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Collaborative Projects

Research Connections facilitates dialogue and participates in collaborations among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in child care and early education. View materials from various roundtables, partnerships, and other joint endeavors working to expand and refine policy research in the field.

Playful Learning as an Academic Yardstick (PLAY) Meeting

In December 2009 the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation hosted a meeting "Playful Learning as an Academic Yardstick" (PLAY). Invited participants, including federal policymakers and researchers, engaged in critical dialogue regarding the research on play and children's development and policies related to play in early care and education settings. Goals of the meeting included: assessing the state of play research and establishing a basic research foundation; exploring whether policies are in line with the current research on play; and determining steps necessary to move the field forward.

View The Meeting Notes

Presentations

2010-06-02

Roundtable on Developing the Next Wave of Quality Measures for Early Childhood and School-Age Programs

As a follow-up to a roundtable on Measuring Quality in Early Childhood and School-Age Settings: At the Junction of Research, Policy, and Practice, Child Trends convened a second roundtable in January 2008, Developing the Next Wave of Quality Measures for Early Childhood and School-Age Programs. Sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this meeting gathered experts specializing in a range of topics related to child care quality and child outcomes to guide the field on possible directions for developing, refining, and strengthening measurement strategies.

View These Materials

2010-03-17

Meeting on the Evaluation of State Quality Rating Systems

In April 2008 Child Trends convened a meeting on the Evaluation of State Quality Rating Systems. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, the meeting provided an opportunity for discussion of similarities and differences across state QRSs, a common framework for identifying evaluation goals, and an opportunity to identify and communicate key issues that have arisen in the implementation and evaluation of state QRSs. Participants included teams from nine states (Colorado, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee) represented by State Child Care Administrators and evaluators, several invited researchers, and federal partners.

View These Materials

2010-03-17

Working Meeting on Child Care Decision-Making

In December 2008 Child Trends hosted and U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation sponsored a Working Meeting on Child Care Decision-Making. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for discussion aimed at deepening understanding of parental decision-making about care and education for young children.

View These Materials

2010-03-17

Child Care Policy Research Consortium

The Child Care Policy Research Consortium (CCPRC) is a national alliance of child care researchers, policymakers and their partners who join in linking research, policy and practice. The CCPRC is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Care Bureau, Office of Family Assistance, and Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE). Research Connections supports and facilitates the work of CCPRC and assists in the collection and dissemination of research materials from annual CCPRC meetings.

2010-02-27

Supporting Positive Language and Literacy Development in Young Language Minority Children: Research, Policy, and Practice

In April 2008 the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation along with several other federal agencies hosted a roundtable meeting, Language and Literacy Development in Young Language Minority Children: Research, Policy, and Practice, where invited participants engaged in critical dialogue regarding how research can support and expand policy and practitioner concerns regarding the language and literacy needs of young language minority children (0 to 5 years of age). Two central goals framed many of the discussions that took place at the meeting: 1) to gain a better understanding of the needs of policy and practitioner audiences in the area of supporting positive language and literacy outcomes for language minority children and 2) to gain a better understanding of how available research can presently inform these needs (while identifying gaps in, the literature along the way).

The various materials for this roundtable are posted.

2010-02-26

Measuring Quality in Early Childhood and School-Age Settings: At the Junction of Research, Policy, and Practice

A December 2006 Research Roundtable meeting explored current quality measures used for identifying characteristics of child care that contribute to children's development and the increasing use of these measures for making policy and practice decisions. Hosted by the Child Care Bureau in collaboration with the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, the roundtable brought together state child care administrators, researchers, and representatives of federal agencies to address questions of quality including: what does the research say about the strength of our existing measures of quality; are there further measures of quality needed; and do states agree what measures of quality should be included in state quality rating systems.

The various materials from the roundtable are posted.

2010-02-25

Professional Development Definitions and Measures

The Workgroup on Defining and Measuring Professional Development of the Early Childhood Workforce evolved out of a series of meetings, sponsored by the Child Care Bureau in collaboration with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, DHHS and other federal agencies. The meetings focused on identifying problems in defining and measuring professional development of the early childhood workforce. These problems have implications not only for understanding research findings but also for policy and practice. The purpose of the Workgroup is to build on what was learned during these meetings and to take specific steps towards addressing definition and measurement issues.

The Workgroup's Statement of Purpose and materials from its various meetings and presentations are posted.

2010-02-25

Guidance for Validating Child Care Market Rate Surveys Project

Child care market rate surveys describe prices that are set in the open market by child care providers. The 1998 federal Child Care and Development Fund Final Rule requires states, territories and tribes to conduct a market rate survey within 2 years of their currently approved CCDF plan. Great variation exists in the costs, methods, and utility of market rate surveys across the nation.

The Guidance for Validating Child Care Market Rate Surveys project is a study of the ways states currently conduct market rate surveys, methods to validate market rate survey findings, and the effects of child care subsidies on the larger child care market. The study is funded by the federal Child Care Bureau and is being conducted by Oregon State University, University of Minnesota, and the National Center for Children in Poverty. The three objectives of the project are:

  • Objective 1: Describe key elements of market rate survey methods, policies, and practices in order to capture current practice of states, tribes and territories, and to refine the proposed research design for validating market rate survey findings.

  • Objective 2: Evaluate the effect of using various samples and methods on validity, market representation, and cost effectiveness in producing child care market rate findings at the level of community and state, territory, or tribe.

  • Objective 3: Explore the effects of subsidies on child care prices in different policy environments.

All materials from the project are available here. These include: a discussion of The validity of child care market rate surveys, (PDF 146K) by Arthur Emlen; the first report from the three-year study titled Practices and policies: Market rate surveys in states, territories, and tribes; the study's second report Tribal child care and development fund grantees: Market rate surveys and other child care practices and policies; the third report Study of market prices: Validating child care market rate surveys; and Dataset generated by the project. Also available are summaries of the project Advisory Committee Meetings: Summary of the First Advisory Committee Meeting (PDF 208K), Summary of the Second Advisory Committee Meeting (PDF 149K), and Summary of the Third Advisory Committee Meeting (PDF 127K), which generated recommendations on guidance to states, territories, and tribes growing out of issues identified in the study's third report.

  • In September 2008, Research Connections hosted a series of five interactive Webinars that examined the challenges to producing accurate price findings with child care market rate surveys based on the findings from the Guidance for Validating Child Care Market Rate Surveys research project.

The recorded webinars are available for download in Windows Media Player (WMV) format.

2010-02-25

Developing Measures of Child Care as a Support to Employment and Self-Sufficiency

A September 2006 Research Roundtable explored development of long-term performance measures for the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) to assess the impact of child care assistance on low-income families, particularly on their employment. Performance measures help government agencies demonstrate the effectiveness of programs and help inform funding decisions. Hosted by the Child Care Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, the roundtable brought together state child care administrators, researchers, and representatives of federal agencies that gather administrative and survey data potentially useful for eventual measures.

The various materials from this roundtable are also available.

2010-02-25

Faculty Teaching Modules

Drawing on the resources of Research Connections, Marilou Hyson (senior consultant for the National Association for the Education of Young Children) has developed a set of teaching modules for early childhood faculty. These modules can be adapted for use in early childhood teacher education programs to help undergraduate students understand, find and use research. Currently 5 modules are available for download.

Download these Modules

2010-02-25