early childhood

State & Hill

Greater than its sum: an update on the Kohn Collaborative

Dec 17, 2024

Six years ago, Harold and Carol Kohn approached the Ford School with a vision. Their goal was to help build a vibrant research community dedicated to promoting social equity and inclusion. Today, the Kohn Collaborative for Social Policy is poised to...

Publication

U-M researchers partner with District of Columbia Public Schools for Pre-K curriculum implementation study

Apr 24, 2024

University of Michigan researchers from the Education Policy Initiative (EPI) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Marsal Family School of Education have partnered with MDRC, District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), and the Urban...

Publication

NASEM committee including EPI’s Christina Weiland urges changes to preschool curricula to improve equity and support high-quality early education in the U.S.

Apr 18, 2024

A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) lays out a new vision for high-quality preschool curricula that support equitable early education for all children. The report recommends that in the next five...

News

Education research in service of others

Apr 11, 2024

2022 Gerald R. Ford Presidential Fellow and Education Policy Initiative (EPI) Research Assistant Katie Hyland (MPP ‘24) is set to graduate this spring following the completion of her Master’s in Public Policy. She takes with her two years of...

News

Weiland and co-authors break down Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K study

Feb 13, 2022

Responding to a recent study that shows the negative impact of Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K program, Christina Weiland, associate professor of public policy and education, and five other authors penned an article defending early childhood education...

Publication

Critical tools in preschool program design maximize investments

Jan 13, 2022

As the Biden administration and early childhood advocates across the country push for universal preschool for all three- and four-year-olds, Christina Weiland, professor of education and public policy at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of...

Photo of young children and their teachers in a classroom. By Yan Krukov

In the Media

Weiland breaks down Michigan universal pre-k

Jan 6, 2022 Metro Parent

Christina Weiland, co-director of the Education Policy Initiative and associate professor of education and public policy, sat down with Metro Parent to discuss what universal pre-k could mean for Michigan. "Universal pre-K can help take financial...

In the Media

Weiland discusses need for transitional kindergarten research

Oct 26, 2021 The Detroit News

The Education Policy Initiative (EPI) recently launched a two-year study to research the impact of transitional kindergarten (TK) on children's readiness for other grades co-led by Christina Weiland and Brian Jacob. Weiland commented about the...

In the Media

‘Build Back Better’ a game changer, says Weiland

Oct 11, 2021 The Globe Post

The Build Back Better Act includes comprehensive early childhood policy that would benefit children, families, and educators, argues Christina Weiland in an opinion in the Globe Post. “Hand-wringing about the bill’s cost obscures the fact that...

Publication

Michelmore and Pilkauskas find EITC boosts employment, with decreasing impact as children age

Oct 4, 2021

Existing research has largely overlooked the variation in maternal employment effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) depending on the age of their children. In a new study, Katherine Michelmore and Natasha Pilkauskas, both associate...

Natasha Pilkauskas and Katherine Michelmore

In the Media

Weiland details 'game-changer' early childhood measures in reconciliation bill

Oct 4, 2021 The Detroit News

Within the Congressional reconciliation bill, Democrats are hoping to pass a child care plan that would cap costs of child care, implement a national, free pre-school program, and boost child care workers' wages. "We've documented (these...

News

Stevenson urges lawmakers to consider value over price in economic reforms

Sep 23, 2021

Economist Betsey Stevenson is keeping a close eye on the country's economic recovery, and provides insights in a number of news outlets this week. "Recovery in the labor force requires getting people into jobs and then keeping them there,"...

Photo of Betsey Stevenson leading a class

News

Weiland explains hurdles for early childhood education

Aug 13, 2021

As the new school year begins, many early childhood educators are wondering what the year will look like. Christina Weiland, associate professor of education and faculty co-director of the Education Policy Initiative, explained to WXYZ the obstacles...

News

Michigan Minds podcast: Weiland on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted young students' learning

Aug 11, 2021

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted younger students’ learning experiences? In this episode of Michigan Minds, Christina Weiland, Ed.D., associate professor at the School of Education and by courtesy at the Ford School of Public Policy, dives...

Publication

Weiland calls for investment in early childhood programs following pandemic

Jul 21, 2021

As the pandemic continues to drag on, those most affected continue to face adversity — including young children. According to a recent opinion piece authored by Christina Weiland, associate professor of education and faculty co-director of the...

News

Education Policy Initiative's report gains more traction

Jul 6, 2021

The Education Policy Initiative's recent report, "Historic Crisis, Historic Opportunity: Using Evidence to Mitigate the Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on Young Children and Early care and Education Programs," has gained more traction in the media,...

News

Weiland and colleagues discuss findings of pre-existing inequalities, increased stress within early childhood education

Jun 22, 2021

The Education Policy Initiative (EPI) along with the Urban Institute and other early childhood experts, recently dug into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on early childhood development. Their report, "Historic Crisis, Historic Opportunity:...

Publication

New EPI report provides snapshot of pandemic challenges for early childhood education providers

Mar 29, 2021

Even in a steady-funded “best case” scenario, teacher turnover, decreases in enrollment, and new safety protocols strain resources and stall quality improvements. Early childhood education (ECE) centers across the country are facing unprecedented...

A parent/guardian and two young children in masks walking outdoors (Credit: Shutterstock)

News

Meet our new faculty: Christina Weiland

Aug 17, 2020

Christina Weiland, is well-known in the Ford School community, as she has been co-leading the University of Michigan’s Predoctoral Training and Postdoctoral Training Programs in Causal Inference in Education Policy Research and the Education Policy...

Pilkauskas in Developmental Pyschology: “Maternal employment stability in early childhood”

Jan 4, 2018

Natasha Pilkauskas, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn (Columbia), and Jane Waldfogel (Columbia) have published a 2017 paper in Developmental Psychology: “Maternal employment stability in early childhood: Links with child behavior and cognitive skills.” The...

EPI Speaker Series

Supporting early intervention in Washtenaw County: Benefits and challenges of partnership-driven research

Apr 12, 2022, 12:00-12:50 pm EDT

Catherine Asher will talk about the Youth Policy Lab's project to understand and support the use of Early Intervention Services in Washtenaw County.

Historic Crisis, Historic Opportunity

Jun 21, 2021, 12:00-1:00 pm EDT

Using evidence to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on young children and early care and education programs.

From rescue to rebuild: Developing a national ECE system that works

Jun 3, 2021, 1:00-2:00 pm EDT

Webinar to discuss bipartisan investment to stabilize and expand access to quality early childhood education (ECE). Congress and the Administration consider next major investments in ECE, requiring a need for a vision for a new and better system.

Bringing Early Education to Young Refugee Children in Countries Affected by Humanitarian Crisis

Sep 29, 2020, 4:00-5:30 pm EDT

Please join the Education Policy Initiative in welcoming Hirokazu Yoshikawa, the Courtney Sale Ross Professor of Globalization and Education at NYU Steinhardt and a University Professor at NYU, and Co-Director (with J. Lawrence Aber) of the Global TIES for Children center at NYU, for a virtual education policy talk.

From Rescue to Rebuild: Developing a National ECE System That Works

Jun 24, 2021 1:01:08

Between historic bipartisan investments to stabilize and expand access to child care in 2020 and new proposals from Congress and the Biden Administration, the nation is poised to significantly increase access to quality early childhood education.

Bornfreund, Emmrich, Weiland, Chaudry, and Calderon Teaser Display