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High-quality, stable child care and early education (CCEE) can have lasting, positive impacts on children. However, there are ongoing challenges in recruiting, supporting, and retaining a qualified, stable CCEE workforce that provides high-quality care. CCEE educators typically have low levels of compensation; limited opportunities for education, training, and professional development; inconsistent working conditions; and high levels of stress and burnout. There are also high rates of job turnover, which can diminish the quality of care by straining remaining educators. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these issues. While several states and localities are taking steps to build and stabilize their CCEE workforce, important questions remain about how to best strengthen the workforce to meet the needs of children and families, particularly those who experience poverty or who are racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse. The "Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce" (BASE) project team completed a literature review and an environmental scan that were designed to identify and document existing knowledge about the CCEE workforce and develop strategies to strengthen it. The literature review synthesized research on factors that shape CCEE workforce dynamics, defined here as how educators enter, advance in, and exit out of different roles, settings, and types of care. The literature review predominantly focused on studies conducted between 2017 and 2021 and examined the effectiveness of strategies that were implemented to build a sustained, qualified workforce. The environmental scan identified and reviewed the range of strategies currently being used across the country to build, advance, and sustain the CCEE workforce. The team also completed a data scan that assessed the strengths and weaknesses of several potential data sources that could be used to examine workforce dynamics and address key gaps in existing research.

High-quality, stable child care and early education (CCEE) can have lasting, positive impacts on children. However, the challenges of recruiting, strengthening, and retaining the CCEE workforce are well documented. CCEE educators typically have low levels of formal education and compensation; limited opportunities for education, training, and professional development; inconsistent working conditions; and high levels of stress and burnout. Additionally, the CCEE sector is well known for high turnover rates, which can strain remaining educators and decrease the quality of care they offer. Turnover can also lead to diminishing returns on an organization's professional development investments. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these issues. The Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) project conducted an environmental scan and a literature review to identify and document existing knowledge about the CCEE workforce and strategies to strengthen it. One of the main themes identified from this effort was a need for more and better data on the workforce dynamics of CCEE educators. In particular, data are needed on who enters, advances in, stays in, and exits different roles, settings, and types of CCEE care or leaves the field altogether--as well as when, how, and why they do. This information is important for understanding workforce dynamics and informing the development, evaluation, and improvement of strategies that effectively build and sustain a qualified and stable CCEE workforce. For this reason, the BASE project team conducted a data scan to summarize the landscape of existing data sources that may address these gaps and identify areas where future data collection may be most useful. This brief summarizes the findings from the data scan.

The challenges of recruiting, strengthening, and retaining the child care and early education (CCEE) workforce are well documented. Members of the CCEE workforce typically have low levels of formal education and compensation; limited opportunities for education, training, and professional development; inconsistent working conditions; and high levels of stress and burnout. The Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) project conducted an environmental scan to identify and review strategies that are currently being implemented across the country to build, advance, and sustain the CCEE workforce in the face of these challenges. In particular, the research team sought to understand the context in which these strategies are implemented and how that might influence their operation. The team also examined how strategies reach or are tailored to prospective and current CCEE educators. This brief summarizes important themes that emerged from the environmental scan, which was conducted between March 2021 and January 2022. The conclusions presented draw from a combination of activities, including a review of the literature, assessment of recommended sources and materials submitted in response to an open call for information, as well as interviews with key informants from the agencies responsible for putting strategies into place. [This report was written with Lisa Rau.]

To develop a deeper understanding of who Child Care and Early Education (CCEE) educators are--and what influences impact the entry, retention, turnover, and advancement (that is, the workforce dynamics) in this industry--the Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) research team identified and documented existing literature about the CCEE workforce and strategies that are intended to strengthen it. The team conducted a literature review (among several other research activities) to identify, review, and synthesize relevant literature and the evidence base on both multilevel influences that may shape CCEE workforce dynamics and the effectiveness of strategies that aim to build a sustained, qualified CCEE workforce. The team also conducted an environmental scan--a review to identify strategies currently being implemented to build, advance, and sustain the CCEE workforce. This annotated bibliography contains a comprehensive list of the publications that were formally included in the literature review to provide researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with a quick guide to understanding the recent research landscape of the CCEE workforce. This annotated bibliography details the methods that were used to review the published literature and summarizes elements of the publications.

