Three Studies Shaping Our Thinking About Early Learning
In early childhood, the science continues to evolve—and with it, our understanding of what young children need to thrive.
The early years are a time of rapid growth for children, families, and the adults who support them. As the science of early learning evolves, new research continues to deepen understanding of what helps young children thrive.
Over the past year, several studies have shaped how Jackie Bezos Foundation Researcher in Residence Meghan Orman thinks about supporting young children and the environments around them. While each focuses on a different part of the early childhood landscape, together they point to a shared insight: supporting children means supporting the full ecosystem.
That includes the well-being of educators, the conditions shaping the workforce, and the cultural perspectives that influence how we understand child development itself. Below, Orman reflects on how each of these ideas is shaping her perspective on the early learning field.
STUDY NO. 1
Looking at Educator Well-Being Holistically
A 2026 study led by Lieny Jeon and colleagues offers a new way of thinking about the well-being of the early childhood workforce. Rather than looking at one piece at a time, the framework brings together the many dimensions that shape educators’ daily lives: psychological well-being, professional conditions, physical health, and everyday habits like sleep, nutrition, and physical activity.
These foundational aspects of health can be easy to overlook in research, but they are deeply felt in practice. Long hours, high stress, and low wages can make it hard for educators to sustain the routines that support their well-being and resilience over time.
The model also centers the role of relationships at work. Support from colleagues and supervisors can make a meaningful difference in how educators navigate the demands of their roles.
By placing educator well-being within a broader context, the study highlights how multiple layers of the system shape their experiences while, at the same time, pointing to how much the field still has to learn. Only 2.9 percent of the research reviewed examined all four dimensions of well-being together, underscoring an important opportunity to better understand and more fully support the people at the heart of early learning.
A novel ecological model of holistic early childhood workforce well-being: The utilization of an AI-assisted systematic review
by Jeon, L., Kwon, K. A., Byun, S., Charlot-Swilley, D., Domitrovich, C. E., Farewell, C. V., … & Head Start Workforce Well-Being Consortium.
2026
STUDY NO. 2
Confronting Pay Inequities in the Early Childhood Workforce
Another 2025 study offers a closer look at the persistent wage inequities within the early childhood workforce. Drawing on national data, Liu Liu and colleagues found that disparities across race, ethnicity, and gender remain significant, even when accounting for educators’ qualifications and experience.
Across the field, the median hourly wage for early childhood educators was $14.54. Within that already underpaid workforce, Black educators earned, on average, $1.14 less per hour than their White peers, while Hispanic and Latino educators earned $1.58 less. Male educators earned $1.89 more per hour than female educators. The study also points to the compounded effects of these differences across intersecting identities.
For many educators, the financial realities of the field are all too familiar. Recognizing and addressing these inequities is an essential step toward building a more just and sustainable early childhood field that better supports the people who make early learning possible.
Early childhood educators pay equity: A dream deferred
by Liu, L., Joseph, G. E., Taylor, J. M., Hassairi, N., & Soderberg, J. S.
November 2025
STUDY NO. 3
A Broader View of the Early Childhood Ecosystem
A third study invites the field to step back and reflect on the frameworks that guide early childhood research itself. In their 2025 article, Meenakshi Richardson and colleagues examine how Western scientific approaches have historically shaped, and often dominated, the field of infant and early childhood mental health, frequently sidelining Indigenous knowledge systems in the process.
The authors point to the lasting impacts of policies that harmed Indigenous families and communities, including boarding schools and child removal practices. They argue that these harms are not only historical. When research, policy, and interventions do not incorporate Indigenous perspectives, they can remain misaligned with Indigenous worldviews.
At the same time, the article highlights the strengths embedded in Indigenous approaches to caregiving and development. These traditions emphasize relationships, kinship networks, cultural practices, storytelling, and connection to land as central to children’s growth, with caregiving often extending beyond parents to broader community networks.
These perspectives offer an important reminder that there are multiple ways of understanding early development. Centering Indigenous leadership and scholarship, the authors suggest, is essential for building research that truly supports Indigenous children, families, and communities.
Indigenous infant development: Reconciling the past and grounding future praxis in Indigenous worldviews and strengths-based approaches
by Richardson, M., Waters, S. F., Tsethlikai, M., & Sarche, M.
September 2025
Expanding the Frameworks That Guide the Research
Taken together, these three studies point toward a shared conclusion: children’s development is deeply interconnected with the structures and cultural frameworks that surround them.
Supporting young children requires attention not only to what happens in classrooms and homes, but also to the well-being of educators, workforce conditions, and the knowledge systems guiding research and practice.
As the science of early learning continues to evolve, these insights can help shape a more holistic vision of the field. One that recognizes the importance of relationships and cultural understanding in building environments where every child can thrive.
By Meghan Orman
Jackie Bezos Researcher in Residence
Explore more from the Researcher in Residence series to continue the conversation.
