Wendy Wagner Robeson
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.
Comprehensive professional development system needed for Massachusetts early education and care work
November 9, 2005
Empathy Project
Teaching Preschoolers Empathy
One of the major developmental tasks of preschoolers is to develop empathy; this project researches and designs curriculum in order better understand and cultivate empathy at a young and critical age.
Family Income, Infant Child Care, and Child Development Study
Child Care Centers' Influence on Infant Development
This study followed a random sample of hundreds of children and 100 child care centers in order to examine links between family income, the quality and cost of child-care, and infant language and social development.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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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.