Improving Childcare Outcomes Research Project (ICOR) aims to identify strategies to enhance the quality of childcare, and of the workforce that delivers this care to Alaska Native and American Indian families via a partnership between the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. (CITC) and UAA’s Center for Alaska Education Policy Research (CAEPR) at ISER.

This strategy utilizes professional development to improve culturally responsive practice in early care and learning settings. The project is fielding professional development interventions based on results of a preliminary analysis of local caregiver and provider understanding of needs and desired outcomes in culturally responsive practice.

The efficacy of these interventions will be tested on two cohorts of educators working at the Clare Swan Early Education facility who provide services to low income Alaska Native/American Indian families in Anchorage. To do this, we have developed a set of guidelines, indicators, and evidences for culturally responsive practice in an early learning environment.

The project’s final results and intermediary products resulting from the research will be disseminated to local external stakeholders, as well as to regional and national stakeholders invested in child care policy and/or research.

ICOR Funding

ICOR is a Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Implementation Research and Evaluation Grant.

These grants are intended to:

• help child care decision-makers in crafting policies and initiatives that support positive outcomes for families and children;
• increase the capacity for child care research at the national, state, and local levels; and
• promote linkages among research, policy, and practice.

The mechanism is through encouraging and developing active communication, networking, and interdisciplinary collaboration among prominent child care researchers and policymakers on critical issues for child care policies, programs, and outcomes.

The funding supports the implementation and evaluation of policies and initiatives of participants’ choosing in response to the goals of the CCDBG Act of 2014.

For more information about ICOR, contact:

Diane Hirshberg, Professor of Education Policy

Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage

Vice-President Academic, University of the Arctic

907-786-5413 • dbhirshberg@alaska.edu