Quality and Access Equity in Early Education and Care During COVID-19: a State Policy Perspective

Session Type: Conversation Roundtable

Abstract

At this unprecedented moment in history, COVID-19 is reshaping the resources and opportunities children have access to, including families’ access to high-quality early education and care. While equity in access to and quality of early education and care settings has been a perennial concern in the field, this conversation takes a new shape amidst the pandemic. As the number of children in economically-vulnerable families has increased, early education and care settings have to make tough decisions around health and safety that may come at the expense of program quality. This roundtable discussion seeks to engage a diverse set of experts and stakeholders to engage in a conversation about state-level early education policy, the ways in which strategies promoting equity have had to shift in response to COVID-19, and how research-policy partnerships can be leveraged to support this work. Join Claudia Kruzik and Wendy Wei, former and current Pre-Doctoral SRCD State Policy fellows, as they moderate a discussion on state-level policy strategies related to equity in early education and care during COVID-19 between an interdisciplinary group of panelists: Dr. Jocelyn Bowne the Association Commissioner of Research and Program Evaluation at the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care; Dr. Yoonsook Ha, Associate Professor at Boston University; and Callie Silver, former SRCD State policy fellow and current doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Sub Unit

• Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Moderator

• Claudia Kruzik, Boston College

Panelists

• Wendy Wei, SRCD Pre-doctoral State Policy Fellow, Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), Harvard University

• Jocelyn Bonnes Bowne, MA Department of Early Education and Care

• Yoonsook Ha, Boston University

• Callie Silver, Stanford University