Weekly E-News

Click here to subscribe.

Hot Topics
 

Ed Source Webinar: California’s expanded transitional kindergarten: What’s working, what isn’t and what we’re learning

California’s Transitional Kindergarten is one of the most important early childhood education initiatives in the US and globally, given its sheer scale. California accounts for more than one third of states’ spending on preschool education, and with further expansion, could make up more than half. A new webinar, “California’s expanded transitional kindergarten: What’s working, what isn’t, and what are we learning?” hosted by EdSource, explores the following questions with experts, including a TK teacher:

• What does transitional kindergarten look like in the classroom?
• Is developmentally appropriate, play-based learning the norm in TK classrooms?
• Are schools able to maintain appropriate adult-to-child ratios?
• What’s at stake as TK continues being integrated into the broader early learning system and beyond?
  

Register here.

Education Week: Parents Are Reading Less to Preschool-Age Kids at Home. What’s to Blame?

Last week, NIEER’s Steve Barnett discussed NIEER’s new research on home learning with Elizabeth Heubeck of Education Week. The new publication in JAMA Network Open, "Parent-Child Shared Book Reading With Preschoolers During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic" authored by Kwanghee Jung and Barnett, finds that parent-child shared reading declined during and after the pandemic. Interestingly, having just 10 more print books at home increased the chances of parents reading often with their kids by 8 percent. Randomized control trials confirm that increasing access to books alone can increase reading. The presence of e-books at home did not have the same association, however, while more screen time was associated with less shared book reading. This contrasts with some rigorous studies finding that e-books can be used to increase shared reading: the keys are likely related to what and how. 

Click here to read the article in Education Week.

Click here to read the study.

Estimating the Internal Rate of Return of the Influential Jamaica Early Childhood Intervention

In the Journal of Benefit Cost Analysis, Florencia Lopez Boo and Nicolás Alejandro García Balus estimated the long-term economic returns of Jamaica’s influential early childhood intervention using experimental evidence that followed participants through age 31. Combining observed life cycle benefits, primarily labor market outcomes, with a detailed analysis of program costs, the researchers estimated an internal rate of return of approximately 10.5 percent and a benefit cost ratio of about 8 to 1. The findings add to evidence that high-quality early childhood interventions in low and middle income countries can generate substantial long term economic benefits.

Big Wins for Early Childhood: An Investment Guide for Ministers of Finance and Planning

Act For Early Years, alongside UNICEF and others, is convening the first-ever Global Early Years Finance Summit in 2027 to address scaling proven early childhood solutions. The organization’s new report, Big Wins for Early Childhood: An Investment Guide for Ministers of Finance and Planning, highlights that 350 million young children lack access to quality early childhood care and education. Examples from Mexico, Nicaragua, and Bangladesh illustrate how evidence-based public investment in early childhood improves children’s learning and development, and maternal employment.

NIEER Activity 

New Data Snapshot Series on New Jersey’s Child Care Landscape Features Findings on Licensed Center-Based Providers and Lead Teachers

Research from the Rutgers Child Care Collaborative provides a descriptive portrait of licensed, center-based child care in New Jersey. This brand new data snapshot series focuses on key findings in several areas: 

1. Infant and toddler child care supply
2. Lead teacher pay and workplace benefits
3. Lead teacher intentions about turnover and workplace experiences
   

The Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative is comprised of the Center for Women and Work, the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, and NIEER. Funding for the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative is provided by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.

Last chance to register! Join leaders from research, government, philanthropy, advocacy, and the early childhood community on September 23rd at the Rutgers University Inn and Conference Center in New Brunswick for a day of presentations and discussion examining findings from the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative.

Together, we will explore what the research tells us about New Jersey's child care landscape and consider how these findings can inform policy, practice, and future research.

Click here to register.

Click here to see more research from the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative.

NIEER’s BELLE Initiative Celebrates Dual Language Education Leaders

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, BELLE (Building Early Learning Latiné Educators) has launched a new Stories Series highlighting the incredible educators who make up our community. Throughout the month, we'll be sharing the journeys, inspirations, and experiences that led our BELLEs to bilingual education.

Our first featured BELLE, Ridgefield Park Public Schools Pre-K Teacher Stefanie Perez, had this to say about the passion behind her commitment to multilingual learners:

“I decided to join BELLE because I was once a dual language learner myself. I remember how challenging it can be to navigate an environment that feels unfamiliar and to struggle to find your voice and sense of belonging. Today, I see a part of myself in every dual language learner in my classroom. I want to ensure that each child feels welcomed, valued, heard, and seen, while providing them the support they need to reach their full potential.”

Follow BELLE on LinkedIn to Learn more.

Learn more about BELLE.

NIEER/Rutgers University Leaders Take Part in Rowan University’s “Expanding Child Care and Preschool Education in New Jersey”

National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University leaders Steve Barnett, Milagros Nores, and Christina Stephens spoke Tuesday at the “Expanding Child Care and Preschool Education in New Jersey” conference hosted by Rowan University’s Sweeney Center for Public Policy. They were joined by keynote speaker Lily Laux, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education and several additional distinguished experts.

Barnett served as an expert on the panel, “Pre-K in New Jersey – Building on the Abbott Legacy.” Nores and Stephens presented fresh research on New Jersey’s child care landscape, including insights into families’ use of early care and education arrangements for young children, and the capacity of licensed center-based providers to promote families’ access and address staffing challenges.

Check out research from the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative.

Learn more about NIEER’s long history of supporting early learning in New Jersey.

