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NORC at the University Chicago
NORC has been a pioneer in examining how the quality and accessibility of early care and education affect a child’s lifelong success.

Early childhood care and education is of great interest to educators and policymakers who seek to understand how that education might impact later academic, personal, and professional achievement.

NORC is a pioneer in providing trustworthy data and insights on early childhood care and education. In addition to the groundbreaking HighScope Perry Preschool study, which has surveyed the participants in the Perry School’s intervention curriculum from the age of 3 to the age of 50, NORC has helped develop and evaluate assessments to support pre-K math and language instruction; measured the effectiveness of a reading intervention program pioneered by AmeriCorps; and completed the National Survey of Early Care and Education, the largest national study of its kind to assess the accessibility and quality of early care and education in the United States.

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Early Care & Education Experts

Highlighted Projects

Measuring and Scaling Quality Pre-K in Arkansas

Assessing how early care and education programs are related to the readiness of children to learn

Client:

Walton Family Foundation; University of Colorado, Denver

Michigan Early Care and Education Workforce Study

Understanding the professional development needs of educators vital to high-quality ECE outcomes

Client:

Michigan Department of Education, Office of Great Start

“PreK On My Way” Evaluation

Assessing the impact and implementation of Scholastic’s new preschool curriculum

Client:

Scholastic

Massachusetts Playful Learning Institute P-3 Evaluation

Evaluating an effort to increase play-based learning in early grades

Client:

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Mile High Early Learning Evaluation

Assessing whether pay raises increase retention and decrease burnout for early care teachers

Client:

Mile High Early Learning

Analyzing Parent Narratives to Create Parent Gauge™

Helping Head Start build a tool to assess parent, family, and community engagement

Client:

National Head Start Association, Ford Foundation, Rainin Foundation, Region V Head Start Association

Comprehensive Literacy Program Evaluation

Assessing whether grants to promote youths’ reading and writing are having an impact

Client:

Institute of Education Sciences

Kindergarten Readiness Indicators

Measuring early literacy and numeracy skills for pre-K children

Client:

Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, Welborn Baptist Foundation

Minnesota Reading Corps K-3 Impact Evaluation

NORC finds tutoring by AmeriCorps volunteers brought benefits to most young students

Client:

Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)

From the Classroom to the Lab and Back

Teaching preschoolers math fundamentals to enhance later learning

Funder:

McCormick Foundation

The Abecedarian Project at Midlife

Following up on groundbreaking research about early childhood intervention

Client:

University of Chicago

Pre-K Developmental Loss from COVID-19 Closures

Examining preschoolers’ cognitive and social skills during the pandemic

Client:

University of Colorado, Denver

HighScope Perry Preschool Study

Updating a groundbreaking study on the impact of early education

Client:

National Institute on Aging

Farm and Food Workers Relief Initiative

Distributing more than 88,000 COVID relief payments to farmworkers affected by the pandemic

Client:

National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association

Transforming the Early Childhood Workforce in Colorado

Supporting recruitment and retention of highly qualified early care and education workers

Client:

Early Milestones Colorado; University of Colorado, Denver

Denver Preschool Program Evaluation

Considering whether tuition credits improve kindergarten readiness

Client:

Denver Preschool Program; University of Colorado, Denver

‘Closer to Home’ and ‘A Path to Equity’

Exploring the impact of more equitable access to pre-k on student outcomes

Client:

Institute of Education Sciences

Denver Preschool Program—Post-Pandemic Practices

Examining how post-pandemic teaching practices affect preschoolers’ development

Client:

Denver Preschool Program

Spence-Chapin Adoption Study

Helping an adoption agency deepen its understanding of birth mothers

Client:

Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children

Early Childhood Teachers’ Coursework and Children’s Outcomes

Appraising how teachers’ postsecondary education relates to students’ development

Client:

National Institutes of Health

ECE Teachers’ Postsecondary Courses and Children’s Outcomes

Examining relationships between teachers’ coursework, instructional quality, and their students’ outcomes

Client:

RAND; University of Colorado, Denver

Minnesota Reading Corps Pre-K Program Evaluation

Demonstrating that AmeriCorps volunteer tutors can improve preschoolers’ literacy

Client:

Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)

Head Start-to-Kindergarten Transitions Project

The first rigorous, system-level study of the factors that drive successful kindergarten transitions

Client:

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families

Student Absenteeism Meta-Analysis

A comprehensive analysis and meta-analytic synthesis of student absenteeism interventions

Client:

Institute of Education Sciences and the Smith Richardson Foundation

Evaluating the Tempe Preschool Resource Expansion

Assessing whether Tempe PRE improves kindergarten readiness and future achievement for low-income children

Funder:

Helios Education Foundation

Financing Early Care and Education Study

Exploring Head Start financing strategies and the landscape of state-level early care and education (ECE) financing policy

Client:

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) at the Administration for Children & Families (ACF)

National Survey of Early Care and Education

Evaluating Oakland Promise’s Cradle-to-Career Programs

NORC’s assessments enable Oakland program to identify past benefits for future funding

Client:

Oakland Promise

NORC-Rainin Foundation Early Childhood Collaboration

Supporting programs to improve the education of Oakland children from birth to third grade

Client:

Kenneth Rainin Foundation

Oakland Promise Kindergarten to College Evaluation

Assessing efforts to promote a college-going culture among young students and their parents

Client:

Oakland Promise

Support for Analytic Capacity of NSECE Data

Enhancing the analytic capacity of the NSECE’s public-use and restricted-use data

Client:

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the Department of Health and Human Services

2024 National Survey of Early Care and Education

Examining early care and education after major disruption

Client:

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the Department of Health and Human Services

Oakland Promise Brilliant Baby Evaluation

Assessing the impact of a “two-generation” intervention on college attainment

Client:

Oakland Promise

Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance Cross-System Evaluation

A first-of-its-kind evaluation to maximize the effectiveness of TTA provided to early childhood grantees

Client:

Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Consumer Education and Parent Choice in Early Care & Education

Understanding how parents find and use information to make early child care decisions

Client:

Administration for Children and Families, Health & Human Services Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation