Faculty Profiles

Children and Preschool

Brenda Bushouse, assistant professor of political science and public policy, has received a two-year fellowship with ZERO TO THREE to study the impact of universal preschool on the childcare industry. ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit organization that supports the healthy development and well-being of infants, toddlers and their families. Bushouse will be researching the impacts of state-funded preschool-age education on the cost and supply of infant and toddler care. This project builds on her book Universal Preschool: State Policy Change and the Pew Charitable Trusts (currently under review). Professor Bushouse applied for the ZERO TO THREE Fellowship as a Family Research Scholar in the Center for Research on Families (CRF), part of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UMass Amherst.

The Family Research Scholars Program supports faculty in securing grant funding for family-related research while building a multidisciplinary community of campus researchers studying issues of relevance to families. Family Research Scholars participate in a yearlong interdisciplinary seminar which supports the scholars in conceptualizing, writing and submitting their planned grant proposals. CRF actively supports and disseminates social and behavioral sciences research on issues relevant to families. This includes research on individual health and development within families, processes and relationships within families, the social contexts of families, the intersection of family life with other social institutions and social and economic policy that affects the development, productivity, time, health and well-being of families and family members.

March 27, 2007