Resource Library

This brief summarizes the research evidence on how high-quality ECE benefits all young children, as well as key subgroups, such as children from families experiencing low household income, children who are dual language learners, and children with disabilities.

Explore OPRE’s study about Head Start’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on a national survey of Head Start grantees, interviews with Regional Program Managers and Head Start Collaboration Office Directors as well as interviews with program directors, teachers, and family service workers.

This resource guide provides information for researchers about administrative data collected on federal policies and programs that (in whole or part) support young children with disabilities.

This report describes the ways in which individual characteristics and factors at the program and system levels are associated with individual teachers’ and caregivers’ participation in PD in a nationally representative sample of ECE teachers and caregivers.

Much like the 7.8 million families with young children in urban areas, many of the 1.1 million families with young children in rural areas need and use early care and education (ECE). Families across the United States face challenges accessing child care, and challenges often vary by population density. Although the definition of what constitutes an urban, suburban, and rural area differs across studies, the literature suggests that...

What does “curriculum” mean when applied to working with infants and toddlers?

This brief discusses the meaning of the term when applied to early education and care programs serving families with infants and toddlers. The discussion focuses on how programs can incorporate and use the concepts of a curriculum in a way that is developmentally appropriate for infants and toddlers...

This Guidebook addresses the development of a common understanding and approach to measuring access to early care and education.

The Guidebook provides information in four sections:..

This research brief summarizes the measures used in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems validation studies...

Three principles of scale development — Dimensionality, Item Selection, & Item Scoring are especially relevant for Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) rating scales. This brief describes how using these principles can help in the development and refinement of QRIS rating scales. Attention to these principles will enhance the ability of QRIS ratings to achieve the goal of predicting observed quality scores and child outcomes...

This white paper addresses the 2018 revision of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Federal statistical agencies use the SOC to classify workers and jobs into occupational categories. ACF’s proposals in this paper include changes to the titles, definitions, and placement of the occupations involving the early childhood care and education (ECCE) workforce....