June 22-24
The National Research Conference on Early Childhood (NRCEC) June 22-24 in Arlington, VA was a success with ECEI research well-represented with six posters and one paper symposium. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to check out our posters and discuss our research!
May 15, 2026
ECEI's Educare Implementation Study team joined Tulsa Educare in welcoming more than 300 early childhood professionals, partners, and funders to Tulsa for Educare Network’s Catalyst 26 Summit this week. This was the perfect year to host this special event as Tulsa Educare is celebrating 20 years since opening their first Tulsa school and ECEI is also celebrating our 20th anniversary this year!
Highlights from the week included an immersive lab experience and tour at Educare Celia Clinton, the 4th Tulsa Educare school site which opened in 2020, and an evening reception and museum experience in Tulsa’s historic Greenwood District to honor the enduring legacy of Black Wall Street. The ECEI was proud to be a part of such a great event!
May 5, 2026
ECEI Senior Research Associate Cara L. Kelly received the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) 2026 Early Career Award. She was recognized at the Office of the Vice President for Research & Partnerships Research and Creative Activity Awards ceremony on May 4 in Norman for her accomplishment. Congratulations Cara!
April 29, 2026
ECEI’s Accessing Quality study, funded by the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness, was featured at the annual OU REACH-OUT Poster Forum April 29 on the OU-Tulsa campus. Ronald Ssentuuwa, OU-Tulsa ECE Ph.D. candidate, shared some findings on this poster “Oklahoma Families’ Experiences in Accessing Quality Care for their Infants and Toddlers”. Co-authors include ECEI Director Kathleen Cranley Gallagher, Ph.D., and Senior Researcher Cara L. Kelly, Ph.D.
February 2026
ECEI Senior Research Associate Cara Kelly is grateful to share that her article in Developmental Psychology, published earlier this year, is now fully available online.
"This project took a long time to bring to the finish line, and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to pursue it alongside my coauthors Anamarie Whitaker, Peg Burchinal, Jade Jenkins, and Deborah Vandell," shared Dr. Kelly. "Our analysis of four major early childhood data sets shows that structural quality indicators (like ratios and teacher education) only predicted observed classroom quality in an earlier era of minimal regulation, and these associations diminished as policy standards improved. We also found little evidence that process quality measures predicted children’s outcomes, pointing to the need to update the traditional structure–process–outcome model that guides many ECE policies. This is timely work, given ongoing conversations about how to design policies that meaningfully support young children and the adults who care for them.
Check out the full article here.
March 2026
ECEI Senior Research Associate Dr. Cara Kelly has another exciting publication to share! This manuscript was recently published as part of the Early Care and Education and Services for Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families Special Issue of Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
In this study, ECEI researchers used our data to examine associations among teacher characteristics, observed classroom quality, and infants' and toddlers' social-emotional outcomes. Our mixed findings underscore just how complex it can be to link traditional quality indicators to child outcomes, and they point to meaningful implications for how states and programs design policies that better support infants, toddlers, and their families.
Thanks to co-authors Diane Horm, Denise Vega, and Craig Van Pay for their contributions to research that strengthens ECE systems.
Read the full article here.
March 2026
Observation season is wrapping up for our research associates! This school year, we collaborated with Tulsa Educare to pilot rapid feedback sessions to share the results of their ITERS‑3 observations. The ITERS‑3 assesses the quality of early childhood classrooms by looking at interactions, language, activities, and the physical environment that support children’s learning and engagement.
The day after the observation, our research associates meet with Tulsa Educare teaching staff and mentor coaches, creating space for richer discussion than a written report alone can provide. Educare staff have appreciated receiving their feedback more quickly through this approach.
Thank you, Tulsa Educare, for our continued partnership!
February 2026
At the Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention (CRIEI), Drs. Wonkyung Jang and Kate Gallagher shared research highlighting the power of strong family–teacher partnerships in early intervention. While families of children with IFSPs or IEPs reported lower levels of cocaring support, the findings underscore a clear opportunity: when caregiving adults build relationships grounded in trust, shared goals, and mutual respect, children with disabilities thrive.
True inclusion goes beyond access—it requires intentional investment in the relationships that connect home and school.
October 6, 2025
The ECEI would like to thank our Educare Learning Network partners from the University of Nebraska Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI) for providing a training on providing same-day, in-person classroom observation feedback. Typically, our observers provide typed out written reports to sites. This year, we will be piloting rapid feedback with our ITERS observations at Tulsa Educare classrooms. Our ECEI Team had so much fun collaborating with Tulsa Educare staff to learn how to debrief together. Thank you, MMI trainers!
October 2025
ECEI researchers shared our applied research with six posters at the Early Childhood Research Symposium, hosted by Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Oct 6-7 in Oklahoma City.
July 2025
ECEI Senior Researcher Cara Kelly, Ph.D., was announced as one of the 2025 recipients of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Small Grants for Early Career Scholars. Way to go Cara!
