High Scope has a 35-year history of conducting research while ensuring professionalism and the highest quality evaluation planning and implementation, data analysis, and reporting.  That work has included both cross-sectional and longitudinal evaluations of local, state, and federal preschool program policies and practices, early childhood curriculum models, and professional development strategies.  Projects employ both experimental and quasi-experimental designs, as well as both quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques applied to multi-level nested data.  Our projects involve the collection of data in urban, rural, and suburban communities and programs focused on at-risk populations.  In addition to research and evaluation, High Scope staff develop instruments to measure child outcomes and program quality, create early childhood curriculum materials, and provide professional development support to the field.  As a research and practice organization, High Scope staff members regularly interact with stakeholders in the early childhood community ranging from caregivers, to teachers, administrators, policy makers, and researchers.  This dual focus on research and practice is brought to bear on all of our work. 

Placement Mentor – Larry Schweinhart was appointed by the High/Scope Board of Directors in 2003 to lead the High/Scope Foundation. During three decades of service to High/Scope as senior research scientist and research chair, he was instrumental in leading a range of research initiatives at the Foundation—from initially conducting research in 1975 to becoming High/Scope's lead researcher in 1989 in charge of all educational research programs.

Schweinhart has authored numerous articles and essays on research topics that impact children's educational issues as well as numerous technical reports and program evaluations. He also has addressed a range of audiences of early childhood educators, researchers, advocates, and policymakers. He received his Ph.D. in education from Indiana University in 1975 and has taught a range of elementary school and college courses. He earned a B.A. in philosophy from St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, MD, in 1969.

 Recent Projects:

• The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project—the landmark study establishing the great human  and financial potential of high-quality early childhood programs

• The High/Scope Curriculum Comparison Study, providing evidence that child-initiated learning activities are central to high-quality early childhood programs
• The longitudinal state evaluation of the Michigan School Readiness Program for at-risk 4-year-olds
• High/Scope's Head Start Quality Research Center, a 10-year effort currently evaluating effects of intensive High/Scope curriculum training on Head Start teachers and children
• The development and evaluation of both editions of the Preschool Child Observation Record (COR), designed to assess young children's development from infancy through elementary school
• A recently launched Ready Schools initiative, made possible through a $1.4 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and designed to develop and validate a Ready School Assessment and create an improvement plan for use in the nation's elementary schools

Placement Supervisor - Dr. Marijata Daniel-Echols has been at High Scope since 2001 and is Director of the Research Division where she plays a lead role in the design and implementation of program evaluation studies. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and also holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and an M.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She was the Project Director for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation funded Ready Schools Project that resulted in the Ready School Assessment tool.  Currently she is the Co-Principal Investigator for High Scope 's Number’s Plus Early Mathematics Curriculum Development project; Co-Principal Investigator in High Scope 's contract with the state of South Carolina to evaluate their state-funded preschool initiative, First Steps; and Project coordinator for High Scope’s role as data manager and consultant to the state of Michigan as it complies with federal Preschool Special Education Child Outcomes reporting requirements.  She was Co-Principal Investigator for High Scope’s Head Start Quality Research Center; Principal Investigator for the Michigan Department of Education funded Michigan School Readiness Program Evaluation; and Principal Investigator for the Michigan component of the National Institute for Early Education Research multi-state study of state-funded preschool.  In addition, she helped validate the Early Literacy Skills Assessment tool, and recently served as a member of a statewide committee to develop a child care Quality Rating and Improvement System in Michigan. 

Placement Mentor – Larry Schweinhart

Placement Supervisor - Dr. Marijata Daniel-Echols