Improving student achievement and preparing the workforce’s next generation have received significant attention from government policymakers, especially recently. The Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy in Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology has been at the forefront of coordinating the promotion of science-based solutions in early childhood education from researchers at the Big Ten universities.
Crane Center staff members have taken a lead role in organizing the activities of the Big Ten Early Learning Alliance, a group composed of early childhood researchers at Big Ten universities across 14 states. These states comprise more than 40% of the U.S. population, and the alliance seeks to facilitate cooperation among researchers, policymakers and the public.
The past year has been a busy one for the alliance, which was founded in 2023. The group issued three analysis briefs and held four webinars during the 2024-25 academic year, attracting hundreds of attendees and receiving both national and regional press recognition.
Crane executive director Laura Justice, PhD, is co-chair of the alliance and was co-author of one of the briefs.
“Here is another example of Crane and Ohio State taking the lead in promoting science-based research on early childhood,” Justice said. “With increasing interest in improving children’s achievement in school, and later on as adults in the workforce, policymakers need to know what works in those earliest years, which sets the pattern for later in life.”
The topics of the briefs examined the situation in the Big Ten states regarding early childhood education, standards for early math education, as well as the role and extent of the federal Head Start program. Among the webinar topics were discussions of the value of long-term longitudinal studies that follow a cohort of students from early childhood into adulthood, and examinations of parent engagement in early childhood education.
Assisting in organizing and promoting the alliance’s events and briefs is Crane strategic coordinator Janelle Williamson, who also serves as the alliance’s coordinator. Williamson regularly interacts with the alliance’s steering committee members at the various Big Ten universities, hosts the group’s webinars and shepherds the analysis briefs from composition to publication on the alliance’s website, which is hosted by Ohio State.
“It’s been a busy year,” Williamson said. “The group has really come together since the alliance was founded, and from the responses to our briefs and webinars, I can see the impact the alliance is starting to make.”
The alliance’s work has been generously supported by a grant to Ohio State from American Family Insurance.
“American Family’s support has been a shining example of the positive impact public-private partnerships can have to improve the lives of children across the Big Ten states,” Justice said. “The Big Ten Early Learning Alliance is starting to make a difference, and I am excited about the future of this organization and proud of the role the Crane Center and Ohio State have had in it.”
