Policymakers and the public are showing ever greater concern over the earliest years of childhood, garnering increased attention at the state and national levels. Issues range from the struggles many families face in finding affordable childcare to discussions over how best to introduce children to reading and literacy.
Researchers, however, want to ensure that policy solutions to these issues are rooted in science.
That is the driving force behind the creation of a new group of early childhood researchers at Big Ten universities. The Big Ten Early Learning Alliance brings together more than 40 experts in early childhood who are working together to improve policy formulation in the Big Ten states.
Ohio State’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy has taken a lead role in assisting the alliance in its efforts.
One of the co-chairs of the alliance is the Crane Center’s Executive Director Laura Justice, PhD. Justice, an internationally prominent expert in early childhood learning and an EHE Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology in the Department of Educational Studies, organized the first in-person meeting of the alliance’s steering committee in Columbus last year. Justice says early childhood researchers need to make their findings available and understandable to policymakers in their states.
“Translating our research is so crucial to allow policymakers in government, and teachers in the classroom, to make the best decisions to improve children’s lives,” Justice said. “As scientists, we are finding what works, and we need to let policymakers know.”
Justice was the co-author of the alliance’s first analysis brief, “State of Early Childhood Education in Big Ten States,” published earlier this fall. In the brief, she and co-author W. Steven Barnett, Board of Governors Professor of Education, Rutgers, waded through a variety of data. Their goal was to understand the bigger picture of what early childhood education looks like in states that belonged to the Big Ten Academic Alliance before the summer expansion to the West Coast.
Determining the total number of young children served by publicly funded programs in these states is not an easy task. States differ in the early childhood programs they offer, in the financial support they provide and in reporting requirements for those programs. In addition, children may be counted twice if an individual receives services from two separate programs. An example would be if a child is enrolled in Head Start — a federal program — plus a state program.
Among the brief’s recommendations for states are to:
- improve their data systems
- share information with other states about the impact of their early childhood policies
- link data on participation in early childhood programs with long-term outcomes, such as state standardized test scores, high school graduation and enrollment in higher education
The brief’s findings provided the inspiration for the alliance’s first online panel discussion held earlier this month. The event was organized through the Crane Center. Nearly 300 people from 31 states and five countries signed up to watch the webinar, which was held over Zoom.
The panel, which included both researchers and state government policymakers, looked at the state of early childhood education data in Big Ten states:
- what types of data are currently available
- what the barriers are to gathering and using the data
- how improved data on government-funded early childhood programs can assist researchers and policymakers, as well as address the immediate needs of the children and families being served
Crane Center staff also are handling other activities for the alliance, including the group’s website and newsletters. This work is generously supported by a grant to Ohio State from American Family Insurance.
“I’m proud of the hard work our team at Crane is doing in support of the Big Ten Early Learning Alliance, and that Ohio State is taking the lead in promoting science-based research on early childhood to policymakers at the state level,” Justice said.
“The impact of this work has so much potential to improve the future, not only for today’s children, but for the generations that follow.”
