Dissemination

NCCF Presentations

NCCF staff members present research findings at various conferences and forums around the country and internationally. Follow the links below to view highlights prepared by our researchers for presentations at past academic conferences.

Presentation Archive

Presented at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) annual conference, Nov. 2004, in Anaheim, CA.

Policy Matters: What types of policies make a difference in the lives of young children, their families, their schools, and teachers? What are the conditions that affect policy decisions? We offer an in-depth presentation by the Policy Matters project team, looking at Early Care and Education (ECE) in the states of Mississippi, Ohio, and Colorado, and assessing the political, social, economic, and health-related contexts in which policy can be made. The NCCF Policy Matters team includes Sharon Lynn Kagan, Kristie Kauerz, and NCCF research affiliates Michelle Neuman and Elizabeth Rigby. (presentation is in .pdf format.)

Presented at the Association for Public Policy and Management Research Conference (October 28 - 30 2004) in Atlanta, GA.

In Federalism, State Variation, and Early Care and Education Policy Choices, a slide presentation (.pdf) by NCCF research affiliate Elizabeth Rigby and co-directors Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and Sharon Lynn Kagan, important questions about state-level approaches to Early Care and Education policy are explored.

Presented at the Head Start 7th National Research Conference (June 28 - July 1 2004) in Washington, D.C.

Using Assessments to Improve Head Start Quality
Sharon Lynn Kagan, Katherine Renee Behring, Lizabeth M.R. Malone, Stacy Kim

How well can a multi-level observational assessment system (child, classroom, center), augmented with interactive professional development, improve Head Start quality for participating children, families, and staff?

The Columbia University Head Start Quality Research Center (QRC), together with its Head Start partner schools in Stamford and Waterbury, CT, are researching the effectiveness of such assessments in a study that spans approximately five years, including four years of field work and seven months of follow-up. The data in this presentation represents early explorations from the second year of the project.

Associations Between Family Structure and Child Cognitive Outcomes in the First Three Years of Life
Rebecca M. Ryan, Christy Brady-Smith, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

The researchers' results suggest that children growing up in different family structures have different cognitive developmental trajectories, and that those differences emerge and expand during early childhood. By distinguishing between children of married, cohabitating, and non-coresident parents, they were able to determine that differences are associated more with marriage than residency, at least during the early years.