Final Exam: Presenting to the Governor’s Office
In one of his last class assignments before the coronavirus COVID-19 changed the nature of schooling, Northwestern University undergraduate Alan Perez and his team offered early education policy recommendations to state officials at the office of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in Chicago.
The course Crafting Child Policy, designed and taught by developmental psychologist Terri Sabol, combines child development, social policy, and applied research. Working in groups, students grapple with pressing, current questions posed by the Illinois Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Education and Chicago’s Office of the Mayor.
Throughout the quarter, the students learn how to use psychological theory and rigorous research methods as they study the same issues as early childhood education experts.
The course culminates with a presentation to the governor’s Early Childhood Funding Commission and other state officials, giving students “the potential to help inform the structure and development of the state’s innovative policies for young children and their families,” Sabol said.
The presentations touched on a wide range of topics, including diversity in early education, kindergarten readiness, parent mental health, and the effect of the opioid crisis on families.
Perez, former editor of the Daily Northwestern, is a senior studying economics and social policy, an undergraduate research assistant, and a communications assistant for the Institute for Policy Research.
His group, which included SESP’s Adina Barg, Eden Berke, and Georgia Caras, recommended that the state expand its current Preschool For All program, which prioritizes enrollment for the most at-risk students, to a universal program open to all 4-year-olds in the state.
Read a first-person account of Perez's experience in Tackling Early Childhood Eduction.