Equity as a perspective for implementation research in the early childhood field. In, A Closer Look: Implementation Research in Early Care and Education. Foundation for Child Development.

A data collector in a U.S. preschool classroom observed a teacher call security because she perceived a child as being disrespectful and difficult. The preschooler was observed being removed from the classroom. This occurred during a standard observation of classroom quality in one of our research projects. Standard research practices with respect to processes in early childhood may end with the classroom being given a high “negative discipline” score. Because of the limitations of standard protocols, unanswered questions remain when looking at the data. Was the child black? A boy? Hispanic? All three? To the extent that research on processes inquires more deeply into these questions, it may more fully account for how programs operate and are implemented and shed light on the biases that are reproduced in early childhood systems.