Food insecurity is widespread among college students in the United States. Food benefits delivered through the CalFresh program, California's version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), can reduce hunger by helping students pay for groceries, but may not reach all eligible students. To date, higher education systems…

Children who know fewer words in preschool typically continue to have lower levels of vocabulary knowledge in higher grades than their peers who know more words. In fact, this difference continues to be pronounced and even widens as these children reach higher grade levels. Interventions that support vocabulary development and reading…

Children who know fewer words in preschool typically continue to have lower levels of vocabulary knowledge in higher grades than their peers who know more words. In fact, this difference continues to be pronounced and even widens as these children reach higher grade levels. Interventions that support vocabulary development and reading…

Background: The long-term effectiveness of Head Start remains a topic of debate. Previous research with families of children enrolling in Head Start at three years of age has shown patterns of familial risk moderate the short-term effects of Head Start suggesting some children benefit more than others. However, we know little about patterns of…

Research Findings: Preschool teachers' relationships with children are a critical component of classroom quality. We draw from a sample of N = 2,114 children attending Head Start to examine child-centered profiles of experiences across two dimensions of classroom interaction quality that are often considered separately: individual teacher-child…

From March 2020 through March 2021, three laws providing federal funding for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education were enacted in response to the national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic declared by President Trump on March 13, 2020. The second of these laws provided a higher amount of funding than the first, and the third…

Rising college prices and student debt, the growth and collapse of online for-profit colleges, and expansions of federal grant, loan, and loan forgiveness policies have increased calls for more accountability in our higher education system. And there is significant consensus among lawmakers that the existing set of quality assurance policies for…

Head Start uses a whole-family approach to support the well-being of children and families with low incomes. As a two-generation model, Head Start provides comprehensive services for families and children from birth through age 5, and family support services for parents. Intentional alignment and coordination across these services is expected to…

This dissertation consists of two chapters, both of which study the wealth inequality using heterogenous agent general equilibrium model. In particular, the first chapter focuses on a government policy and its implications on wealth inequality. The second chapter incorporates cost to high return assets to generate realistic wealth mobility in the…

Past efforts to teach novices programming through pair programming and project-based learning utilizing different low floors, high ceilings and wide walls platforms have been successful. Building from related work, this study investigates the effectiveness of Productive Failure (PF) pedagogical design in supporting youth and novices when learning…

Using in-depth interview data from families and service providers, we examine the success of the Creating Moves to Opportunity (CMTO) program in Seattle, focusing on how it reduced many of the learning, compliance, and psychological costs of using housing vouchers so that participants could expand their residential choices. CMTO's approach of…

This study examines how individuals assess administrative burdens and how these views change over time within the context of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides food to pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under age five. Using interview data from the Baby's First…

Early childhood educators are expected to provide the children in their centers high-quality care and preparation for later school success. At the same time, nearly a third of children enter early care and education settings displaying challenging behaviors, which in turn impacts educators' stress levels and wellbeing. It is then unsurprising that…

The concept of community schools can be traced back to the early 20th century when industrialization, immigration, and urbanization were rapidly increasing, and public schools in cities were struggling to meet the social and civic needs of students from low-income families. In the 1960s and 1970s, advocacy groups promoted community schools as a…

Research Findings: Better understanding the correlates of teacher stress is critical to develop effective, targeted prevention and intervention efforts to decrease early childhood educator stress and ultimately improve outcomes for educators and young children. Previous studies of early childhood educator stress have mostly focused on teacher…