![african american male teacher with eight young students from diverse backgrounds standing outside school](https://fpg.unc.edu/sites/fpg.unc.edu/files/component-images/edi.jpg)
Nationwide, children of diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds are too often viewed as challenging, "at-risk," and of limited intellectual capacity. Wide disparities in achievement bear witness to the ways in which the educational and social systems have failed those most in need of support. Historic discrimination coupled with changing demographics necessitates clear and intentional efforts to support young children who are racially and ethnically diverse in achieving their personal, academic, and economic potential. A primary mission of FPG is to generate knowledge about the social context in which children of color live, establish programs that produce positive outcomes for those children and their families, and use that knowledge to prepare caregivers and teachers to provide the best possible environments for promoting development and success. Equity, diversity, and inclusion in research matters at the Institute.
Featured FPG News Story
FPG Faculty Fellow and Founding Director of FPG's Equity Research Action Coalition Iheoma Iruka, PhD, Danielle Allen, PhD, a project director at the Coalition and TK Musa, a graduate research assistant working with the Coalition recently received the Best Article Award from Theory into Practice.
Featured Program
Working with practitioners and policymakers, the Equity Research Action Coalition will pursue research that promotes and supports the healthy development of Black children across the African diaspora and other children of color. The Coalition will focus on developing science-based evidence that can be used to inform practice and policy aimed at eradicating the impact of racism, and all its consequences, on the lives of Black and other minoritized children, families, and communities.
Featured Publication
The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center and the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy) collaborated to help state early intervention programs improve the quality and representativeness of their family data and use the data to advance equity.