Child care and early education (CCEE) are essential resources for families and children across the country. Yet qualified educators are choosing to leave their positions, and young professionals are choosing not to enter the field. This instability has been a long-lasting issue and is thought to be driven largely by structural and systemic forces that shape the everyday experiences of the CCEE workforce. These issues have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This report lays out a conceptual framework to serve as a guide for researchers, policymakers, and administrators who are conducting research on the CCEE workforce and who are designing and implementing strategies to improve entry, retention, turnover, and advancement of the workforce. This report is also intended to inform how the field can work to build and sustain this critical workforce. The conceptual framework consists of three main components that are intended to provide a clear understanding of factors that can disrupt the stability of the CCEE workforce pipeline. By articulating the main components, the conceptual framework encourages researchers, policymakers, and administrators to consider a range of multilevel influences on workforce dynamics when designing strategies and when evaluating whether strategies are working as intended. This framework also aims to underscore that the individuals who make up the workforce--many of whom have been marginalized due to race, ethnicity, social class, and gender--interact with broader social, political, and cultural contexts that shape economic and educational policies, structures, and opportunities.

The Gemini South telescope is now equipped with a new high-resolution spectrograph called GHOST (the Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph). This instrument provides high-efficiency, high-resolution spectra covering 347-1060 nm in a single exposure of either one or two targets simultaneously, along with precision radial velocity spectroscopy utilizing an internal calibration source. It can operate at a spectral element resolving power of either 76000 or 56000, and can reach a SNR$\sim$5 in a 1hr exposure on a V$\sim$20.8 mag target in median site seeing, and dark skies (per resolution element). GHOST was installed on-site in June 2022, and we report performance after full integration to queue operations in November 2023, in addition to scientific results enabled by the integration observing runs. These results demonstrate the ability to observe a wide variety of bright and faint targets with high efficiency and precision. With GHOST, new avenues to explore high-resolution spectroscopy have opened up to the astronomical community. These are described, along with the planned and potential upgrades to the instrument., Comment: Accepted in the Astronomical Journal; 26 pages, 24 figures and 4 tables

The Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) project aims to increase knowledge and understanding in child care and early education (CCEE) by documenting factors that drive workforce turnover and by building evidence on current initiatives to recruit, advance, and retain a stable and qualified CCEE workforce. As part of the BASE project, the study team completed a literature review and an environmental scan designed to identify and document existing knowledge about the CCEE workforce and strategies to strengthen it. The team also completed a data scan that documented and assessed the strengths and weaknesses of a range of potential data sources for examining workforce dynamics and addressing key gaps in the research identified by the literature review and environmental scan. This brief uses data from one of the sources identified in the data scan: state CCEE workforce registries. Using data from Montana's Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Registry, the brief addresses the following research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of the Montana ECE workforce? (2) What are retention rates in the ECE field, and how are they associated with teacher, job, and provider characteristics? and (3) How many teachers earn credentials over time, and how is credential attainment associated with teacher, job, and provider characteristics? This analysis illustrates the potential use of this type of data source for the broader field and how similar data sources might be improved to provide further insights.

Postsecondary programs in early childhood education (ECE) can provide a pathway for new educators to enter the child care and early education (CCEE) field or for the advancement and professional development of individuals already in the field. At a time when CCEE administrators report difficulties in finding qualified applicants, the recruitment and development of educators is especially crucial. The Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) project aims to increase knowledge and understanding about the CCEE workforce by documenting factors that drive turnover and by building evidence on current initiatives to recruit, advance, and retain a stable and qualified CCEE workforce. This brief explores how individual-level administrative records linked across multiple state agencies can be used to observe individuals' pathways through ECE postsecondary programs, with the goal of understanding how ECE postsecondary enrollment complements work experience in developing the CCEE workforce. Using administrative data from the Linked Information Network of Colorado (LINC), the analysis explores the demographic characteristics and prior employment experiences of newly enrolled students in ECE bachelor's degree programs, and in associate's degree and comparable certificate programs in Colorado. Following these students over several years, the analysis reports on their graduation rates and post-graduation employment and wages. This brief demonstrates both the possibilities and the challenges in examining these questions using linked data.

