易胜博官网

Research Assistant Professor and Ph.D. student Kamala Nasirova met the summer of 2021 through a mutual colleague. Nasirova, a second-year student in 易胜博官网鈥檚 education program, was interested in policy-related work that aligned with her interests in education, equity, inclusion and student opportunity gaps. At the time, Carson was preparing for a major research project examining the availability of early childhood care in 易胜博官网 and Vermont鈥檚 Upper Valley region and was seeking graduate support. Nasirova鈥檚 research interests, fellowship experience with the Vermont Agency of Education and master鈥檚 degree work at Saint Michael鈥檚 College made her the ideal candidate.

Initially, Nasirova鈥檚 work involved gathering legislative information about the policy decisions and funding mechanisms underlying early childhood care in the Upper Valley. When the Carsey School was selected to perform a family needs assessment as part of a major statewide Preschool Development Grant, Carson quickly turned to Nasirova and asked her to join her on the work.

Early childhood care and education policy is a complex area and the effects of the pandemic have only exacerbated the challenges facing this sector. I鈥檓 hopeful that the work we鈥檙e doing together can inform state and regional stakeholders who are working on systems-strengthening policy.

鈥淏ecause Kamala was seeking some applied policy research experience and opportunities to sharpen her statistical skills, working at the Carsey School has allowed her to exercise her policy interests in a way that doesn't exist anywhere else at 易胜博官网," says Carson.

"Early childhood care and education policy is a complex area and the effects of the pandemic have only exacerbated the challenges facing this sector. I鈥檓 hopeful that the work we鈥檙e doing together can inform state and regional stakeholders who are working on systems-strengthening policy," she adds.

In addition, the work they鈥檝e done together has helped Nasirova incorporate an early childhood education focus into her dissertation.

鈥淭hroughout the time I鈥檝e worked with Jess, I鈥檝e had the unique opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge into practice and build my research skills from a policy perspective,鈥� adds Nasirova. 鈥淎nd now I鈥檝e begun using these skill sets to do research in the education field.鈥