National Institute for Early Education Research

10/16/2026

In a new Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative report, Milagros Nores, Christina Stephens, Allison Friedman-Krauss, Andrea Kent and Karin Garver analyze revenue sources and operating costs for New Jersey child care centers. The findings offer insights into licensed center-based providers in NJ that may be useful for identifying supports and policies to strengthen and improve access to the state’s ECE system:

• Most centers received tuition payments from families (80%), about 2 out of 3 responding centers reported receiving funding from the state’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP; 61%), and 18% received state pre-k funding.

• The NJ provider landscape appears largely divided (with some overlap) between those receiving mostly CCAP and a smaller share receiving state pre-K funding. That is, CCAP and state pre-K mostly support different segments of the ECE market, functioning as complementary policy levers.

• Staff salaries represented the largest share of centers’ total operating expenditures, accounting for two-thirds of total expenses (66%).

“It’s critical that we understand the financial structure of child care,” said the report’s lead author Milagros Nores. “We should be reviewing the fiscal state of the child care system regularly to understand how its doing and inform policy decisions accordingly.”

The Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative is a partnership between NIEER, the Center for Women and Work, and the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, made possible through funding and support from the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.

Read the new report:

NIEER conducts academic research to inform policy supporting high-quality, early education for all young children.

10/14/2026

Last week, NIEER’s Alexandra Figueras-Daniel, Ellen Frede, Elise Genao and Carmen Espinosa were recognized at the third annual Rutgers University Innovation Awards as non-patent IP innovators for developing the Self-Evaluation of Supports for Emergent Bilingual Acquisition (SESEBA) and the Classroom Assessment for Supports of Emergent Bilingual Acquisition (CASEBA). The tools are designed to support teachers and researchers in their daily work helping children develop English while maintaining their home languages and strengthening early literacy skills. Through a recent partnership with TORSH, these tools can now reach wider audiences more efficiently. NIEER was also recognized for developing the Oral Language Multilingual Learner Kit with Lakeshore Learning Materials, which helps teachers strategically support the same skills through use of various materials provided in the kits.

Learn more about NIEER’s proprietary research tools: https://nieer.org/our-work/nieer-developed-tools

10/09/2026

Did you know that the NIEER is revising the quality standards benchmarks for the State of Preschool annual report? At this week's NASLEE Roundtable in Scottsdale, Arizona, NIEER's Allison Friedman-Krauss, Karin Garver, Kate Hodges, and Steve Barnett provided an overview of changes to the benchmarks being developed in partnership with policymakers. The new benchmarks will be reported in 2028. NIEER discussed why the benchmarks are being revised, and the process and timeline. After a brief presentation, participants engaged in small group conversations to discuss proposed changes and offer feedback.

10/08/2026

Today, NIEER's Steve Barnet and Alexandra Figueras-Daniel shared some of the latest high-impact early education research during a plenary session at the NASLEE Roundtable in Scottsdale, Arizona. They updated nearly 200 state early childhood education leaders from across the country on research relevant to policy and its implementation. They were joined by Brittany Alexander of Arizona State University, Michelle Maier of MDRC, Sean Reardon of the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and moderator Dan Wuori of Early Childhood Policy Solutions.

10/08/2026

NIEER has a stellar team at the National Association of State Leaders in Early Education (NASLEE) Roundtable this year in Scottsdale, Arizona! We are eager to listen, learn, present, and forge partnerships to advance early childhood education with our colleagues in state leadership.

10/05/2026

NIEER’s new report, funded by the Maher Charitable Foundation, examines the perspectives of child care and Head Start directors in New Jersey who contract with school districts to provide public preschool. New Jersey has a long history as a leader in providing public preschool through a mixed delivery system where policymakers, advocates, and researchers have worked together to address implementation issues. However, efforts to expand the availability of public preschool, along with changes in state policy that no longer mandate partnering with local child care and Head Start providers, bring new challenges. Findings from this study suggest the need for durable, statewide structures to support continued development of mixed delivery.

Read the report: https://nieer.org/research-library/partnering-preschool-revisited-focus-group-study-child-care-leaders-working-new

Learn more about NIEER's partnerships in New Jersey: https://nieer.org/our-work/partnership-new-jersey

NIEER conducts academic research to inform policy supporting high-quality, early education for all young children.

10/02/2026

NIEER’s new research with the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative provides a descriptive portrait of licensed, center-based child care in New Jersey. The data snapshot series focuses on: Infant and toddler child care supply; Lead teacher pay and workplace benefits; and Lead teacher intentions about turnover and workplace experiences.

The Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative is comprised of the Rutgers University - Center for Women and Work, the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, and NIEER. Funding for the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative is provided by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.

Learn more in today's edition of NIEER's Weekly E-News, and subscribe for future updates: https://nieer.org/research-library/weekly-e-news

09/30/2026

Early childhood education experts are calling into question a Heritage Foundation report on Head Start that appears to have heavily influenced the Trump Administration’s proposed regulatory overhaul of the federal program.

NIEER’s Steve Barnett and Morgan Healy reviewed claims from the Heritage Foundation report that Head Start is ineffective, costly and unsafe in a new National Education Policy Center publication.

The authors found that the Heritage Foundation’s review of the full body of evidence is so limited and misleading that neither its conclusions about Head Start’s performance, nor its policy recommendations, should inform policy decisions.

NIEER concurs that changes are needed to improve long-term outcomes for Head Start students, including reducing burdensome paperwork and overly detailed regulations. However, the experts warn that the Heritage report claiming Head Start fails children and taxpayers is deeply flawed, overlooking a “stunning” volume of rigorous, relevant research and advancing policy recommendations without supporting evidence.

Read the NEPC Review: https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication-announcement/2026/09/head-start

09/29/2026

Earlier this month, NIEER's Milagros Nores and Erin Harmeyer served as expert voices at Early Learning Indiana's Building Impact final celebration. Their presentations, "Setting the Stage for the Building Impact Story … An Initial Look at the Data," and "Unfolding the Building Impact story … A Data Analysis," supported early learning leaders from across Indiana to reflect on the progress they made in the two-year leadership development program, which was created by Early Learning Indiana in partnership with the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University. The completion of Building Impact marks a significant professional achievement for the attendees and reflects a deep commitment to ensuring young children have access to high-quality early learning experiences during the most critical years of development.

09/28/2026

Can digital media replace physical shared book reading? NIEER’s latest paper in JAMA Network Open examines how home literacy resources impact reading frequency among preschoolers. Authors Kwanghee Jung and Steve Barnett found a clear distinction between physical and digital formats:

📚Every 10 additional physical books in the home increased the odds of frequent reading by 8%.

📱Access to eBooks showed no statistically significant relationship with reading frequency.
The findings suggest that screen-based media often displaces interactive reading rather than supporting it. Rebuilding early literacy habits requires expanding access to physical print books for young children.

Read the brief here: https://nieer.org/research-library/parent-child-shared-book-reading-preschoolers-during-after-covid-19-pandemic