For the spring 2018 semester, in partnership with California Strategies, LLC, USC students researched early child care and education in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Project: Early Child Care and Education in LAUSD

USC Students: Vivian Ren, Thomas Wall, Justin Lin, Shernae Hughes, Stepan Petrosyan, and Milton Dimas

Research Goal: Our goal was to analyze current barriers involving access to early child care education, including the achievement gap, staffing issues, and funding, as well as offering potential solutions to help move this issue forward.

Research Findings:

1. The importance of ECE
   1. Helps develop social and emotional skills useful later in life
   2. Benefits tracked by multiple studies include being less likely to require special education and more likely to graduate
2. The Achievement Gap
   1. 56% of LA Metro Area students speak a language other than English (40% of LA residents speak Spanish primarily – 42% of Latino children test in the bottom 25% of their peers in reading readiness – In grade 2, 46% of Latinos are proficient in English, compared with 68% of students overall – Spanish Speaking Latinos in LA are 36% less likely to graduate high school than the average Californian)
   2. Bilingual parent engagement mentors – Growth of high quality programs that fit the needs of a community (by 85%)
3. Budgeting and Funding Barriers
   1. Increase Federal/State Funding
   2. Funding incentives for improvement program participation
   3. Effective ECE workforce Development
   4. Offer incentives for residence use

Learn more about their research into the current barriers involved in access to early child care education and their policy recommendations here.

Watch the full video of their presentation here.