Understanding Early Childhood Education Workforce Dynamics
Problem
States lack the workforce data needed to build and sustain a stable early childhood education workforce.
The early childhood education (ECE) workforce plays a critical dual role in supporting parents’ labor force participation and fostering children’s development. Yet, policymakers and stakeholders often lack timely, comprehensive, and comparable data to understand workforce dynamics like turnover and to anticipate how policy shifts will impact ECE career pathways. This information gap constrains effective decision-making to build a robust and stable ECE workforce nationwide.
A research partnership among states is leveraging administrative employment data to address this critical evidence gap. The goal is to provide state leaders with evidence they can use to improve workforce supports and investment strategies, as economic conditions and ECE demand shift.
Solution
NORC is using multi-state administrative data and econometric analysis to reveal ECE workforce trends and policy impacts.
NORC is collaborating closely with five states to combine and analyze longitudinal administrative records covering employment and wages for the ECE workforce. By aligning data and metrics across states, this research allows for comparison of workforce dynamics across state-specific policy contexts.
In two states, the project team is incorporating data on policy changes related to pre-K enrollment and minimum wage values. In partnership with scholars at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and The Ohio State University, the team is applying advanced econometric methods to understand the impact of these policy changes on ECE workforce dynamics. While these analyses are state-specific, the findings will inform other states considering similar changes.
Throughout the project, NORC is engaging state agencies, an advisory group of experts, and broader stakeholders via presentations, briefings, and dissemination materials. This partnership-driven model brings together NORC’s capabilities in data integration, technical innovation, and stakeholder engagement.
Result
The project will give states actionable insights to improve state ECE workforce policies and inform national research.
Findings from this multi-state collaboration will give policymakers detailed evidence on workforce retention, employment shocks, and the effects of economic policies such as wage adjustments. Because the data and metrics are aligned across states, findings from one state’s policy changes can inform others considering similar policies. Policy briefs, state presentations, conference papers, and peer-reviewed academic manuscripts will extend the project’s impact beyond immediate state partners, contributing to the field’s understanding of early childhood workforce development.
Related Tags
Project Leads
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Robert M. Goerge
Senior FellowPrincipal Investigator -
Leah Gjertson
Senior Research ScientistProject Director -
Emily R. Wiegand
Senior Research MethodologistSenior Staff -
Dave McQuown
Senior Data ScientistSenior Staff
“We are compiling comparable workforce metrics across states and over time, to provide policymakers a solid basis for decision-making to strengthen the supply of early childhood teachers.”
