|
This issue of The Learning Curve features research from the New York City Early Childhood Research Network (Research Network) and from Yale University that examines the consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for the early care and education (ECE) workforce. Together, the results provide insight into the economic, health, and social stressors workers experienced during the pandemic and the implications for young children and their families.
|
|
|
New Research from
NYC Early Childhood Research Network
|
|
The Research Network is a research-practice partnership that brings together city officials and researchers to study the implementation of New York City’s Pre-K for All initiative. In 2015, the Foundation launched the partnership, which includes 14 public and private institutions of higher education and city officials from the Department of Education, the Administration for Children's Services, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Mayor’s Center for Economic Opportunity and is facilitated by the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute.
The recently released report from the Listening to Teachers Study explores the tremendous stress experienced by ECE workers during the pandemic. Authored by Dr. Mark Nagasawa from the Straus Center for Young Children at Bank Street College of Education, the publication follows a previous report on initial statewide 2020 survey findings. Both reports raise important concerns about workers who have been called an essential backbone to the stability of the national economy.
|
|
|
Yale University’s
COVID-19 & ECE Workforce Study
|
|
The Yale University study Association of Child Masking With COVID-19–Related Closures in US Childcare Programs, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that masking in children ages 2 to 5 years old was linked to a 13% reduction in child care closures due to COVID-19 outbreaks. This study informs health practices in child care settings, especially during seasons of higher infection rates or the spread of a highly contagious variant.
Child care providers in all 50 U.S. states from 6,000 child care programs were surveyed over one year beginning in the summer of 2020. The study findings accounted for variation due to other safety precautions such as social distancing, symptom screening, and disinfection in the child care settings.
|
|
ABOUT US Research, policy and practice—we connect these pieces to help build early childhood systems that enable children to reach their full potential. Founded in 1900, the Foundation for Child Development identifies needs, fills gaps and integrates knowledge for successful implementation and continuous improvement. Learn more about our focus areas and download resources by clicking these links:
|
|
|
|
|
|
