University-Operated Early Care and Education: A Nationwide Descriptive Study

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Early Care and Education: Teacher Perceptions, Literacy Development, Culture, and Identity (Table 8)

Abstract

Since the 1800s, university-operated early care and education (herein: university-ECE) has been ubiquitous in higher education where it is positioned as a site of innovation and leadership within the field of early childhood (McBride & Fischer, 2019). University-ECE has two core functions –– to serve children and the university. However, extant scholarship suggests dual purposes are difficult to balance (McMullen & Lash, 2012). Little is known about how university-ECE navigates competing goals. Hence, my descriptive study investigates the organizational structure of university-ECE nationwide. I explore how, if at all, university-ECE facilitates (1) quality care and education, (2) work support for student-parents, faculty, and staff, (3) service to the local community, (4) teacher education, and (5) developmental research.

Author

• Melanie Muskin, Northwestern University