December 1, 2023 with Carla Ward, Iheoma U. Iruka, Cynthia D. Jackson and Amanda Stein of Educare
How Research Amplifies Early Childhood Education
In this episode, Carla Ward interviews 3 members of the Educare team to discuss the importance of research in Early Childhood Education and a Research Agenda that they have developed in order to address the opportunity gap and truly advance racial equity
Iheoma U. Iruka
Iheoma U. Iruka, Ph.D., is a Research Professor in the Department of Public Policy and the Founding
Director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
at UNC Chapel Hill. Dr. Iruka is leading projects and initiatives focused on ensuring that minoritized
children and children from low-income households thrive through the intersection of anti-bias, anti-racist,
and culturally grounded research, program, and policy. Dr. Iruka has authored over 80 books and papers
and has given over 300 talks addressing systemic inequities and advancing research and action on the
well-being of children and families.
Cynthia D. Jackson
Cynthia D. Jackson leads the Educare Learning Network, a generative, coast-to-coast network
of high-quality birth-to-five schools that function as innovative learning labs for the field of early
childhood education. In her dual role as Senior Vice President at Start Early, she works
alongside other senior leaders to advance the organization’s mission. In collaboration with the
Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Educare Learning Network school leaders and other early
childhood stakeholders, Cynthia advances practice, research and policy solutions to create
greater system wide impact. Prior to joining Start Early, she served as national director of
training and technical assistance for Healthy Families America at Prevent Child Abuse America
and director of the Midwest Learning Center for Family Support at Family Focus, Inc. Cynthia
holds a master’s degree in counseling and health education from the University of North Texas.
Amanda Stein
Amanda Stein, Ph.D. is Managing Director, Research & Evaluation at Start Early. She
conducts research on policies and practices that advance equitable access to and
organizational conditions for high quality ECE and promotes positive outcomes for
children, their families, and the workforce. She leads the national coordinating office
research team for the Educare Network and has over a decade of experience engaging
in research-practice/policy partnerships (RP3s) that center equity; generate and
translate relevant, actionable knowledge; drive quality improvement and innovation; and
support the transformation of ECE programs, systems, and policies at scale. Dr. Stein is
task lead on the federal Financing for ECE Quality and Access for All project which
seeks to better understand the landscape of Head Start’s participation in or use of
braided funding. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies
from Iowa State University and is a former OSEP Postdoctoral Fellow and Head Start
teacher.