Education and Early Childhood Research
For fifteen years I’ve worked to help improve systems for children, focusing on rigorous methodology and evidence-based approaches to effecting change. BRC’s clients have included the U.S. Office of Child Care, the states of Colorado, New York, and Florida, and numerous other governmental, non-profit, and philanthropic organizations. Our areas of expertise include:
- Early childhood finance and cost-effectiveness
- Research design for educational and social interventions, including experimental and quasi-experimental methods
- Pay-for-Success technical support for education interventions
- Policy evaluation
- Systems evaluation and change analysis
- Large-scale data analyses of student outcomes and reform techniques
- Teacher salary and school finance analyses
Project Examples
Denver Preschool Program Access and Capacity Study
BRC led a study to evaluate access and capacity for preschool in Denver. The study, which was sponsored by the Denver Preschool Program (DPP) examined availability of licensed preschool slots throughout the city, and yielded a need index which represented the ratio of preschool-age population to preschool slots in each census tract in Denver. In addition, the study used geo-coded data on provider locations to determine the number of high-quality preschool slots within walking distance of each of Denver’s public housing units.
Massachusetts Non-Traditional Hours Child Care Study
BRC Partnered with Linda Mills Consulting to conduct a study of the need for non-traditional hours child care in Massachusetts for the Mass. Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). The study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate access to and need for child care outside of traditional work hours. The study involved focus groups and interviews with providers and a survey which was distributed to 2,000 parents throughout the state.
Latest News
The Moral Imperative Of Effective Altruism
This past August, a thousand or so entrepreneurs gathered in Berkeley, California to talk about making the world a better place. They represented the usual suspects you’d find at a Bay Area conference – data wonks, business strategists, venture capitalists, and...
read moreStrengthening Colorado’s Early Childhood Workforce
BRC is partnering with the Butler Institute at the University of Denver to better understand the economic contribution of the child care sector, and to determine sustainable strategies for building a highly qualified workforce.
read moreUsing Evidence To Do The Most Good: The Effective Altruism Global Conference
This summer I had the opportunity to attend the EA Global conference in Berkeley, which brought together people from the realms of philosophy, international health and development, research methods, nonprofit management, philanthropy and many other fields to think about ways to make our work as effective as possible.
read morePresentation at the Early Childhood Social Impact Performance Advisors Conference
Each year, the Annual Conference of the Early Childhood Social Impact Performance Advisors hosts one of the nation’s most dynamic conversations about the feasibility, research, and policy implications of Pay for Success programs. The conference is organized by the Institute for Child Success, Ready Nation, and Sorenson Impact Center at the University of Utah, with whom I partner as a Senior Research Fellow.
read morePresentation on Pay For Success at Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference
Last week I had the opportunity to present on the opportunities and challenges presented by Pay For Success programs in early childhood. Two early childhood PFS are already in progress in the U.S. – in Chicago and Utah — and another has just been launched in South Carolina.
read moreTwo Definitions of Child Care Quality
As I think about the conversations I heard about early childhood in the past year, I find people are usually speaking the same language. At conferences, in journals, and in legislative chambers, those of us who live within the early childhood realm generally agree...
read moreAndrew Brodsky Partnering With Policy Innovation Lab On Pay For Success TA
I’m excited to be working with the Policy Innovation Lab at the University of Utah’s Sorensen Global Impact Investing Center to help develop Pay For Success programs across the Western U.S. The PIL works across sectors to develop innovative, data-driven approaches to...
read moreThe Five Warning Signs Of EAU (Evaluation As Usual)
Is your organization suffering from Evaluation As Usual (EAU)? Symptoms of EAU include overly enthusiastic language about successes, wish-washy discussion of potentially negative results, and a general lack of objective and critical data analysis and discussion....
read moreEC State Advisory Councils Final Report Highlights Colorado and New York Cost-Effectiveness Models
The final report from the Early Childhood State Advisory Councils, released in May, documents the $92 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to 45 states to help build higher-quality early childhood systems. The funding touched the lives...
read moreCool New Cost Effectiveness Tool From Center For Cost-Benefit Studies
Apart from the words “free ice cream”, there’s nothing more exciting in my mailbox than an e-mail that says “new web-based cost-effectiveness tool.” Given the approximately 550$ billion we spend on K-12 education alone in this country, understanding the impact of...
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