CEED was founded in the fall of 1973 as an “interdepartmental unit” within the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). CEED was created to encourage connections and collaborations among faculty, students, and community members who were interested in early childhood. At its inception, along with Director Shirley G. Moore, a professor in the Institute of Child Development (ICD), CEED’s staff consisted of Associate Director Richard Weinberg, PhD, and Coordinator Erna Fishhaut. They held conferences, round tables, and seminars (many open to the public); distributed fact sheets and mailed out newsletters; talked with Minnesota legislators; and even set up a lending library filled with materials relevant to early childhood professionals.
Today, Director Ann Bailey, PhD, leads a group of 14 full-time and several part-time staff who carry on that early legacy of translating early childhood research into practice that can improve the lives of young children and the professionals who care for and teach them.
CEED’s work can be broken down into several activities.
Professional development
- We offer in-person and virtual training for early childhood educators, programs, and administrators with an emphasis on classroom assessment using the CLASS(R) tool.
- We offer online courses on the Reflective Interaction Observation Scale (RIOS™) as well as self-study modules on reflective practice.
- We administer the Trainer and Relationship-Based Professional Development Specialist Support (TARSS) program, providing professional development for the trainers and coaches who work with early childhood educators.
Applied research and evaluation
We work with academic institutions and community partners on a range of projects touching early childhood. Some of CEED’s current projects include:
- Conducting classroom observations for early childhood education programs
- Revising Minnesota’s Early Childhood Indicators of Progress (early learning guidelines that describe what children should be able to do before kindergarten)
- A pilot study of a reflective supervision program for county child welfare workers
- Helping the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery update and publish their in-house training curriculum
- A four-year study of the impact of subsidies on providers’ and families’ participation in child care assistance programs (in partnership with UMN’s Department of Applied Economics)
Outreach
- Our staff share their expertise via our blog, email newsletters, research-backed Tip Sheets and other free resources, and conference presentations.
- We partner with other CEHD departments on valuable content for people in the field, like an online library of professional development resources for child welfare workers (co-created with the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare) and the Building Family Resiliency podcast (co-created with the Institute on Community Integration).
Kerri Gershone works with CEED as Professional Development Policy and Implementation Specialist at the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
“People at CEED have a certain je ne sais quoi that combines professionalism, passion, and compassionate humanity,” she says. “Often when we meet, in addition to discussing our agenda items, we’ll discuss important issues facing the field, how we approach our work, and best practices in providing high quality education to both adults and children. I know that this content isn’t just work for CEED employees, it’s also their passion and area of expertise.”
Bailey agrees.
“I’m grateful for the people who have chosen to bring their talents, their curiosity, and their drive to CEED,” she says. “They show up every day excited to advance the early childhood field and ultimately, to have a positive impact on the lives of early childhood professionals and the children and families they serve.”