Recent Projects

Early Intervention System Equity Analysis

The mission of the Center for Equity and Excellence is to create inclusive  environments and to ensure equity and social justice at all levels of society. The Center is examining issues of equity within the early intervention system for the Multnomah Early Childhood...

Colorado Child Care Assistance Program Evaluation

The Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab at the University of Denver is evaluating the Colorado Department of Early Childhood's activities to strengthen and expand the early childhood sector in Colorado with the support of over $465 million in American Rescue Plan Act...

Mwebaza Foundation Support

The Mwebaza Foundation is an educational organization embracing decolonizing practices to build alternative structures in the nonprofit space that are centered on understanding, solidarity, and liberation. The Foundation's mission is to enrich the relationships among...

Navajo Nation Market Rate Survey

The Navajo Nation Division of Social Services, Department of Child Care and Development, in Window Rock, Arizona, supports low-income working families through child care financial assistance and promotes children's learning by improving the quality of early child...

Colorado Child Care Market Rate Study

Federal regulations require states to conduct a child care market rate survey every three years as a condition of receiving federal dollars from the Child Care and Development Fund to establish child care subsidy rates that are high enough to allow low-income working...

Volunteers of America Southwest Community Needs Assessment

Volunteers of America Southwest (VOA Southwest) provides innovative, results-oriented programming using a therapeutic care and educational approach. VOA Southwest offers programs for vulnerable individuals and families including addiction recovery services, veterans’...

Latest News

Colorado Preschool Development Grant Cost Evaluation and Needs Assessment

Colorado’s Preschool Development Grant (PDG) provides $33.5 million to support Colorado’s vision that all children are ready for school when entering kindergarten. Colorado Shines Brighter, the state’s PDG B-5 initiative, works to maximize the number of high-quality early care and education options available to families, especially families identified as vulnerable and underserved such as those living in rural areas, families of infants and toddlers, and families of children with special needs.

Strengthening 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.

Presentation 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.

Two 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...

The 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....

Cool 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...

What Programs Are Appropriate For Pay For Success?

In April I had the opportunity to participate in a panel on Pay For Success (PFS) programs at the annual Early Childhood Social Impact Performance Advisors Conference in San Diego.  Jointly sponsored by the Institute for Child Success and ReadyNation, the conference...