Michael J. Strambler, Ph.D., an associate research scientist in psychiatry affiliated with The Consultation Center, has been awarded nearly $400,000 from The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to create a Connecticut Early Childhood Education Research Alliance. The main aim of the grant is to develop the alliance’s research agenda in collaboration with other early childhood education practitioners, advocates, and researchers in Bridgeport, Stamford, and Norwalk. Initial research will focus on understanding how children perform on state-developed preschool measures, how preschool child outcomes predict kindergarten outcomes, and what teacher and school-level factors contribute to preschool and kindergarten performance.
Connecticut currently has one of the largest achievement gaps between low-income and non-low income students in the country. On a national level, there is strong evidence that the achievement gap is present at school entry and has powerful influences on children’s achievement trajectories. Strambler hopes to support efforts to address such educational disparities through informing early childhood education practice and policy with rigorous research. Over a two-year period, the newly-created research alliance will engage in development, outreach, research, and sustainability activities.
Along with Dr. Strambler, core alliance members will include Clare Irwin at the Education Development Center, and George Coleman at Cooperative Education Services. Current supporting members include Bridgeport Public Schools, Stamford Public Schools, and Norwalk Public Schools as well as the Connecticut Department of Education and the Office of Early Childhood. Additionally, the alliance will invite other organizations and institutions interested in the mission of the alliance to affiliate with the group. Two senior early childhood experts, Walter Gilliam of Yale Child Study Center and Michael Lόpez of Abt Associates, will serve as advisors to the alliance.
The Consultation Center is a university-based, community organization that offers a range of services, training and research to individuals, organizations, businesses and governmental agencies throughout Connecticut, the U.S., and internationally. The Center’s mission is to promote health and wellness, prevent mental health and substance abuse problems, and enhance equity and social justice in the communities it serves. Since its inception in 1976, the Center has been a collaborative endeavor of the Yale School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, the Connecticut Mental Health Center, and The Consultation Center, Inc. (a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization).