Weekly E-News
October 11, 2025
HOT TOPICS
State Strategies for Sustained Investment in Kids: A Landscape of Dedicated Funding
States nationwide are establishing dedicated revenue sources—such as taxes on tobacco, marijuana, gambling, and other activities—to provide stable, long-term funding for programs supporting children and youth outside the K–12 school day. Some also use trust funds, investment earnings, or progressive taxes to sustain early learning, child care, and youth mental health initiatives. A new report from the Children’s Funding Project examines how these strategies can help policymakers build durable systems to support children and families over time. Interested in learning more? Watch the webinar now!
2025 Home Visiting Yearbook Released
The National Home Visiting Resource Center (NHVRC)—a partnership between James Bell Associates and the Urban Institute—has released the 2025 Home Visiting Yearbook, providing a comprehensive national and state-by-state overview of early childhood home visiting. Drawing on 2024 data from evidence-based and emerging models, the report details where programs operate, which families they serve, and who could benefit but remain unreached. It includes profiles of states, models, and Indigenous-led organizations and reflects the field’s hybrid service approach by capturing both virtual and in-person home visits. Users can explore interactive data, summaries, and links to maternal and child health indicators on the NHVRC website.
A study by Andrew L. Breidenbach and Hailey Heinz examined New Mexico’s shift to a 12-month child care subsidy recertification policy. After implementation, the median subsidy duration increased by 83%—from 6 to 11 months—indicating that longer recertification periods can improve family stability and access to affordable care. However, smaller gains among Native American, lower-income, and student parents point to the need for complementary supports to ensure all families benefit equally.
A study of 1,174 families found that parental education, but not income, was linked to the quality of the Home Executive Function Environment (HEFE) for preschoolers. Parents with some college or a degree provided richer executive function supports than those with a high school diploma or less, and fathers reported lower HEFE scores than mothers. The study was authored by Zachary T. Barnes, Peter Boedeker, and Rong Huang.
NIEER ACTIVITY
NIEER visits Rwanda with The Khalifa Award for Education Delegation
NIEER’s Founder and Senior Director, Steve Barnett, recently had the honor of accompanying colleagues at the Khalifa Award for Education, including recent winner Candice Potgieter, CEO of The Unlimited Child, on a visit to Rwanda. Together, they shared experiences and learned from those working in early childhood development, while also meeting the children and families they serve. The Khalifa Award delegation’s visit highlights the power of international partnerships to advance early learning and enrich childhoods—a testament to the Award’s global vision for a brighter future. Watch the trip's highlight video now!
Community-Based Private Provider Conference: The Future of Public Preschool
Thursday, October 16 | 7:30 AM – 3:30 PM
New Jersey child care providers collaborating to offer Abbott or Expansion preschool programs are invited to attend a one-day professional development conference on October 16, hosted by Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) and the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children (NJAEYC), and generously funded by the Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation. The conference will cover topics including enrollment strategies, marketing, leadership, teacher burnout, teacher certification, and budget planning. NIEER’s Karin Garver and Alexandra Figueras-Daniel will serve as conference speakers. Register here!
We have an open post-doc position and are looking for someone with interest and experience in early childhood education policy research, data management and analysis, and writing! Apply here
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHILD CARE AND EDUCATION POLICY WEEKLY FEATURE
A study of New York City’s Universal Pre-K system found that while most children come from homes where a language other than English is spoken, only 6% of Pre-K programs are bilingual. Mapping Dual Language (DL) and Enhanced Language Support (ELS) programs revealed that bilingual offerings are not equitably distributed across boroughs and often misaligned with neighborhood demographics. Only in Manhattan were bilingual programs concentrated in areas of high linguistic diversity, while Brooklyn and Queens relied primarily on ELS. Authored by Brian A. Collins.
