The "Achieving Academic Equity and Excellence for Black Boys" (AAEEBB) grant is designed to address the academic and socioemotional needs of Black boys in Maryland Public Schools. In year two of the grant (2022-2023), 14 schools were each awarded $50,000 to implement programs that addressed recommendations from a state-level task force…

The Maryland State Legislature enacted the Judith P. Hoyer Early Child Care and Education Enhancement Program in May of 2000 to address three important principles in Maryland's early childhood care and education programs: (1) Judy Centers -- The need for greater coordination among the providers of early childhood education and support services was…

In March 2022, Child Trends contracted with the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to conduct an independent evaluation of Parent Aware, Minnesota's quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for early care and education (ECE) programs. The evaluation was passed by the Minnesota Legislature in 2021 and includes several…

For state-funded preschool programs the compensation of teachers is a critical issue for program quality and effectiveness. If preschool programs are to attract and retain teachers comparable to those in primary schools, preschool teachers must receive comparable pay and benefits. This brief assesses compensation parity between state-funded…

Georgia's Pre-K Longitudinal Study followed a statewide sample of 1,169 children who attended Georgia's Pre-K Program in 2013-14 through their 4th grade year in 2018-19. The study was conducted by researchers at the Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The following summary…

This study describes the implementation and findings from a consultation process designed to enhance the professional development (PD) offered to teachers working in Virginia's state-funded preschool program. A PD Rubric was developed to translate research on effective PD (i.e., PD practices linked to positive changes in teacher practice and/or…

In 2014, New Jersey was one of the 18 states awarded a federal grant aimed to enhance state preschool programs, improve quality and serve more eligible children in high-quality settings. This "Preschool Development Grant" (PDG) promised to provide the state with $17.5 million per year for four years, beginning on January 1, 2015 through…

In 2014, New Jersey was one of 18 states awarded a federal grant aimed to enhance state preschool programs, improve quality and serve more eligible children in high-quality settings. This "Preschool Development Grant" (PDG) promised to provide the state with $17.5 million per year for four years, beginning on January 1, 2015 through…

Investing in community colleges is a central part of the Biden administration's education agenda, with the goal of strengthening America's middle class and opening the benefits of education to all Americans. CCRC has conducted 25 years of research on how community colleges can more effectively educate students and set them up to successfully…

A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) is a voluntary state assessment system that uses multidimensional data on early childhood education programs to rate program quality, support quality improvement efforts, and provide information to families about the quality of available early childhood education programs. QRISs have two components:…

This brief examines braiding, blending, and layering funding streams as possible strategies for supporting and sustaining high quality preschool programs. Interviews across three states with school district administrators, a Head Start director, and the director of a child care program illustrate how some leaders at the local level combine…

Background: State afterschool networks across the US are engaged in system-building efforts to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-focused afterschool programming. This study examined national trends in STEM program quality, youth outcomes, and the connections between these two data sources. Methods: One…

This report examines the characteristics of state special education voucher programs along with the evidence base on their impact, effectiveness, and quality. The report, which finds that the program characteristics differ considerably across states and that the research is small, dated, and often funded by voucher proponents, identifies major…

The primary purpose of the 2017-2018 NC Pre-Kindergarten (NC Pre-K) Evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of the NC Pre-K Program using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. The major issue addressed by this type of study is around the benefits of offering children access to enrollment in NC Pre-K. An RCT is considered the…

The primary purpose of the 2017-2018 NC Pre-Kindergarten (NC Pre-K) Evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of the NC Pre-K Program using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. Because children are randomly assigned to either receive NC Pre-K (treatment) or not (control) in an RCT, differences in outcomes can be causally attributed to…