Q: In a few sentences, what is your role at the agency you work for?
A: I play a few different roles within the Early Education Division of the California Department of Education (CDE). I co-lead the California Universal PreKindergarten (UPK) Research Design Team, which brings together early childhood experts from research organizations and universities across the state to share expertise with CDE policymakers. I also help lead the CDE’s System of Support, a division-wide effort to use data to provide timely, targeted training and resources to preschool providers throughout California. Lastly, I am helping the CDE think about equitable social-emotional learning and mental health interventions for young children to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspensions, expulsions).
Q: What has been a memorable project you have completed during your time at the agency?
A: I’m leading the design and implementation of one of the division’s first-ever surveys seeking direct input from families. It’s meaningful to solicit and incorporate feedback from hundreds of thousands of families with preschoolers across California. It’s also quite the challenge –– there are literally hundreds of questions we’d like to ask, but for multiple reasons (including minimizing the burden on families), we’re limiting the survey to 10 questions max.
Q: How do you think the fellowship has helped further your career?
A: The fellowship has given me an invaluable front-row seat to the complexities of state policymaking in the very moment that California rolls out the nation’s largest publicly funded universal preschool system. It’s a daily master class in the implementation challenges that come with rolling out an entire new grade of public education for all four–year–olds.
Q: What has been your favorite aspect of SRCD’s fellowship? Please explain why.
A: If I had to choose one, it would be my awesome colleagues in CDE’s Early Education Division––all amazing public servants who have dedicated their careers to serving our state’s littlest learners.
Q: What piqued your interest in working in policy?
A: To quote one of my child policy heroes, Marian Wright Edelman, public service is the rent we pay for being. Policy is a critical tool to design systems, grounded in developmental science, that promote equitable opportunities for all children to thrive.
Q: Where are you from?
A: I was born, raised, and currently live in San Francisco. Go SF Giants!