Amy Claessens is a third-year student in the Human Development and Social Policy program. She graduated with a BS in Social Policy from Northwestern University in 1998. After graduating she spent time doing research, direct service with homeless families, and finally policy advocacy work. Most recently, she worked as a policy associate at Action for Children (formerly Day Care Action Council of Illinois) doing state and federal policy analysis and advocacy for early childhood education and care programs. Her own work and research interests are in the area of early childhood education and care, as well as families in poverty. Currently, she works with Professor Greg Duncan on two main projects, the New Hope eight-year follow-up and research on school readiness using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten (ECLSK). She is excited to be a part of the innovative, multidisciplinary program in education and hopes to advance the field of early childhood education policy through her affiliation with the MPES program.

Year		Degree		Institution
1998		BS, Social Policy Social Policy		Northwestern University

Child and family well-being; poverty; resiliency; early education and child care; program evaluation; nonprofit collaboration.