The Early Childhood Research Center
The ECRC is a community of practitioners and scholars dedicated to the study of contemporary issues that relate to young children, their families, their communities, and their education.
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Spotlights
The University of Louisville has received a $190,000 grant from the PNC Foundation to help bolster the region’s early childhood education sector through an innovative workforce development program. The grant will enable UofL’s Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC) to implement a Child Development Associate (CDA) and Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) credential program curriculum.
Michele Hemenway Pullen, Project Specialist with the Early Childhood Research Center, will provide two 2-hour sessions at the JCPS Professional Development and Learning Academy this Friday June 6th. The sessions are designed for Instructional Classified staff and center on learning about the Child Development Associates credential. the presentations are part of the University of Louisville Early Childhood Research Center Workshop Series
"Child Development Associate: A Crash Course in Child Development." A University of Louisville Early Childhood Research Center Workshop
Child Development Associate
The Imagination Library of Louisville (ILL) mails a free, high-quality, age-appropriate, monthly book to children from birth to age five in Louisville to help them develop a love of reading and get ready for kindergarten. ILL is the local program partner of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The ECRC is collaborating with the ILL to initiate our second annual parent survey to measure the impact we were having. For the families who participated in the 2024 survey, the ILL program has positively impacted reading behaviors in the home, enhanced the home literacy environment, and provided books that are enjoyed. The 2025 parent survey will be released this summer – watch for more information soon!
Imagination Library
The ECRC is a community of practitioners and scholars dedicated to the study of contemporary issues that relate to young children, their families, their communities, and their education. Practitioners and researchers who work together through the ECRC embrace a range of innovative evidence based practice and research methods to increase understanding about children's development and learning within diverse sociocultural contexts.
Research
PNC Cardinal Child Development Associate Credential program and the PNC Registered Behavior Technician program for the JCPS High School Academies.
Imagination Library 2025 parent survey – Launching summer of 2025.
To view the scholarship of the ECRC and past research, click the button below:
Partners
The work we do in the ECRC is dependent on the relationships with have with a variety of partners. The creation of "research-practice partnerships" is critical to moving our work from ideas in a lab to actionable research that makes a difference in the lives of children.
Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Teacher Development
Collaborative Center for Literacy Development
Community Coordinated Child Care (4-C)
Institute of Education Sciences
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS)
Kentucky Autism Training Center
Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts
Mayor's Early Learning Action Group
National Center for Families Learning (NCFL)
Nystrand Center for Excellence in Education (NCEE)
Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC)
Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence
Center for Instructional and Behavioral Research in Schools (CIBRS)