Nancy L. Marshall


Boston After-School Experiences Study (BASES)
Experiences in Boston After-School Programs

This study was created to better understand how children spend their after-school time, and how it may be best used to improve growth and learning. The study was stratified by ethnicity and took into account gender and social class.


Boston Preschools Falling Far Short of Goals, Study Says

The Boston Globe
Tracy Jan
April 7, 2007


Boston Public Schools Early Childhood Studies
Assessing Preschool and Kindergarten Programs

The Work, Families & Children team has conducted a series of studies for the Boston Public Schools (BPS), including the BPS K1 and K2 Programs Needs Assessment, and a 2007-08 follow-up study.


Changing Workforce
Employment in the 21st Century

This group of inter-related research projects examines three related changes in the U.S. workplace - rising employment in the service industries, increased diversity of the workforce, and the increase in numbers of older workers.


Child Care Voucher Project
Assessing Massachusetts' Voucher System

WCW researchers participated in a study, led by Dr. Valora Washington and under the auspices of the Bessie Tartt Wilson Children’s Foundation, to evaluate the child care voucher system in Massachusetts.


Comprehensive professional development system needed for Massachusetts early education and care work

November 9, 2005


Health and Safety in Massachusetts Early Care and Education Programs
Assessing Health Practices in Early Education

This project prepared a report is to describe the prevalent health practices and concerns in early care and education programs in Massachusetts, as part of a larger project of the Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education.


Is Child Care Bad for Kids?

by Nancy L. Marshall, Ed.D.
From the Fall/Winter 2003 Research & Action Report

Recent headlines have once again raised the question of whether child care is bad for children. After decades of research, advocacy, program development, and policy, what do we really know about child care? Before addressing this question, it is important to talk about the larger question: what do we really know about women’s (and men’s) lives? The question of child care can only be answered as part of a discussion about how women and men meet the two challenges of both raising the next generation and providing economically for themselves and their families.
Read more.


Maine Cost and Quality Study
Cost and Quality of Child Care in Maine

This study sought to examine full-day, year round child care for preschool-age children in Maine to better illuminate links between the quality and the costs of early child care in Maine.


Massachusetts Capacity Study
Assessment of Massachusetts' Education Workforce

The Capacity Study describes the current early education and care (EEC) workforce in Massachusetts and evaluates the capacity of the State’s higher education system to meet the increased demand for a qualified workforce in early education and care.


Massachusetts Cost and Quality Study
Cost and Quality of Child Care in Massachusetts

The goal of the Massachusetts Cost and Quality Study was to examine full-day, year-round, community-based center care for preschool-age children (2.9 years to 5 years) and for infants and toddlers, pre-k classrooms in the public schools and family child care programs.


Massachusetts Early Care and Education and School Readiness Study
Early Care and Education and School Readiness: Massachusetts

Researchers focus on aspects of school readiness, including social and language development, along with other data such as hours in care, so as to better understand the ways in which a child's growth is influenced by situational factors. 


Massachusetts Early Care and Education Studies
Assessment of Early Care and Education in Massachusetts

This group of inter-related research projects seeks to understand the state of early care and education in Massachusetts and make recommendations for quality outcomes.


Nancy L. Marshall, Ed.D.
Nancy L. Marshall

New Brief: Workforce Development & Compensation Critical to Quality Early Childhood Education in MA

April 3, 2005


NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development
Early Environments and the Development of Children

This study, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, seeks to determine the relationship between children's early experiences and their developmental outcomes.


Older Workers and Health
Workplace Environment Influences on Older Workers' Health

This project proposes to advance scientific knowledge regarding the relationship between health and work, and both the positive and negative conditions within a workplace.  This study asks how important employment really is toward productivity and health in an older workers' life.


Op-Ed: Workforce development & compensation critical to quality early childhood education
Op-Ed Workforce development & compensation critical to quality early childhood education

Op-Ed submission to the Boston Globe (unpublished)
by Nancy Marshall, Ed.D. and Steve Barnett, Ed.D.
March 30, 2005

The creation of the Department of Early Education and Care, developed to administer the Massachusetts’ early education care system, puts the state at a critical juncture in advancing its historic commitment to young children. On July 1st, the new department becomes active, and its Board and Commissioner will have the tough task of deciding how to proceed. Well-trained, qualified teachers and providers are necessary for programs to promote children’s school readiness. The recently released Massachusetts Capacity Study Research Brief: Characteristics of the Current Early Education and Care Workforce provides research-based evidence of the magnitude of the task of workforce development.
Read more.


Postdoctoral Behavioral Research Training on Variations in Child and Adolescent Development

This program provides research training for candidates who seek to investigate elements of race, gender, and class in the context of childhood and adolescent environments.


Quality Inventory for a 21st Century Plan for Boston's Youngest Children
Assessment of Boston Childcare Programs

This project provides a comprehensive picture of the quality of Boston's Early Care and Education programs for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, in both centers and family child care homes.


Student Teachers

Boston Globe
February 6, 2006


Work Stress and Women's Postpartum Health
The Impact of Work Stress on Mothers' Health

This study examines the impact of work stress on working mothers’ health during the first three years after having a child.


Work, Families and Children
Assessing Child Care Issues in Working Families

This long-term program brings together research on employment, work and family issues, and child care as a support for working families.