
The Children's Equity Project
Closing opportunity gaps and advancing equity in all of the systems that impact the lives of children and families.
About the Children's Equity Project
The Children’s Equity Project is led in partnership with researchers and advocates at several universities and organizations across the United States. Our work focuses on closing opportunity gaps and advancing equity in all of the systems that impact the lives of children and families so that all children, particularly those from historically and contemporary marginalized communities, can thrive.
The CEP works at the intersection of research, practice, and policy. We engage in rigorous original research, partner with policy makers at every level of government to support data and research informed policy changes that will advance opportunity for children from historically marginalized communities; and engage with communities to deliver training, technical assistance, and professional development. We are informed by families' voices through our family advisory committee, lived experiences, data, and research, and have deep expertise in child development, policy, and systems.
Read more about our team and our work below.
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Research and Translation
Highly trained faculty from ASU and at partner institutions across the country conduct original, actionable research on a range of equity issues. We lead a national network of equity scholars and work through a "hub" model to aggregate, translate and disseminate equity research to policy and practice.
Check out our resources page to learn how we are applying our research to create more equitable learning environments.
Policy
We work with states and communities on policy change across a range of equity issues along with our partners at the federal level to ensure that equity issues are understood and considered in the federal policy-making process.
Read our resources providing policy recommendations on how we can improve policy in the U.S. to better serve our youngest learners.
Practice
The CEP uses a data and research-informed, policy and practice-focused lens that frames our training and technical assistance approach. We work with federal, state, and local child and family-serving system leaders to surface and dismantle inequitable policies and practices by critically examining systemic factors that perpetuate and sustain inequities. We work across an array of systems including early care and education, early intervention and preschool special education, K-12 education, child welfare, mental health and health, and more. We also provide training and professional development opportunities for practitioners across a variety of roles in each of these systems.

The Center for Early School Success
We are thrilled to announce that a collaborative led by the CEP in partnership with the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska, the Math Project at UCLA, the University of Oregon, New America, and the California Literature and Literacy Project, was selected to establish the first Center for Early School Success, funded by the US Department of Education.

Centering Families In The U.S. Tax Code
This brief from The Children's Equity Project reviews existing levers in the tax code and provides a set of recommendations to craft a family first tax policy. Congress can also tap into other parts of the code to spur child care supply in Opportunity Zones and support the early educator workforce through tax breaks.

Preserving the Federal Role in Advancing Educational Opportunity
This report outlines key programs that play a vital role in communities and families to nurture healthy child development and promote quality education and learning. We highlight research that demonstrates programs’ constructive impacts and the consequences of reducing or eliminating funding, transparency, and oversight.



The Children's Equity Project has grown to a team of fifteen Arizona State University staff and faculty and manages a network of over two dozen scholars from twelve universities and institutes across the United States. Learn more about our team below!

The Children's Equity Project does a plethora of amazing work across research, policy, and practice across the early education space and has been featured in many news outlets highlighting our work. Check them out below!

With funding from the Heising Simons Foundation, the CEP is proud to offer the Start with Equity Fellowship, a 1-year fellowship program to prepare the next generation of changemakers in early childhood policy and research.