Research
Child Care in Crisis: How the Pandemic Is Changing the Lives of Early Childhood Education Professionals
The coronavirus pandemic pushed the already vulnerable early childhood education workforce into crisis. The emotional, financial and physical stress on early childhood educators is incalculable. Many programs faced declining enrollment and closures, while educators had to navigate job insecurity, health risks and personal challenges.
Over the course of ten months, EdSurge documented the impact of the pandemic on early childhood educators, exploring how program leaders, philanthropic organizations, government, businesses and—crucially—educators themselves have addressed these challenges. These stories highlight the experiences and elevate the voices of early childhood education professionals.
In this Article
Oral History
More on Early Childhood Education From EdSurge
Oral History
From December 2020 to May 2021, we followed a cohort of early childhood educators from across the country. The cohort is composed of women who work in a variety of roles and settings. Through monthly interviews and surveys, we learned in deeply personal terms what it looks like to teach young learners, engage with families, run businesses and manage personal and professional stress during the pandemic.
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The Pandemic Was Disastrous for Early Childhood Education—And Both Kids and Adults Are Feeling It
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Research on Our Radar
Over the course of this project, we've been collecting research and reports on the experience of early childhood educators during the pandemic. Below are a few of our favorite resources.
Child Care, Unfiltered: What SoCal Early Care And Education Really Looks Like | LAist
Early Childhood Workforce Index 2020 | Caitlin McLean, Lea J. E. Austin, Marcy Whitebook, and Krista L. Olson | Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley
Broader, Deeper, Fairer: Five Strategies to Radically Expand the Talent Pool in Early Education | Cody Kornack and Ashely LiBetti | National Head Start Association, HeadStarter Network, and Bellwether Education Partners
View other resources here.
This EdSurge Research series is made publicly available with support from Imaginable Futures, a venture of The Omidyar Group. All stories are editorially independent. (Read our ethics statement here.) This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Special thanks to Apple Tree Institute (D.C.), Beary Cherry Tree (La.), Chris Nelson’s home-based child care program (Vt.), Happy Day Preschool (Idaho), Lil’ Bits Family Child Care Home (Pa.), Noah’s Art Preschool Academy (Ga.) and The Learning Path Preschool (N.J.), for contributing children’s original artwork for the above compilation.