Explore:
Inequities in early childhood education and care (ECEC), formal education and youth training.
Test:
Novel solutions to known problems, collaborating with stakeholders.
Create:
Knowledge mobilization tools, including evidence-informed policy.
We draw on multidisciplinary insights from many fields, including economics, applied psychology and human development, and political science. We work with researchers across Canada and abroad to answer questions, develop interventions and mobilize information.
Featured Insight…
Enhancing Children’s Creativity in Early Childhood Education and Care: A Systematic Review and Multivariate Meta-Analysis of Studies Between 1969 and 2019
This study integrates evidence on the effectiveness of interventions within early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings that aimed to promote the development of creativity in young children, from birth to six years of age. We explored 44 studies based on 5,817...
Quantitative Analysis and Methods
Redefining Learning After COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped our lives and how organizations serve their communities, especially newcomers to Canada. In response to these challenges, organizations in the Greater Toronto Area, including Catholic Cross-cultural Services (CCS), have moved their...
Parental Employment Effects of Switching from Half-Day to Full-Day Kindergarten: Evidence from Ontario’s French Schools
Full-day kindergarten programs are expanding across North America, driven by a policy focus on early childhood development. These programs also affect parents’ budget sets and may lead to changes in labour market outcomes. We examine parents’ labour supply response to...
Better public child care is the engine we need for recovery post-coronavirus
On June 12, 2020, child-care centres in Ontario reopened following a lengthy period of lockdowns. This commentary article urges government action to better support this sector in recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Child-care centres are doing their part to support...
Intervention Creation and Testing
Assessing Educator Responsivity in Outdoor Early Childhood Education and Care Settings
Outdoor time is essential in early childhood education, yet quality assessments that are specifically focused on outdoor settings remain limited. Existing indoor measures primarily evaluate environment-level quality while neglecting educator-child interactions and the...
Both Me and My Daughter Would Cry Sometimes: Parents’ and Children’s Experiences with Home Education During the Early and Later COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented disruptions to children’s education across the globe, including abrupt transitions from in-person learning to learning from home. The current study investigates patterns of change in the educational challenges that 453...
Defining Peer Collaboration: A scoping review and network analysis
Peer collaboration is a complex skill that emerges in early childhood. However, researchers and practitioners lack a shared understanding/definition of what peer collaboration means and how to observe it in early educational settings. This review aimed to examine...
Designing Effective Policy Responses
Selective Adoption or Comprehensive Learning? Domestic Policy Makers’ Use of International Organization and Global Management Consulting Firm Advice in Future Skills Policy Making in Canada
The fourth industrial revolution, brought about by technological innovations including artificial intelligence, automation, and advanced robotics, is already shaping many economies around the world. International Organizations (IOs) and Global Management Consulting...
Variation All the Way Down: Charting the Subnational Trajectories of School Choice Policy across and within Multicultural Democracies
The expansion of choice within and outside the public education system has become a defining characteristic of countries across the Western world. Yet comparative analyses of these policy developments at the subnational level, where the most extensive and significant...
Are Citizens Responsive to the Regulatory State? The Effect of Regulation on Evaluations of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
Public service delivery has increasingly involved mixed markets, with for-profit, not-for-profit, and government-delivered pro-grams. In such contexts, regulation can protect the public interest by enhancing safety, expanding consumer choice, or improv-ing the quality...
Mailing Address
Department of Management
University of Toronto Scarborough
UTSC Instructional Centre
1095 Military Trail
Toronto, ON M1C 1A4









