Time: 3:00–4:30 p.m. Eastern

Location: Webinar

Description: High-quality early education is positively associated with children’s academic and social skills, and many states have prioritized investments in this area to equalize the disadvantages minority and low-income children face. Yet states face major challenges in retaining a qualified and high-quality early childhood workforce. This webinar will explore findings from the National Academies report Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education. Dr. Lynn Karoly, senior economist from RAND Corporation, will provide a broad overview of the report and present specific recommendations related to supporting the education, skills, and credentials of the early education workforce. Dr. Ola Friday from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care will engage Dr. Karoly in a discussion around action steps states can take that align with recommendations in the report.

Partnership or Research Alliance: Early Childhood Workforce Development Research Alliance

Audience: The intended audience for this webinar includes state education agency (SEA) staff interested in learning how to implement recommendations from the Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education report. State legislature staff, leaders of local child care resource and referral agencies, and institutes of higher education that train early educators may also be interested in this webinar.

Speakers: Dr. Lynn Karoly, Senior Economist, RAND Corporation
Dr. Ola Friday, Associate Commissioner for Workforce Development, Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care
Sherry Cleary, Executive Director, New York City Early Childhood Professional Development Institute at City University of New York
Dr. Kyle DeMeo Cook, Research Associate and Alliance Co-Lead, REL Northeast & Islands
Dr. Brandon Foster, Research Associate and Alliance Co-Lead, REL Northeast & Islands

Report Citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018.) Transforming the financing of early care and education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED585869