JOINT RESEARCH FORUM RECAP: Grappling With and Reconciling History to Improve Child Care Access
November 2024
The Crane Center was thrilled to partner with Ohio State’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity for a special joint research forum to bring Dr. Chrishana M. Lloyd, research scholar at Child Trends, to Ohio to discuss why the early care and education field is devalued and underfunded.
Research consistently notes the value of early care and education for children’s development, parental stability, and the productivity of the country. Despite these benefits, navigating early care and education in the United States is a challenging endeavor. There is considerable fragmentation and variability in early care and education systems, access to high quality and affordable care is limited, and pay is low for the workforce. During this research forum, Dr. Chrishana M. Lloyd facilitated understanding about why the early care and education field is devalued and underfunded using a historical and equity lens. Dr. Lloyd also shared policy and practice recommendations to address these challenges.
Dr. Lloyd is a nationally recognized expert on the challenges facing the early child care and education sector. Drawing from the social sciences and education fields and through a racial equity lens, Dr. Lloyd integrates research findings and policy in ways that improve high-quality and equitable practices to deliver positive impact to communities.
RESOURCES
Key research from Dr. Lloyd that informed this presentation
(with direct excerpts to describe each resource and slide number references)
The 2020 California Early Care and Education Workforce Study provides comprehensive statewide and regional information on the early care and education workforce.
(QR code link from slide 14)
The Pauper Papers, a report fully titled, Mary Pauper: A Historical Exploration of Early Care and Education Compensation, Policy, and Solutions, articulates a landscape analysis and a set of recommendations for policy, practice, and future research to improve the professional status of early childhood educators.
(QR code link from slide 25)
A 100-Year Review of Research on Black Families is a review of social science research focused on Black families that spans this historical period, from 1920 to 2019 to inform the development of an applied research agenda focused on Black families with children that is appropriate for the 21st century.
(QR code link from slide 28)
Additional resources shared by Dr. Lloyd on the topic
READINGS
- Jones, K. & Okun, T. (2001). Dismantling racism: A workbook for social change groups. ChangeWork.
- Jones-Rogers, S.E. (2019). They were her property: White women as slave owners in the American South. Yale University Press.
- Linos, E., Sanaz Mobasseri, S. & Roussille, N. (2024). Intersectional peer effects at work: The effect of White coworkers on Black women’s careers. Harvard Kennedy School Faculty Research Working Paper Series, RWP23-031.
- Roithmayr, D. (2014). Reproducing racism: How everyday choices lock in White advantage. New York University Press.
- Sanders, CR. (2016). A chance for change Head Start and Mississippi’s Black freedom struggle. The University of North Carolina Press.
PODCASTS
- Systemic, an award-winning podcast that uses audio diaries and interviews to document the lives of people working to address inequities, dismantle unfair systems, and create change.
- 1691, a New York Times podcast that explores history, particularly the institution of chattel slavery — and the anti-Black racism it required — as tool to understand the foundation, birth, and status of America today.