ECE RESEARCH
Societal Language and Social Skills in Preschool Dual Language Learners
A longitudinal study of 160 preschool dual language learners in Germany found that strong early societal language skills play a key role in supporting children’s social engagement with peers as they enter kindergarten. Using data collected over 18 months before and after kindergarten entry, researchers observed that while both language skills and aggressive behaviors were stable over time, only language skills were linked to positive social engagement. Early societal language ability predicted peer interactions at kindergarten entry and remained associated with language development across the transition to formal schooling. The study was authored by Sonja Hasler, Daniel Schmerse, Stefan Zehentmayer, Marina Jambreus, Larissa M. Troesch, and Alexander Grob.
Societal Language and Social Skills in Preschool Dual Language Learners
A longitudinal study of 160 preschool dual language learners in Germany found that early societal language skills strongly predict children’s peer engagement at kindergarten entry and remain linked to language development over time. While both language skills and aggressive behaviors were stable across the 18-month study, only language skills were associated with positive social interactions. The study was authored by Sonja Hasler, Daniel Schmerse, Stefan Zehentmayer, Marina Jambreus, Larissa M. Troesch, and Alexander Grob.
The Impact of Lighting on Emotional Responses in Preschool Children’s Visual Environments
A study of 30 preschool children examined how different lighting conditions affect emotional responses by testing 12 combinations of correlated color temperature (CCT) and illuminance. Certain combinations—such as 5000 K × 500 lx and 4000 K × 500 lx—elicited lively emotions, while others (5000 K × 400 lx and 5000 K × 300 lx) produced more relaxed states. Higher CCTs generally increased both arousal and pleasure. This article was written by Yipin Zhu, Lixiong Wang, Tianyi Chen, Guangyan Kong, and Fengrui Ma.
A study of 130 preschoolers (average age 6) examined how different types of constructive feedback influence creativity, taking children’s intrinsic motivation into account. Using an alternative uses task, children received either constructive positive, constructive negative, or no feedback. Results showed that constructive negative feedback significantly enhanced originality—though not fluency—especially among children with high intrinsic motivation. This paper was authored by Han Yuan, Peiqi Shi, Xindi Yan, Dawei Yang, and Xiaojing Gu.
OPPORTUNITIES
ACF's National Research Conference on Early Childhood (NRCEC)
Call for Reviewers: The NRCEC 2026 Planning Committee invites you to apply to be a reviewer. Reviewers play a key role in ensuring the high quality and relevance of the presentations at the conference. From December 2025 through mid-January 2026, reviewers will read, and rate proposals submitted in response to the Call for Presentations. Applications are due by Monday, November 3, 2025
Bridging the Gaps in Disability Policy
New America invites you to a hybrid event on October 15th that will spark ideas about how to build more inclusive, connected systems for people with disabilities, including young children with disabilities and their families.
Thrive by Five Index 2024: A wake-up call for early childhood development in South Africa:
In a 60-minute interactive session, Oct 15th, at 5AM ET, Sonja Giese, Executive Director of DataDrive2030, will share key findings from the 2024 Early Learning and Development Index (ELDI)—the most comprehensive national dataset ever collected on early childhood development in South Africa. The Index offers a critical snapshot of how the nation’s four-year-olds are faring across three essential dimensions: early learning, physical growth, and social-emotional functioning.
JOBS
Thrive from the Start: Prenatal-Three Homelessness and Housing Instability State Capacity-Building Initiative; REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Policy Strategist -The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)
Protect & Build Campaign Manager at Community Change (field-based in Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, or North Carolina)
Managing Consultant - Early Care and Education, Mathematica
Executive Director - Institute for Thriving Children and Families, Bank Street College of Education
Government Affairs Manager, First Five Years Fund
Managing Consultant - Early Care and Education, Mathematica
Executive Director - Institute for Thriving Children and Families, Bank Street College of Education
Executive Director, Children First (Pennsylvania)
Government Affairs Manager, First Five Years Fund
Hispanic Child Policy Project Director, Children First (Pennsylvania)
The Authors
Ashley Davison is the Director of Communications for NIEER. In her role, she leads the institute’s development and implementation of audience-centric marketing and media strategies. Through a broad use of digital and content marketing, she seeks to elevate the position of the NIEER, leadership, and mission-related work.
About NIEER
The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, conducts and disseminates independent research and analysis to inform early childhood education policy.
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