A preschool child who is healthy and ready to learn demonstrates the ability to regulate their behavior and emotions, key social and emotional competencies, motor skills, health, and early learning skills. Because healthy development across these domains is more challenging for some children than for others, it is valuable to understand which…

Among families with an infant or toddler, health and high-quality care are top concerns. How those who study children think about these needs has evolved in recent years, especially with recent understandings from brain science. In the first three years of life, more than one million brain connections are formed every second. This remarkable brain…

Children experience the most rapid rate of development during the first three years of life. It is well understood that high-quality learning experiences that begin early in life can promote young children's development and help reduce achievement gaps. The purpose of this literature review is to review the research on supporting access to quality…

Out-of-school-time (OST) programs and their funders rely on sound data to make decisions about everything from professional development and student recruitment to the selection of activities to offer students. Programs operate at a range of times (before and after school, weekends, summer) and in a variety of locations (e.g., schools,…

Parents weigh many factors when searching for and choosing a child care option for their child. While research typically examines factors such as the cost and availability of care within a specific location, families may have additional priorities and preferences for their family's child care arrangement. This brief examines families' access to…

Measuring kindergarten readiness is essential to identifying children who would benefit from additional supports, either in kindergarten or in the years before kindergarten entry. Several measures of kindergarten readiness are in use now by states and researchers. Most assess individual children at the time they enter kindergarten, using teachers…

Over seven million children from birth through age 5 receive child care in home-based child care (HBCC) settings, the most common form of nonparental child care in the United States. Research shows that professional development can help child care providers improve the quality of care that they offer, potentially improving children's outcomes.…

In March 2022, Child Trends contracted with the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to conduct an independent evaluation of Parent Aware, Minnesota's quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for early care and education (ECE) programs. The evaluation was passed by the Minnesota Legislature in 2021 and includes several…

Arizona's First Things First partners with other agencies to create a high-quality, family-centered, comprehensive, and collaborative early childhood system that supports the development, health, and early education of all Arizona's children through age 5, helping ensure they enter kindergarten healthy and ready to succeed. One of First Things…

The Maryland-Minnesota Child Care Research Partnership brought together two states committed to examining critical issues in early care and education and using research findings to inform policy with an interdisciplinary team of researchers experienced in conducting studies on (1) subsidy policy; (2) quality improvement strategies; and (3)…

In 2014, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) granted funds to establish Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCPs) to expand families' access to high-quality child care. Through these partnerships, Early Head Start grantees have worked with center-based and family child care providers to implement Head Start Program…

Mounting research evidence points to social and emotional skills as playing a central role in shaping student achievement, workplace readiness, and adult wellbeing. This report describes the rigorous, collaborative work undertaken by the Tauck Family Foundation and Child Trends, a national leader in measuring children's development and wellbeing,…

Families' social, demographic, and economic circumstances can have direct and indirect effects on children's development. Structural inequities in access to resources such as education, income, or food can promote disparities in children's health and school readiness. Similarly, children can face more or fewer barriers in their development…

In 2014, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) distributed 250 grants across states and localities in the United States and its territories to establish Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCPs) to expand access to high-quality child care. A cornerstone of Early Head Start (EHS) is the provision of comprehensive services.…

Despite trauma being widespread and detrimental to the well-being of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, few early care and education (ECE) programs and state systems are prepared to offer care that is "trauma-informed"--with all adults able to recognize and respond to the impact of trauma on young children, and to infuse trauma…