Government agencies collect vast amounts of administrative data in their day-to-day activities, primarily for program operations. But the information is less often used as a research tool or fully harnessed for its evidence-building potential. This brief is the fourth in a series of publications from MDRC about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Data Innovation (TDI) project, initiated by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in 2017. It describes TDI's efforts to transform federal TANF and employment data into an integrated resource for evidence-informed program management and policymaking. Such efforts are rarely an easy lift. Creating the data resource required deliberate federal investments and the resolution of many technical, legal, and security issues by the TDI team, which was led by MDRC in collaboration with Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, and the Coleridge Initiative. This brief describes how the team tackled this challenging project. Although the work was focused on the TANF program, the lessons learned may be useful for members of federal and state agencies, researchers, and advocates of evidence-informed policy making interested in unlocking the potential of administrative data. [Additional creators of this report are the Actionable Insights for Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania and Coleridge Initiative.]

Child care and early education (CCEE) educators typically have low levels of compensation; limited opportunities for education, training, and professional development; inconsistent working conditions; and high levels of stress and burnout. There are also high rates of job turnover, which can strain remaining educators and decrease the quality of care they offer. Policymakers at the federal and state levels are taking steps to build and stabilize the CCEE workforce, but effectively addressing these challenges requires a better understanding of the issues. The Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) project aims to increase knowledge and understanding about the CCEE workforce by documenting factors that drive turnover and by building evidence on current initiatives to recruit, advance, and retain a stable and qualified CCEE workforce. Wage data from state Unemployment Insurance (UI) systems can be used to address some of the most pressing policy and research questions about the CCEE workforce because they track individual-level employment and quarterly earnings over time and across employers. This brief describes how these data can support longitudinal analyses that address the following questions: (1) How do educators enter and exit the CCEE workforce over time? (2) Which other industries do educators work in before and after child care employment? (3) When and how often do educators change CCEE employers or leave the industry? (4) How do wages change over time for CCEE work? and (5) How do CCEE wages compare with wages in other industries? A better understanding of how CCEE workers move through the labor market can inform the development of targeted recruitment and retention strategies, as well as evaluations of these strategies. This brief is a technical primer for researchers or agencies interested in using UI wage data to better understand the labor market experiences and, especially, the job trajectories of CCEE workers. Informed by a series of analyses of Illinois UI wage data, this brief describes how child care workers can be identified and characterized in these data, and suggests methods to measure important aspects of their employment, such as job duration, wages, and retention. This brief also includes a short discussion of possibilities for linking UI wage data to other data sources to address these limitations.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a federal program that provides funding for states to implement and administer cash assistance to families who meet eligibility and work requirements, as well as provides funds for a wide range of other activities like education and training activities (US DHHS, 2023). TANF is funded by a block grant, meaning states receive a sum of money that can be allocated to allowable activities at the state's discretion. States have discretion to determine many aspects of TANF eligibility. This has resulted in significant variation across states in terms of eligibility requirements, time limits, and the amount of cash assistance a family receives (Knowles, Dehry, Shantz, & Minton, 2022). This brief aims to add to the literature by describing results from a series of longitudinal analyses using Federal TANF data from 28 states. Caseload dynamics are examined in multiple ways in these analyses; key state and household characteristics are included in analyses to identify any notable differences across subgroups. These findings are preliminary and were conducted to demonstrate how Federal TANF data can be used to conduct longitudinal research that offers important insights into TANF participation over time. Specifically, linked longitudinal TANF data allow us to examine households' full trajectories of TANF benefits over time, how quickly households are returning, and what characteristics may be associated with exiting and returning to TANF. Implications for TANF programs and future research efforts are discussed.

