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Equity in State Systems
Equitable early childhood care and education (ECCE) services require culturally responsive teaching, implementing developmentally appropriate practices, and elevating families voices to be included ‘at the table’ where policies and practices are decided. Many states are examining and evaluating their early childhood systems through an equity framework to improve services to under-served and marginalized children and families and to reduce disparities by identifying and eliminating barriers. This resource page showcases resources from the National Center on Preschool Development Grant Birth to Five related to improving equity in state ECE policies, efforts, and systems.
The National Center for Preschool Development Grants Birth Through Five (PDG B–5) sponsored a three-part technical assistance series on equity in early childhood care and education across various state systems including funding, monitoring and accountability, workforce development, inclusion, discipline and guidance, and others.
Dr. Shantel Meek and Dr. Iheoma Iruka, national leading equity and early childhood experts, and their colleagues from The Children’s Equity Project (CEP), led an introductory webinar. Offered in conjunction with a small group state team workshop and office hours by facilitators from CEP, the “Equity in Early Care and Education Systems series provided participants with an in-depth understanding of 14 concrete and measurable priorities that states can implement to advance equity in early childhood care and education systems.
This webinar focuses on building state capacity to consider equity in data collection, specifically administrative data, to improve equitable access and outcomes through data collection and analysis. Iheoma Iruka, Founding Director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute shares best practices for analyzing data through an equity lens. The webinar is geared towards those within State, territory, and Tribal agencies who are working in data collection and analysis. The webinar provides information and examples that address the following questions:
- What does equity look like in an early childhood mixed delivery system?
- How can States/Territories/Tribes use existing data to identify areas of inequity?
- How can State/Territory/Tribal early childhood agencies use data to communicate need to their state legislature?
This brief focuses on current research trends and implications for racial and ethnic disparities related to early childhood. It highlights policy choices to reduce disparities and set children and families on more favorable trajectories, contributing to their school success and ability to live happy, fulfilled lives.
Additional Resources
Type of product: research to practice briefs
Brief description: This resource is a research-to-practice brief that provides information about racial disparities, including the policies that drive them, among infants and toddlers and their families. It highlights key examples in recent history and their continued consequences for young children of color and their families. The paper concludes with recommendations for new or reformed policies leading to a reduction in racial disparities.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to raise awareness and gain knowledge of structural inequality in public policy and how this inequality affects infants and toddlers of color and their families. The policies highlighted in this brief can help a state recognize inequities and address structural barriers to positive outcomes for these children. A state can also use the information to develop their own policies and guidance on this topic.
Level: introductory
Type of product: video
Brief description: This resource is a 7-minute video focusing on the importance of addressing educators’ self-awareness, emotional intelligence, adverse childhood experiences, and personal implicit bias. The video also discusses how bias impacts children's ability to learn while experiencing toxic stress. Three ideas to assist in unpacking implicit bias include: reflection; pedagogy (culturally reflective practice); and systems (in particular social and emotional learning (SEL) programs, expulsion/suspension).
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this video as a way to introduce the concept of implicit bias and/or help design their own materials to provide implicit bias training for early childhood providers.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a research to practice brief that provides an overview of implicit bias, reflective questions, and recommendations to help mitigate the negative effects on learning and development.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this research to practice brief to increase knowledge about implicit bias as part of its professional development of educators and administrators.
Level: introductory
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a research-to-practice brief that contains the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC's) position statement on equity and provides recommendations for various roles to create equitable systems and learning.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this research-to-practice brief to gain knowledge of the national policy statement and promote equity statewide in programs, policies and procedures. The Grantee can incorporate the recommendations provided for advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in early childhood education into their own state policies and guidance for early childhood programs and for professional development trainings.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a research to practice brief that provides evidence-based information about the impact of African American children’s limited access to high-quality early care and education and how this opportunity gap contributes to the substantial achievement gap. The brief contains policy recommendations to assist states in making substantial contributions to equity and excellence for African American children.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this research to practice brief to raise awareness of and gain knowledge about the barriers to early care and education access for African American children. They can use the recommendations to assess their own state’s current practices and develop policies and guidance.
Level: introductory
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a research to practice brief providing alternative pathways to becoming an early childhood care provider, noting that traditional pathways may be more difficult for minority individuals.. After discussing each pathway, the brief concludes with a list of common features and implications for developing policies.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this research to practice brief to increase knowledge and assess current policies and pathways that support development of well-prepared, highly qualified educators who are racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse.
