Start with Equity: NC Early Childhood Education Equity Analyses Project

Despite increased attention to racial disparities in health, wellbeing, and academic outcomes--especially for Black, Latine, and Native American children and children from low-income households--little progress has been made in identifying the root causes of those disparities and, more importantly, identifying equitable policies and strategies to mitigate centuries of oppression and systemic inequities. There is a need to ensure that policies are developed with a racial equity and economic justice lens to activate and support transformation during children's early years, especially for those populations that have been historically marginalized and underrepresented. For this report, researchers conducted a landscape analyses and engaged with grassroots and grasstops early education partners to identify policies and strategies that show effect or promise in mitigating racial and economic disparities in early care and education (ECE). The research also focused on how policies can be more effectively enacted and implemented to advance equity. Its findings are presented in three core sections: (1) Child Opportunity Index (COI); (2) Disproportionality Analyses; and (3) Voices from the ECE Field. [The report was funded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation.]