Previous Projects

Educare RCT and Follow-Up Studies

The ECEI partnered with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, as well as researchers in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Omaha to conduct the Educare Randomized Control Trial. Families seeking to enroll children in the Educare program from 2010–2012 were recruited to participate in the study and randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. The study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the Educare program by looking at the cognitive, language, social-emotional, and executive functioning abilities of child participants.

The project received additional funds in 2015 to follow children in their kindergarten through third-grade years. Collaborators for this Follow-Up phase of the study included researchers in Atlanta, Denver, Kansas City, and Central Maine, in addition to our partners at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The primary purpose of this phase was to determine whether the children who attended Educare continued to benefit from the services they received from the program.

Data collection wrapped up in 2021. During the study, a variety of assessments were used: the Bracken School Readiness Assessment (fall of Kindergarten only), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Woodcock-Johnson III, the Child School Liking and Avoidance Questionnaire, the Memory for Digit Span, and the Head Toes Knees and Shoulders task, among others.

Dr. Diane Horm, Dr. Shinyoung Jeon, Melissa Acton, and Moira Clavijo collaborated with FPG researchers to publish results of the study in 2022. Dr. Jeon, former ECEI Senior Researcher, continues to analyze the results of the Follow-Up Study with a grant from ACF titled "Exploring Variations Among Head Start Dual Language Learners: What Factors Predict Differential Longitudinal Developmental Patterns”.

Oklahoma Advancing Indoor Environment Research (OK-AIR)

Launched in the summer of 2023, the OK-AIR project is the first large-scale study in Oklahoma to examine how different air purification strategies can improve indoor air quality in early childhood classrooms. Dr. Diane Horm and the ECEI team have partnered with Dr. Changjie Cai and colleagues at the OU Health Sciences Center to test two approaches—portable air purifiers and upper-air germicidal ultraviolet light (UV-C)—in both urban and rural Head Start programs. Dr, Jason Vogel and his lab at OU-Norman partner to conduct viral analyses. This study is the first of its kind in Oklahoma’s early care and education (ECE) settings, examining not only which approach most effectively reduces airborne particles and viruses and associated health impacts on young children and their ECE teachers, but also how teachers and administrators experience these technologies in their classrooms.

Working closely with rural and urban early childhood programs across Oklahoma, the team is using a mixed-methods design that includes a 2×2 randomized controlled trial, pairing continuous air-quality monitoring and virology testing with educator surveys and interviews. Nearly 1,000 Oklahoma early educators participated in an initial survey exploring knowledge and perceptions of environmental health. Together, these data are helping to identify which strategies are most effective, feasible, and sustainable for ECE programs.

Early results are promising - showing significant improvements in air quality and reductions in virus detection, pointing to real potential for reducing teacher and child absences, the major outcome of interest. Air purifiers significantly improved indoor air quality, reducing PM2.5 particles by 51%, and classrooms with purifiers showed 24% lower particle levels compared to control rooms. Virus detection rates also declined—from 34.4% to 15.6%—during intervention periods, even as community seasonal infection rates were rising. Teachers reported increased awareness of air quality and expressed enthusiasm for technologies that make classrooms healthier for children and staff alike.

Principal Investigators are Dr. Kate Gallagher and Dr. Changjie Cai; Project Director is Hanna Lee; and Project Staff include Dr. Diane Horm, Candice Morrow, and Stephanie Farris.

School Experiences and Early Development (SEED) Study Continuation

From 2016 to 2023, the ECEI partnered with researchers from Georgetown University to conduct a longitudinal study of young children in Tulsa over the past seven years. We followed a cohort of 1,500 children from age three to fourth grade. We continue to publish and present publications and research briefs about the results of this phase of the study.

A variety of child assessments and classroom observations were used for this study. The child assessments, such as the Woodcock-Johnson, the CELF, and the NIH Toolbox, focus on the children’s emergent literacy and math, language, and self-regulation skills. Classroom observations, such as the CLASS and COPTOP, examined classroom interactions and teacher-child relationships. In addition, teachers provided feedback on each child, and parents completed questionnaires regarding their child’s early experiences including child care history, household stability, and financial strain. We ralso focused on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, families, and teachers.

For the continuation of the study as children moved into 5th grade, the data collection work transitioned to Mathematica. April Dericks, the previous project director on the study, acted as a Transition Coordinator to assist with the transfer of the project to Mathematica. The continuation will follow the same cohort of children to 8th grade.

Our SEED research team has published multiple briefs from results of the study. You can read the briefs here.

Happy Teacher Project

An interdisciplinary research team at the University of Oklahoma led a new approach aimed at improving Head Start teachers’ well-being. This project was started in 2021 and was funded by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Happy Teacher Project studied a holistic view of physical, psychological, and professional well-being, as well as the impact of workplace conditions for teachers in Oklahoma.

Principal Investigators were Dr. Kyong-Ah Kwon and Dr. Diane Horm; co-Principal Investigators were Dr. Tim Ford, Dr. Mia Kile, Dr. Brenda Lloyd-Jones, Dr. Yong Ju Jung, Dr. Seulki Rachel Jang, and Dr. Le Wang.