Services for California; Ohio state Representative Merle Grace Kearns; Sharon Lynn Kagan, Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University and Professor Adjunct at Yale University's Child Study Center; W. Steven Barnett, Professor of Education Economics and Public Policy and Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. To kick off the panel and the research track for the conference, NHSA's director, Sarah Greene made opening remarks. The session was attended by approximately 100 community leaders, researchers, and policy makers.

NCSL also collaborated to host the Research Luncheon on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 bringing Deborah Phillips from Georgetown as the keynote presenter to discuss the latest research findings in early childhood education. Dr. Phillips is the professor and chair of Psychology at Georgetown University and Co-Director of the Georgetown University Program in Children and Public Policy. She also served as the study director for the National Research Council's report: "From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development," released in October 2000. The lunch was attended by approximately 175 people from the Head Start Community.

Questions of Interest for Policymakers

As a follow-up to our recent Child Care Research and Policy Advisory Committee meeting, NCSL and the National Governor's Association have categorized the types of questions that we typically receive. Policymakers have expressed interest in determining the effects of the issues listed below, including how various policies can result in better economic, educational, social and criminal justice outcomes for children as well as the cost-effectiveness of these policies.

Early Childhood Development: Why do investments in early childhood development matter for child outcomes? Which investments are most effective and cost-effective? What effects do parent education programs or family support services have on child development?

School Readiness: What are the connections between child care, early childhood education programs and school readiness? How can children be ready for kindergarten? How can schools be ready for the children who arrive at their doorstep?

Child Care Financing: What are the effects of financing options for the provision of child care? These options include the use of TANF funds for child care and preschool funding, prospective payments, tiered reimbursement, tax credits, vouchers and provider compensation incentives.

Child Care Quality and Regulation Issues: What are the effects of state child care quality improvement initiatives such as better child care provider training and education, increased child care provider compensation and career development? What strategies are states using to increase compensation for child care providers? Also, what are the effects of zoning, child-staff ratio requirements, health and safety standards, and fraud assessment and prevention efforts on child care quality and child outcomes?

Coordination of Child Care and Early Childhood Education: What are the effects of coordinating parental education, health and other social services? For example, why should states consider coordinating services? How cost effective is coordination and what are the benefits for children? How can we make programs comprehensive, and what does that mean for Head Start, child care and early education programs, and community school readiness plans?

Child Care Access Issues: How available are programs for preschoolers, care for parents working non-traditional hours and child care for low-income families? How effective are outreach efforts regarding the availability of child care subsidies?

Descriptive Information: Comparative or state-specific information about early childhood programs and populations such as the percentage of households with a child in out-of-home care.

State Surveys: Comparative or state-specific information about early childhood program legislation and/or practices. For instance, how much does each state spends on child care subsidies; what are reimbursement rates for kin care across the states; which states offer tax credits for child care?

Additional Resources

Report compares U.S. military, civilian child care models

Researchers at the Urban Institute highlight the transformation of the military child care system in the United States and compare it to several state child care initiatives in Improving Child Care Quality: A Comparison of Military and Civilian Approaches. The military's success in child care is attributed to four elements of its system:

Viewing child care as a fundamental work force issue;
Establishing and enforcing standards for quality care;
Training and rewarding child care workers as professionals; and
Sharing program costs among parents and employers.

The report can be found at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410825_improving_child_care_quality.pdf.

Fact sheets describe early education, quality care

Quality early care improves children's scores on primary grade testing, helps children achieve greater school readiness and increases high school graduation rates, according to an Early Care and Education Collaborative fact sheet, What the Research Shows. The collaborative, which is a multi-year project of eight state-based child advocacy organizations that are working on child care issues, produced four fact sheets that address such issues as quality care and building community support.

The fact sheets, which incorporate information from a variety of research studies, can be accessed online at http://earlycare.org/factsheet.htm.

Study identifies child care barriers for children with special needs

Lack of access to high-quality programs, inadequate funding and lack of advocacy are potential barriers to child care for children with disabilities and other special needs, according to a study, Barriers to Inclusive Child Care: Research Study Findings and Recommendations. Researchers at the WestEd Center for Prevention and Early Intervention conducted the study, gathering data from participants in California and outlining several recommendations designed to enhance access and success in quality child care programs.

The executive summary and full report can be found online at www.wested.org/cs/cpei/print/docs/339.

For more information on child care issues, please contact Steffanie Clothier in the Denver office at 303.364.7700 or cyf-info@ncsl.org or either Sheri Steisel or Lee Posey in the D.C. office at 202.624.5400 or fedhumserv-info@ncsl.org