The NH ECE Research Consortium publishes the first five of seven primers
The NH Early Care and Education Research Consortium is a partnership of researchers and research users whose goal is to conduct new research and collaborate to shape a research agenda that can continuously improve ECE systems for families, young children, and ECE professionals in our state. The Consortium is led by the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy.
The Consortium is currently releasing a series of seven primers, the Granite Guide to Early Childhood, which synthesizes scattered research on child care in New Hampshire into an accessible collection, offering key insights for building a high-quality, affordable, and equitable ECE system. The first five primers, which are now available, cover family demand, state supply, workforce, cost for families, and state scholarships.
The final two primers will cover the cost of operating child care in New Hampshire and a look at promising models for child care delivery. We will report on these in a subsequent issue of Connections.
“This series of primers has given us a chance to sift through the literature in some core areas of the ECE world, looking for the best New Hampshire-specific material for inclusion,” says Dr. Jess Carson, director of the Carsey School’s Center for Social Policy in Practice. “Once all seven are complete, we will be almost ready to start over and refresh the series from the beginning. Our plan is to keep them updated to provide a recurring resource for stakeholders around the state of New Hampshire.”
In addition to releasing Granite Guide primers, the Consortium has spent time over the past months meeting with researchers and research users across the state in a series of in-depth planning conversations, which will culminate in a convening this spring. Additionally, a set of NH ECE Stakeholder maps—one focused on community stakeholders and another on research and evaluation stakeholders—has been published as living documents, with ongoing updates and suggestions encouraged. Efforts are also underway to collaborate with the state to ensure its data can be shared and used to address key questions. Finally, the Consortium has launched a second year of data collection related to statewide preschool offerings, building on their Fall 2024 paper that provided a first comprehensive look at preschool offerings in public schools.