Integrating Racial Equity in U.S. Early Childhood Professional Development: Case for an Enhanced Research Agenda

• In Event: Anti-Bias and Inclusive Early Education Policy, Practice, and Perspectives in Cross-National Contexts

Abstract

Due to the many regional, state, national, and federal policy initiatives focusing on early childhood education (ECE) in the United States, it is critical and timely that ECE researchers begin to conduct policy relevant research that can promote and strengthen nascent efforts to integrate equity principles into early childhood professional development systems. Whereas Anti-Bias Education (ABE) implies a focus on classroom and program practices and policies, in this paper we use the term ‘equity’ to describe the wider policy and systems context that is increasingly influencing what is happening in early education settings across the country. We further contextualize our paper by explicitly focusing on race – or rather, Racial Equity. We adopt the Aspen Institute’s (2009) definition of Racial Equity:

“Racial equity is the substantive alternative to structural racism. It is a social outcomes “picture” in which race is not consistently associated with privilege and disadvantage. The goal of racial equity is to produce fairness and social justice – race would no longer be a factor in the assessment of merit, or in the distribution of opportunity [and resources].”

In this paper, we argue that early childhood educational and developmental researchers in the United States must begin to increase their capacity to understand systems and to conduct the type of research (in partnership with ECE leaders) that aligns with the present-day challenges of systems building. We assert that tackling structural racism in our ECE system requires understanding how our systems operate and perpetuate themselves—recognizing in particular the role of “leverage points” in altering a system’s ability to maintain itself as well as resist efforts toward change (Coffman, 2010). Failure to understand and address such issues can undermine the effectiveness of system building in general, but especially in matters of race (Leadership and Race, 2010).

Specifically, we will explore and discuss the following themes or ‘leverage points’: teacher preparation in higher education; the role of ECE technical assistance providers (e.g., coaches, consultants, mentors); training and intervention research on ABE and culturally responsive care; lack of state and federal research priorities on understanding links between ABE pedagogy and children's developmental outcomes; ECE state, federal and national leadership efforts to integrate equity principles into their systems building; and authentic access to the professional development system across the entire child care continuum – including home-based child care. We will also briefly explore the uneasy history of partnerships between researchers and policy leaders, and brainstorm strategies for strengthening early childhood researchers’ capacity to conduct and translate policy-relevant research.

We will conclude by reinforcing the assertion that what is needed is an enhanced and prioritized research agenda, which highlights the experiences and challenges of all families (especially marginalized families), and highlights empirical evidence of effective professional development strategies (including system-level strategies and outcomes) that result in closing the achievement gap and moving towards more racial equity.

Author

• Eva Marie Shivers, Indigo Cultural Center, Inc.