Level: advanced
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a research to practice brief that provides background literature on the history and current state of racial disparities in child care quality and access, and how these disparities have worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief contains recommendations focused on increasing investments in child care, understanding and responding to the needs and experiences of families of color; and increasing access to and affordability of child care.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this research to practice brief to gain knowledge of the essential literature on the history and current state of racial disparities. The state can use the recommendations to assess and evaluate current practices and policies and highlight potential strategies and next steps in strategic planning to create equitable child care systems.
Level: introductory
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a research to practice brief that presents ways in which statewide quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) can take a more intentional approach to serving culturally and linguistically diverse early childhood providers and families. The brief includes recommendations for states to improve equity in their QRIS frameworks and rating systems.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this research to practice brief to gain knowledge and guidance about how to incorporate QRIS indicators that support diversity. They also can use the information to develop and implement culturally and linguistically relevant technical assistance and professional development for the state’s early childhood educators.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: video
Brief description: This resource is a YouTube video of a national webinar discussing racial equity and the relationship between equity and child care policies. Multiple presenters introduce information about ways in which policies can support equity efforts.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this national webinar video to assist them in their own policy development.. It can also be used as a conversation starter with stakeholder groups to help support internal conversations about equity within agencies and organizations.
Level: introductory
Type of product: webinar
Brief description: This resource is a national webinar focusing on relationships between racial equity and child care. The presentation provides recommendations to address equity in child care workforce development.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this video to gain knowledge about relationships between racial equity and child care that can help state leaders plan strategically for designing professional development systems using an equity framework.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: report
Brief description: This resource is a report that describes a California framework that focuses on the state’s efforts to address workforce development, curriculum and instruction, assessment, and systems alignment for dual language learners and their families. The framework provides information specific to the dual language learner with attention given to the importance of family engagement and its contribution to their child’s academic success.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this report to increase knowledge of how one state identified key recommendations to address responsivity for dual language learners and their families in early education policy, workforce development, and family engagement.
Level: introductory
Type of product: report
Brief description: This resource is a 2020 report by New America that considers the successes, challenges, and failures of the last decade and builds on their previous vision for supporting early learning. This resource also offers new ideas on what policymakers and other stakeholders should prioritize in the 2020s to build a better future for young children and their families. The report contains eight recommendations, suggests specific actions, and pinpoints which stakeholders—federal, state, and local policymakers, as well as educators and administrators—should help move the work forward.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this report to increase knowledge about early learning system policy recommendations that they can use in their own state strategic planning and policy development activities.
Level: introductory
Type of product: research to practice brief
Brief description: This resource is a research to practice brief by the ACF/National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement that presents key strategies for state leaders and local agencies and programs to enhance family outreach efforts, with a focus on families living in remote or rural areas, families experiencing homelessness, and culturally and linguistically diverse families.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to learn about research-informed strategies to strengthen approaches to outreach to families who are living in remote or rural areas, families experiencing homelessness, and culturally and linguistically diverse families. They can use that information in their own policy development activities.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: policy brief
Brief description: This resource is a policy brief by the Children’s Equity Project that reviews the data, research, and policy landscapes related to harsh discipline including suspension, expulsion, corporal punishment, seclusion, and the inappropriate use of restraint. It provides a robust policy agenda to reduce the use of such harsh discipline practices.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to gain knowledge about the use of harsh discipline practices and the recommendations provided to address equity concerns; and align policy with research in statewide learning systems.
Level: advanced
Type of product: brief
Brief description: This resource is a brief by the Children’s Equity Project that provides recommendations for state leaders to think about best practices for dual language learners (DLLs) and ensure full access and effective participation in learning experiences.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to raise awareness and gain knowledge about equity issues related to access to learning for DLLs. This brief provides recommendations for state leaders to share with policymakers and program leaders.
Level: advanced
Type of product: brief
Brief description: This resource is a policy brief by the Children’s Equity Project that reviews the data, research, and policy landscapes related to the inclusion of children with disabilities in general learning settings. It provides a robust policy agenda that addresses how to expand access to inclusive settings for young children with disabilities.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this brief to guide the development of a statewide roadmap with policies and guidance for building more equitable learning systems and ensuring quality services for children with disabilities in inclusive settings.
