From evidence to everyday classrooms
Every child deserves an early learning environment that helps them thrive. We know a lot about what that takes: well-supported teachers who are guided by strong leaders and have the resources they need to know how each child is doing and what to try next.
But putting these principles into practice, at scale, remains a field-wide challenge. As a RAND survey found, more than two-thirds of public pre-K teachers fill gaps by supplementing or creating their own instructional materials, often without enough time or support to do it well.
The Early Learning Stories for Impact initiative aims to address this challenge by answering the question: What does it take to turn what we know about high-quality early learning into what works in classrooms around the country?
Through this two-year initiative, three organizations—MDRC, Education First, and the University of Michigan's Education Policy Initiative—will oversee projects that support and highlight the implementation of high-quality curriculum and assessment in early learning classrooms. Each partner is working side by side with state and district leaders to focus on implementation, document what's working (and what isn't), and turn those lessons into practical stories that other states, districts, and programs can learn from.
The goal is to generate practical evidence, grounded in the successes and realities of local implementation, that can inform how education leaders across the country choose, adopt, and support implementation of high-quality instructional materials and assessments for early learners.
A jointly funded effort: EL Stories for Impact is jointly funded by the Gates Foundation, Valhalla Foundation, and Overdeck Family Foundation.
Our partners
MDRC
Strengthening how educators use child assessments
Goals: MDRC is documenting how states and districts select, implement, and use high-quality child assessments to inform instruction, support children's learning, and strengthen program and system-level decisions. Working with partners across different contexts, MDRC is providing technical assistance as needed and capturing emerging lessons about high-quality assessment practices in pre-K and the supports they require. MDRC will translate these lessons into case studies and practical resources to help early childhood leaders strengthen the use of high-quality child assessment in their own contexts.
About MDRC: MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan social and education policy research organization. For more than 50 years, it has built evidence about effective programs and policies and helped decisionmakers act on it. Its work on early childhood education spans evaluation, implementation research, and technical assistance, with particular expertise in early learning curricula, child assessment, and educator supports.
Where they're working:
- MDRC is working with state and local education partners representing different system sizes, populations, and approaches to implementing child assessments
Education First
Building coherent pre-K–2 systems in California
Goals: This partnership between Education First and Great First Eight (GF8) aims to strengthen preschool-through-primary-grade (P–2) alignment by helping California districts implement GF8's research-aligned, whole-child curriculum alongside an aligned early childhood assessment. Great First Eight was developed by a nationally recognized team of early childhood scholars, co-led by Dr. Nell K. Duke, Dr. Marisha Humphries, and Dr. Claire Vallotton, and is designed to strengthen early literacy, math, and other key areas of development through a playful and responsive approach. The team will work with a pilot cohort of pre-K and transitional kindergarten classrooms across several districts, with a beta test of the Amira Adventures assessment system in a subset of them—a more efficient way to meet assessment needs in P–2. Education First is hosting a Community of Practice for participating leaders to problem-solve implementation together and will share resulting insights with education leaders nationally.
About Education First: Education First is a mission-driven education consultancy partnering with funders and system leaders in all 50 states to turn innovation into impact. Their unique approach bridges philanthropy, policy and practice to design and deliver strategies that bring clarity and coherence to complex education systems.
Where they're working:
- California: 50–75 pre-K and TK classrooms across multiple districts and county offices of education, including a beta pilot of the Amira Adventures assessment in roughly 30% of participating classrooms
University of Michigan’s Education Policy Initiative
Strengthening statewide curriculum fidelity in Mississippi
Goals: Mississippi has taken a step no other state has: by 2027, all state-funded pre-K classrooms will be required to implement the same evidence-based curriculum. Mississippi Beginnings, the state's pre-K curriculum, is content-rich, joyful, and adapted from Boston's evidence-based Focus curriculum. The University of Michigan's Education Policy Initiative (EPI) has partnered with the state's Office of Early Childhood Education to further strengthen how Mississippi Beginnings is implemented. The project has three components: 1) providing technical assistance, including training and a community of practice for district- and school-based leaders; 2) refining how the state measures curriculum fidelity at scale, so that data are actionable and accessible for improving instruction; and 3) generating case studies and lessons learned. These case studies and implementation resources will support Mississippi as it scales high-quality implementation statewide, in addition to helping other states and districts looking to do the same.
About the Education Policy Initiative: University of Michigan's Education Policy Initiative (EPI) is a research center focused on producing rigorous, timely evidence to inform education policy and practice, and thus help close the opportunity gap.
Where they're working:
- Mississippi: Statewide partnership working directly with roughly seven districts, including both urban and rural communities
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