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.

February 16, 2022
by Anne Douglass
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Advancing scholarship in early ed leadership: Amanda Wiehe Lopes

Dr. Amanda Lopes

For the Early Ed Leadership Institute’s Amanda Wiehe Lopes, earning a Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education and Care capped a personal, educational, and professional journey that began when she was a teenager ignoring advice from the adults in her life to become a teacher. 

“I thought of teachers as people who wore khakis and had a lot of rules,” recalls Wiehe Lopes, who successfully defended her dissertation in July, 2021. “That was my experience growing up and I just didn’t see myself in that role. I hated khakis, I hated rules —and still do.” 

Instead, Wiehe Lopes wanted to be an artist. So she studied drama and performance art and eventually taught theater to mostly pre-school age children at the Seattle Children’s Theatre Drama School. 

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November 23, 2021
by Anne Douglass
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Testimony in support of bill to provide affordable and accessible high quality early education and care

On Tuesday, November 23, 2021, the Joint Committee on Education of the Massachusetts Legislature heard testimony about H.605 and S.362: An Act providing affordable and accessible high quality early education and care to promote child development and well-being and support the economy in the Commonwealth. Anne Douglass, PhD, Professor of Early Care and Education at UMass Boston and the founding executive director of the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation submitted the following written testimony in support of the bill.

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November 23, 2021
by Anne Douglass
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Media: A Fresh Take on “Diversity”: Doctoral Researcher at UMass Boston is Shaking Up Early Education

Doctoral candidate and Early Ed Leadership Institute research assistant Yujin Lee.

UMass Boston newsroom reporter Gray Milkowski interviewed Yujin Lee, a doctoral candidate and research assistant at the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation about her innovative and ground breaking research on culturally and linguistically diversity among children in Head Start: Continue Reading →

November 8, 2021
by Anne Douglass
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Teaching young children about post-pandemic social interaction

PMC graduate Emilee Johnson

As early care and education (ECE) programs fully re-opened after the pandemic-related suspension in 2020, educators and caregivers noticed that many children were anxious about doing things that have been—for nearly all of human history—considered normal: playing in large groups and being outside without having to wear a mask.

In response, Emilee Johnson, the educational coordinator at Boston Children’s Hospital Child Care Center, wrote “Our New Normal: A Children’s Social Story for Post-Pandemic Lives.”

Published last June, the book provides guidance about how to address the concerns of children and parents about whether it was genuinely safe to loosen COVID-19-related restrictions (many of which have since been reinstated due to the Delta variant). Even during outside activities, says Johnson, children had so internalized the messages about health and safety that they were reluctant to remove their masks. Continue Reading →

October 12, 2021
by Anne Douglass
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Early Ed Leadership Institute to publish future editions of Early Care and Education Leadership Development Compendium


The Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation (Early Ed Leadership Institute) and the Goffin Strategy Group, LLC are pleased to announce that the fifth and future editions of the Early Childhood Care and Education Leadership Development Compendium: A View of the Current Landscape will be developed, edited, and published by the Early Ed Leadership Institute. Stacie Goffin, founder of the Goffin Strategy Group, LLC and the Leadership Development Compendium series, will serve as an advisor to the Early Ed Leadership Institute on the next edition of the compendium. Continue Reading →

September 11, 2021
by Anne Douglass
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2021-2023 Early Education Leadership Fellows announced

3The Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation (the Early Ed Leadership Institute) at UMass Boston is pleased to announce the selection of nine Early Education Leadership Fellows for the 2021-202 cohort of its Post-Master’s Certificate Program in Early Education Research, Policy, and Practice (PMC).

The Early Education Leadership Fellows were selected from a highly competitive pool of over 120 applicants. They represent a variety of public, private, and community-based programs. The 2021-2022 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 our growing network of emerging and established early childhood education leaders. Continue Reading →

June 8, 2021
by Anne Douglass
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Leadership Forum 2021

Attendees of the 2021 Leadership Forum, which was held via Zoom.

The event that anchors our Leadership and Innovation Network—the  Leadership Forum on Early Education, Research, Policy, and Practice—was held this year in a virtual format May 15. More than 150 emerging and established leaders in early care and education (ECE) logged on to share their ideas and innovations in the areas of quality improvement, racial equity, systems change, and other areas of practice and policy, making for an inspiring and informative day. 

“This was a VERY SPECIAL experience!” one attendee shared in a survey after the conference. “Like the [Post-Master’s Certificate program] this forum embodies the spirit of leadership diversity, whole-person, whole-community: from the music to the bringing together of folks from all different “sectors”, places in ECE, experiences in ECE, to the very welcoming and supportive atmosphere of the presentations, all rooted importantly and necessarily in the inherent value of children, families, communities, equity, dignity, diversity. Thank you so much!” 

This year’s conference marked the first time that Spanish translation was available to attendees, in addition to a Spanish-language breakout session, thereby allowing for greater accessibility for our students and other community members in attendance.  Continue Reading →

May 20, 2021
by Anne Douglass
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Photos from the 2021 Leadership Forum on Early Education Research, Policy, and Practice

Our annual Leadership Forum on Early Education Research, Policy, and Practice was held on Saturday, May 15, 2021 via Zoom. Over 100 attendees, all established and emerging leaders in the field of early care and education, participated in presentations and breakout sessions focused on the innovative quality improvement, racial equity, and system change ideas of our leadership program graduates. Continue Reading →

April 22, 2021
by Anne Douglass
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Early Ed Leadership Institute Statement on Derek Chauvin Trial

The guilty verdicts in Derek Chauvin’s trial mean that Derek Chauvin will be held accountable for the murder of George Floyd, and we hope they give Floyd’s family and community some space to heal. But these verdicts will not bring justice to Mr. Floyd, who should be alive today. Nor will they bring justice to his family, or to countless other Black people who have been killed by those sworn to uphold the law.  Continue Reading →

This is the blog of the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation, a university-wide initiative housed in the College of Education and Human Development at UMass Boston.
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