Level: intermediate
Type of product: resource kit/toolkit
Brief description: This product is a resource kit/toolkit (with practical templates, discussion questions) for hosting conversations to inform stakeholders how to rebuild a better, more equitable and comprehensive early childhood system in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
How Grantee would use product to support grant activities: A PDG B-5 Grantee can use this this toolkit in needs assessment and strategic planning activities to host a dialogue with stakeholders about rebuilding the early childhood system in response to COVID-19. All of the practical tools that a leader would need to facilitate the conversation are included: a template invitation, a sample slide deck to facilitate the conversation, and a summary form to capture key themes of the conversation. Because the tools are templates, a state could adapt and personalize to better target the conversation to the state’s specific needs. In addition to resources, tips on how to create virtual conferences and guiding questions are included that could engage participants in a deeper conversation.
Level: advanced
This resource is a guide that highlights the challenges that California schools faced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, examines how they would equitably meet the needs of all students when instruction resumed, and summarizes the information delivered in the 29 Advancing Equity in an Era of Crisis webinars from the California Association of African American Superintendents and Administrators.
This resource is a brief that describes key state early education programs, significant challenges such as racial disparities and underinvestment, and recommendations for how state leaders can meaningfully improve policies and programs.
This resource is a brief that explores racial equity in child care and early education, along with the historic circumstances that have shaped these policies and programs. It focuses on the major funding streams for child care and early education such as the Child Care and Development Block Grant, Head Start, and state pre-kindergarten programs.
This resource is an executive order from President Joseph Biden on ensuring an equitable pandemic response and recovery.
This resource is a two-hour webinar on the root causes of disparities in child outcomes. This webinar explores the historical and societal institution of racism and other forms of bias on the early care and education experiences of children and families from marginalized communities, and identifies ways to address equity, bias, and disparities through an infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC) framework.
This resource is a report that explores recommendations from 50 early childhood educators in three states: New Jersey, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. These educators provide their perspective on the impact of policy changes increasing educational requirements for early childhood educators in their states.
This resource is a blog post from the Urban Institute that highlights the ways that structural racism has been embedded into characteristics of the early care and education (ECE) workforce. It also identifies efforts from federal agencies and states to redesign existing systems to support more equitable outcomes in the ECE workforce.
This resource is a brief that highlights promising programs that recruit and prepare racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse cohorts of educators to teach in programs serving children birth to age 5. It provides case studies of three distinct approaches to early educator preparation that offer innovative, affordable pathways for candidates who reflect the communities they serve, and it identifies their shared features.
This resource is a one-hour webinar from The Hunt Institute on racism in the child care care industry in the United States.
This resource is a webinar series from The Hunt Institute on race and education. This webinar series aims to lift up the voices of the people and organizations who have dedicated their time and resources to improving outcomes for children of color.
This resource is an article that highlights the current early eductaion system's racial inequities in terms of wage gaps. This article provides an analysis and actionable next steps for policymakers to address the inequities in the early education workforce.
This resource is a report that outlines critical priorities and actionable policies that federal and state policymakers can immediately and concretely utilize to advance equity in the early care and education system.
This resource is a report that highlights the grave inequities of the education system that affect the lives of millions of children from historically marginalized communities. The report uses the lens of three policy areas: disproportionate application of harsh discipline practices; lack of inclusion of students with disabilities in general classrooms; and inequitable and inadequate access to dual language programming.
This resource is a policy memo that presents options for policymakers to consider as they work to meet the needs of all students, as well as approaches being taken by states to cater to students with limited broadband and/or technological access.
This resource is an executive summary on the Building Equitable Learning Environments (BELE) Framework. This summary focuses on using the BELE Framework in a period of crisis to restore a collective future and offers recommendations on expanding ideas about student success measures and creating positive experiences.
This resource is a blog by The Education Trust that highlights original analyses, commentary, and “on the ground” stories of students, parents, educators, and activists all over the nation striving to improve education. It chronicles our efforts, as well as those of partners and friends who are working toward the shared goal of closing gaps.
This resource is a report that describes the results found from a first-of-its-kind analysis examining race and ethnicity in state-funded preschool programs across the country. This study sought to answer two questions: 1) Do Black and Latino students get access to these programs? and 2) Are these programs high-quality? The study finds that of 26 states analyzed, no state provides both high-quality and high-access early childhood education to young Black and Latino children.