NIEER Expert Featured in New Hampshire Series on Systems Change in ECE

The New Hampshire-based Couch Family Foundation has launched a new series of videos featuring expert panelists on key aspects of systems change in ECE. These videos, now available for free to everyone, were initially offered as learning sessions for ECE stakeholders engaged in coalition-building in the Granite State.

NIEER Associate Director of Technical Assistance, GG Weisenfeld, shares insights from her years of systems-building in Session 5: Exploring ECE Mixed Delivery Systems, which explores various models of these systems at both the state and local levels.

Watch all of the videos on the YouTube playlist.

New Report from NIEER and RAND Examines How State Policies Relate to Public Pre-K Teachers’ Curriculum Use

As many states expand pre-K, policymakers are focused on better understanding the role of curriculum in ensuring students receive high-quality early childhood education.

By combining data from NIEER’s State of Preschool Yearbook with data from RAND's American Pre-K Teacher Survey, NIEER’s Jennifer Duer and Allison Friedman-Krauss and RAND’s Anna Shapiro and Elizabeth D. Steiner investigated the role that state policies related to preschool curriculum play in public school pre-K teachers’ reported curricula use across the United States.

The authors found substantial variation in the curricula that teachers report using across states, and some differences across pre-K programs within states. In addition, specific state curriculum guidance appears to influence classroom curriculum use. When states require that teachers use specific curricula (rather than recommending curricula), teachers reported combining fewer curricula in their classrooms.

Read more.

International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy (IJCCEP) Weekly Feature 
 

Classifying Korean Children’s Behavioral Problems and Their Influencing Factors: A Latent Profile Analysis

Jeong Rim Lee, Gilsook Kim, YeJin Yi, Shinyeong Song, and Jinmi Kim examined patterns of behavioral problems among 1,461 Korean children ages 4 to 6 using longitudinal data from the Panel Study on Korean Children. Latent profile analysis identified three groups: a nonproblem group with consistently low behavioral problem scores, a normal group with average or slightly elevated scores that declined with age, and an in danger group with elevated externalizing and internalizing problems that reached clinical levels by ages 5 and 6. Children were more likely to belong to the in danger group if they were female, had lower activity and sociality, experienced higher maternal parenting stress, or lived in lower income families. Children in the in-danger group also demonstrated weaker cooperation, self-control, assertiveness, and responsibility than their peers. The findings suggest that both child characteristics and family conditions are important for identifying children who may benefit from early behavioral and social support.
 

Publish in the International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy (IJCCEP)   

• It’s FREE – article processing charges for all articles published in the journal are fully sponsored.   
• The journal is indexed by Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and by Scopus.
• All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. Authors will retain copyright.

ECE Research
 

Powering Up Physical Science in Preschool: Strategies and Resources for Teaching

Cynthia Hoisington, Shaquana Dailey, Shenell Samuels, Janna F. Kook, Donna Rooney, and Jessica Mercer Young, writing in Science and Children, describe five strategies for strengthening physical science teaching in preschool classrooms. The strategies emerged from a National Science Foundation project involving researchers, informal science educators, and five preschool programs working together to support children’s science learning in classrooms, homes, and communities. Authors recommend that teachers use “we can explore” messages to activate children’s scientific thinking, emphasize productive questions, and integrate science with other areas of learning. Rather than prescribing a specific curriculum, the article offers practical resources and examples intended to help teachers plan and facilitate more inquiry-oriented science experiences across different preschool settings.

Preparation of Preschool Teachers for Real World Educational Challenges: A Systematic Review

N. M. Tamizi, N. A. Harun, N. F. Jumati, N. Johari, A. N. S. Bacho, and M. A. Abdul, writing in International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, systematically reviewed 12 studies published between 2020 and 2025 on how preschool teachers are prepared for contemporary classroom challenges. Following the PRISMA framework, the researchers identified four major areas of preparation: practice- based pedagogy, technology and digital readiness, culturally responsive and inclusive teaching, and continuing professional development and systemic support. Preparation approaches involving coached practice, mentored field experiences, and sustained professional learning communities were more successful in transferring knowledge into classroom practice than theoretical or one-time training. Persistent gaps included preparing teachers to use technology ethically and appropriately with young children and supporting culturally and linguistically diverse learners in low resource settings.

Building a Strong Math Foundation: Supporting Early Math Precursors for Babies and Toddlers

Kathleen Campana and Jacqueline Kociubuk, writing in Early Childhood Education Journal, examined how foundational pre-mathematical skills appear in public library storytimes for babies and toddlers. Using naturalistic observations and video analysis of six storytimes involving six library educators, 63 babies and toddlers, and 61 caregivers, the researchers identified four foundational math precursors: attributes, comparison, change, and patterns. All four were present across the storytimes through educators’ and caregivers’ use of movement, manipulatives, vocabulary, books, songs, and other developmentally appropriate supports. The findings suggest that library storytimes and similar early childhood settings can provide meaningful opportunities to strengthen foundational mathematical thinking well before formal math instruction begins.



Opportunities

Bank Street Education Center’s  Early Childhood Policy Fellowship

This 12-month leadership program, beginning January 2027, welcomes early childhood systems leaders at the federal, state, city, and local levels who are working to build equitable, high-quality early care and education systems across the country. Register for the September 22 information session here.

Data Collector, NIEER

Vice President, Early Childhood Policy, Center for American Progress

Lead Advocacy Officer, ZERO TO THREE

Director of Early Childhood Policy, Colorado Children’s Campaign

Managing Consultant, Early Childhood Programs, Mathematica

Advisory Services Analyst, Early Childhood Programs

Coordinator, Research and Insights, Sesame Workshop