The following research reports and policy briefs support our efforts to identify policy solutions that can increase access to effective educational and professional development opportunities.

Chutes or Ladders? Creating Support Services to Help Early Childhood Students Succeed in Higher Education

By Kara Dukakis, Dan Bellm, Natalie Seer, and Yuna Lee

This report looks at the challenges facing the growing number of “non-traditional students,” particularly in the early care and education field. It notes the wide range of supports often needed by these students and spotlights a number of promising efforts to address the many barriers to attainment of BA degrees. The report contains recommendations for institutions of higher education and communities wishing to provide targeted support for early care and education students to improve their success in school and beyond.

Download the report (pdf)

Spanish Version (pdf)

Posted 2007.


Clearing a Career Path: Lessons From Two Communities in Promoting Higher Education Access for the Early Care and Education Workforce

By Kara Dukakis and Dan Bellm

This report documents recent groundbreaking efforts in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties, CA, including challenges faced and lessons learned, as a guide for other counties and institutions seeking to improve professional development in the early care and education field.

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Posted 2006.


Time to Revamp and Expand: Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs in California’s Institutions of Higher Education

By Marcy Whitebook, Dan Bellm, Yuna Lee and Laura Sakai

This report presents the results of an inventory of nearly all (98.5%) of California institutions of higher education that train adults to teach children under the age of five, including certificate, associate, bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. programs.

Download the report (pdf)
Executive Summary (pdf)

This study is linked to a national study of Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs in the US, led by researchers at the FPG Child Development Institute. Read their national report and state reports.

Posted 2005.


Teacher Credentialing in Early Care and Education: Prospects for Universal Preschool in California, and Lessons from Other States

By Dan Bellm, Marcy Whitebook, Abby Cohen, and Carol Stevenson

This report examines the impact on the early care and education workforce engendered by California’s movement towards universal preschool in 2004. At this critical time the attention of policy makers and program planners turned increasingly toward how to ensure a well-trained, stable, and linguistically and culturally diverse teaching workforce to staff high quality preschool programs. This report discusses the appropriate education and training standards for preschool teachers, the capacity of higher education institutions in the state to meet the growing demand for B.A. trained early childhood educators, and reports on the experiences of other states.

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Posted 2004.


Early Education Quality: Higher Teacher Qualifications for Better Learning Environments – A Literature Review

By Marcy Whitebook

This literature review focuses on eight large scale investigations of child care quality as of 2003 and the relative contribution of the B.A. degree and specialized early childhood coursework to program quality.

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Download the summary (pdf)

Posted 2003.