Early Education Leaders, an Institute at UMass Boston

provides the leadership development opportunities and infrastructure that early educators need to support thriving children and families.

January 9, 2024
by earlyedinstitute
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Two PMC grads team up to provide resources to FCC providers

Ami Patel and Julie Smith became fast friends at the first meeting of their Early Education Leadership Fellowship cohort in the Post-Master’s Certificate in Early Education Research, Policy, and Practice (PMC) program, bonding immediately over the realization that both were family childcare (FCC) .

Smith, despite holding a master’s degree and nearly 24 years of experience as an FCC provider in West Bridgewater, felt nervous and intimidated about returning to school after 10 years. That is, until she took a seat next to Patel, who has worked in ECE for 15 years, the last three as an FCC provider in her Holden home. Patel immediately put her at ease: “We were like sisters, right from the beginning,” Smith recalled.

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January 3, 2024
by earlyedinstitute
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Media: With funding challenges looming, Mass. child care could be in jeopardy

A story by the Boston Globe about the likely impact that the end of pandemic-era grants will have on early education programs reported on key findings from “Initial Findings on Utilization, Employment, and Financial Assistance,” a research policy brief by the UMass Boston Early Ed Cost and Usage Simulator Project (CUSP).

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November 27, 2023
by earlyedinstitute
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Media: Massachusetts child care centers struggling with a shortage of workers. Why it’s happening

This piece explores how Massachusetts early care and education providers are faring amid a nationwide child care crisis.

“This is happening across the country, and Massachusetts is struggling to retain early educators in the workforce,” said Anne Douglass, founding executive director for the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the UMass Boston. “A significant segment of the industry is unable to find enough educators to operate at full capacity.”

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November 20, 2023
by earlyedinstitute
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UMass Boston Announces New Cohort of Early Education Leadership Fellows

The Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation (the Early Ed Leadership Institute) at UMass Boston is pleased to announce the selection of five Early Education Leadership Fellows for the 2023-2025 cohort of its Post-Master’s Certificate Program in Early Education Research, Policy, and Practice (PMC).

The Early Education Leadership Fellows represent a variety of public, private, and community-based programs. The 2023-2025 cohort will spend the next two years immersed in intensive training in relational and entrepreneurial leadership, early childhood policy, and the science of early learning. They will also connect with and join the Early Ed Leadership Institute’s growing network of emerging and established early childhood education leaders.

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October 11, 2023
by earlyedinstitute
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UMass Boston Team Cites Key Impacts of Expanding Affordable, Quality Child Care and Early Education in Massachusetts

A multidisciplinary team from UMass Boston has developed a simulator to produce estimates of key impacts of proposed legislation in Massachusetts to expand access to affordable, quality child care and early education. Led by the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation and the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, the UMass Boston Early Ed Cost and Usage Simulator Project (CUSP) analyzes changes in the utilization of licensed care and education, out-of-pocket costs for families, parental employment, and family income when eligible families pay considerably less for quality child care and early education, under the provisions of Senate Bill 301 (S. 301), which would expand access to affordable child care and early education.

Top-level findings from the initial research brief released today include:

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October 2, 2023
by earlyedinstitute
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Media Advisory: Research Brief on Affordable, Quality Child Care and Early Education Expansion in MA To Be Released Oct 11

WHAT: Research Brief Release and Presentation: Estimating the Impacts of Legislation to Expand Affordable Quality Child Care and Early Education in Massachusetts: Initial Findings on Utilization, Employment, and Financial Assistance

WHO: UMass Boston Early Education CUSP (Cost and Usage Simulator Project) Team

  • Randy Albelda, PhD, Professor Emerita of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston
  • Alan Clayton-Matthews, PhD, Associate Professor Emeritus in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the Department of Economics at Northeastern University
  • Anne Douglass, PhD, Professor of Early Childhood Education Policy and Founding Executive Director of the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston

WHEN: Wednesday, October 11, 2023 – 11am

WHERE: State House, Room 222

BACKGROUND:

A multidisciplinary team from UMass Boston has developed a simulator to produce estimates of the key impacts of proposed legislation in Massachusetts to expand access to affordable, quality child care and early education. The team will launch a series of research briefs to inform consideration of proposed legislation. The first research brief highlights increases expected in the use of licensed child care and early education as well as parental employment. It also covers expected reduction in the cost burden of child care for families and decreased poverty rates. UMass Boston Early Education CUSP (Cost and Usage Simulator Project) is led by the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation in collaboration with the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy.

About the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at UMass Boston

The Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston (The Leadership Institute) provides the leadership development opportunities and infrastructure that early educators need to support thriving children and families. Founded in 2016, we drive systems change by cultivating effective leaders who reflect and represent their communities—through workforce and leadership development, research, and partnerships that strengthen the larger early education ecosystem. We are nationally recognized as a model of excellence, and we make high-quality early care and education a reality for more children and families while supporting the professional growth of a diverse workforce of early educators. Get involved or learn more by visiting www.umb.edu/earlyedinstitute.

About the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

The Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy (CWPPP), based at the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston aims to promote diverse women’s leadership to achieve more just, equitable, and responsive public and institutional policies and meaningful inclusion. It does this through its Gender, Leadership, and Public Policy (GLPP) graduate certificate and MPA-GLPP track programs; applied research on electoral representation and intersectional public policy analysis, relating to the economic, health and social well-being of women and families; and public convenings that mobilize community and women’s political participation. In all its work, CWPPP’s approach is antiracist as we seek to tackle critical issues affecting women’s lives through an intersectional lens of gender, race/ethnicity, class, and other identities.

September 28, 2023
by earlyedinstitute
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Congratulations to our first Early Childhood Fellow graduate!

Congratulations to Bri Vines, the first graduate of the Early Childhood Fellowship program at UMass Boston! The Early Childhood Fellowship was launched in partnership with the city of Boston in 2022 to develop a pipeline of trained early educators to contribute and lead in diverse settings including family childcare, center-based, Head Start, and PreK programs. Fellows, who enter the program with either an associate’s degree or at least 60 undergraduate credits, receive full scholarships to complete their bachelor’s degree. Upon acceptance into the Fellowship, they sign a memorandum of understanding committing to work in the city of Boston as an early educator for at least three years after graduating with their bachelor’s degree.

Here’s what Bri had to say about her experience:

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