COVID-19 Research, Evaluation, and Data Agenda for Child Care and Early Education. Special Topics Paper. OPRE Report 2021-162

The context for child care and early education (CCEE) changed rapidly in March 2020 as the global pandemic caused the closure of child care programs and schools, widespread job loss, and negative impacts on the broader economy and family life. Black and Latino families and families with lower income experienced disproportionately negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of structural racism and a history of inequitable systems. Many of the negative impacts of the pandemic have directly impacted families' access to high-quality CCEE. As leaders in CCEE consider the implications of COVID-19 for children, families, policies, and programs, a research, evaluation, and data agenda that identifies key questions, research methods, and data needs will be a critical tool. This research, evaluation, and data agenda can (1) alert decision makers to racial and economic inequities in outcomes and promote tracking of key equity indicators, (2) encourage the development of new projects and data initiatives, (3) support the synthesis of information across projects, (4) identify key topics for consideration that may be otherwise overlooked, and (5) promote the application of knowledge to planning and development. The goal of this report is to get input on high priority questions that can inform the field's understanding of the pandemic's impact on the CCEE landscape, including children, families, CCEE programs, the CCEE workforce, and the broader system of agencies, local organizations, and institutes of higher education that support CCEE. The purpose of this work is to develop and revise a research, evaluation, and data agenda that can be used by a wide range of stakeholders (state administrators, policymakers, advocates, funders, etc.) to prioritize research questions that need to be addressed and identify potential data sources to answer these questions. [This report was produced through the Child Care and Early Education Policy Research and Analysis (CCEEPRA) project.]