The early care and education (ECE) workforce is experiencing concerning levels of stress and depression (Elharake et al., 2022; Jennings et al., 2020). The well-being of these workers affects staff turnover and their interactions with children (Kwon et al., 2020; Smith & Lawrence, 2019). Research has shown that racial concordance (or matching) between teachers and their students has a positive effect on children's outcomes (Redding, 2019) and lowers stress in teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade (McCarthy et al., 2023). However, no research has looked at how racial concordance between teachers and their students affects teacher well-being in ECE settings. In this report, the authors researched links between teacher stress and depression, the level of racial concordance between teachers and students, and classroom diversity. They used data collected in 2019 for the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE), a survey that asks teachers and staff questions about the children in their classrooms, professional development policies, roles and responsibilities, and well-being. They analyzed survey responses using multiple linear regression models. After completing their analysis, they convened an expert panel to discuss the study's findings and potential practice implications. The 10 panelists were ECE experts and included child care providers, center administrators, faculty from ECE workforce education programs, and mental health consultants. They represented diverse personal identities (for example, race, gender, age) and professional experiences.

The development of reliable and extensible molecular mechanics (MM) force fields -- fast, empirical models characterizing the potential energy surface of molecular systems -- is indispensable for biomolecular simulation and computer-aided drug design. Here, we introduce a generalized and extensible machine-learned MM force field, \texttt{espaloma-0.3}, and an end-to-end differentiable framework using graph neural networks to overcome the limitations of traditional rule-based methods. Trained in a single GPU-day to fit a large and diverse quantum chemical dataset of over 1.1M energy and force calculations, \texttt{espaloma-0.3} reproduces quantum chemical energetic properties of chemical domains highly relevant to drug discovery, including small molecules, peptides, and nucleic acids. Moreover, this force field maintains the quantum chemical energy-minimized geometries of small molecules and preserves the condensed phase properties of peptides, self-consistently parametrizing proteins and ligands to produce stable simulations leading to highly accurate predictions of binding free energies. This methodology demonstrates significant promise as a path forward for systematically building more accurate force fields that are easily extensible to new chemical domains of interest.

The Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST) is the newest high resolution spectrograph to be developed for a large aperture telescope, recently deployed and commissioned at the Gemini-South telescope. In this paper, we present the first science results from the GHOST spectrograph taking during its commissioning runs. We have observed the bright metal-poor benchmark star HD 122563, along with two stars in the ultra faint dwarf galaxy, Ret II, one of which was previously identified as a candidate member, but did not have a previous detailed chemical abundance analysis. This star (GDR3 0928) is found to be a bona fide member of Ret II, and from a spectral synthesis analysis, it is also revealed to be a CEMP-r star, with significant enhancements in the several light elements (C, N, O, Na, Mg, and Si), in addition to featuring an r-process enhancement like many other Ret II stars. The light-element enhancements in this star resemble the abundance patterns seen in the CEMP-no stars of other ultra faint dwarf galaxies, and are thought to have been produced by an independent source from the r-process. These unusual abundance patterns are thought to be produced by faint supernovae, which may be produced by some of the earliest generations of stars., Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables, submitted to the AAS Journals

This review article provides an overview of structurally oriented, experimental datasets that can be used to benchmark protein force fields, focusing on data generated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and room temperature (RT) protein crystallography. We discuss why these observables are useful for assessing force field accuracy, how they can be calculated from simulation trajectories, and statistical issues that arise when comparing simulations with experiment. The target audience for this article is computational researchers and trainees who develop, benchmark, or use protein force fields for molecular simulations.

The Doris Duke Fellowships for the Promotion of Child Well-Being focused on identifying and nurturing promising doctoral students from multiple disciplines to address intractable challenges in the child well-being field. With the support of a national advisory board comprised of child well-being research experts, the program engaged 120 fellows, in eight cohorts, in a peer-learning network that fostered interdisciplinary thinking and collaboration while promoting actionable research. The first cohort was selected for 2-year fellowships in 2011 and the final cohort was selected in 2018. Since then, a fellow-led transition is expanding the network to other emerging scholars and researchers. The Child Well-Being Research Network (CWRN) launched in 2021, with a central focus on improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in the child well-being research field. The Doris Duke Fellowships Equity Study assessed how staff members, national advisory board members, academic and policy mentors, and Doris Duke Fellows experienced diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) during their participation in the Doris Duke Fellowships for the Promotion of Child Well-Being. The study also identified future strategies for the newly established CWRN. This fourth and final research brief focuses on the fellowships program itself; it discusses how diversity, equity, and inclusion were conceptually considered, structured, and experienced by the program's key constituents. The brief discusses what was done well and what opportunities were missed and includes recommendations for similar programs to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the child well-being research field.