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Ana Whitaker

@anawhit.bsky.social
628 followers 840 following 49 posts

Assistant Professor at UDel in HDFS. Early care and education policy researcher.

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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Excited this chapter is officially out! Check it out on the link below.
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
My department is hiring a temporary ECE faculty member! Happy to chat more about this position if interested. careers.udel.edu/cw/en-us/job...
careers.udel.edu
University of Delaware - Details - Temporary Faculty, Early Childhood Education
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Honored to receive the Mangone Young Scholars award from the University of Delaware. I'm lucky to be supported by incredible colleagues and to be in a department that encourages and values early career researchers. 🩷 www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/...
udel.edu
Whitaker and Kunjapur named Gerard J. Mangone Young Scholars | UDaily
Young, promising scholars recognized for their outstanding research
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Excited to share our new publication in JPAM - "Why are preschool programs becoming less effective?" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... #EdPolicy #EarlyChildhood #QuantResearch #RCTs
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Why are preschool programs becoming less effective?
Public preschool programs are heralded as an effective policy tool for promoting the development and lifelong well-being of children from low-income families. Recent preschool evaluations report dive....
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
Not one to gate keep (sorry not sorry for the non-work post): thecostpro.com/pureology-hy...
thecostpro.com
Pureology Hydrate Disguised as Costco Signature Shampoo - The CostPro
Costco’s Kirkland Signature Moisture Shampoo is Pureology Hydrate Shampoo in disguise with the Costco Kirkland Shampoo label and the low Costco price.
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AEFP @aefpweb.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Developing a syllabus for the upcoming academic year? Consider including the AEFP Live Handbook. It provides a dynamic, evolving collection of insights from education finance and policy experts. A digital hub for evidence-based education policy research: livehandbook.org/
livehandbook.org
Evidence-Based Education Policy Research | Live Handbook
Explore evidence-based education policy research at our digital hub. Access data-driven insights to improve learning outcomes and shape effective policies.
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Our paper empirically examining the early childhood education structure-process-outcome model is out now in Developmental Psychology. psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
psycnet.apa.org
APA PsycNet
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Lea Woods @lea9223.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
HHS announced today they will consider Head Start a welfare program, not an education program, and will subject it to new citizenship requirements. This goes against decades of legal precedence that all children in America have a right to education. Announcement here. www.hhs.gov/press-room/p...
hhs.gov
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1202
edworkingpapers.com
Recent Immigration Raids Increased Student Absences
Local immigration raids expanded dramatically across the U.S. during the first two months of 2025. Anecdotal accounts suggest that these raids increased student absences from schools because parents f...
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Daphna Bassok @dbassok.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Great flash talks this morning from @chloergibbs.bsky.social and @anawhit.bsky.social about the impacts of early childhood education policies, part of the new AEFP Live Handbook! #AEFP2025
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Cara Jackson @carajackson.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Objective, comprehensive, rigorous, timely, and useful: A digital hub for evidence-based education policy research. #EdResearch #EdPolicy livehandbook.org
livehandbook.org
Evidence-Based Education Policy Research | Live Handbook
Explore evidence-based education policy research at our digital hub. Access data-driven insights to improve learning outcomes and shape effective policies.
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
💜💛
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Ariel Kalil @arielkalil.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
📢 Another new post-doc position at @UChicago! The Committee on Education seeks an early childhood development scholar from any relevant discipline. EOE/Vet/Disability. Work with us @HarrisPolicy @HarrisBIPLab among other units. voices.uchicago.edu/coed/about-ies
voices.uchicago.edu
About IES | Committee on Education
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Yes! Please share! Twitter was helpful in introducing me to new research and I’m hopeful we build that same vibe over here too.
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Here's a good read for those intro to research/grad school courses. Community has been essential to my success and something I strive to promote and create in the spaces I join.
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
We are hiring in our brand new Social Work program! Happy to answer any questions about UD's College of Education and Human Development. I have really fabulous colleagues :) Check out the position in the link below. careers.udel.edu/en-us/job/50...
careers.udel.edu
University of Delaware - Details - Assistant Professor, Master of Social Work
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Going to #APPAM2024? Check this out! I'm hoping to stop by this happy hour. If you are going to APPAM and want to connect, send me a chat/email!
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Starter packs are a really smart idea. Makes this site much less daunting/easier to navigate. Also really helpful to share with students and for them to build their online community.
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
ECE folks - reach out to Pia to get added to the starter pack!
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Given the new followers (hello 👋!), I want to reshare this starter pack on ECE policy and research. This list is full of really smart, thoughtful folks and I expect the group to just keep growing! go.bsky.app/SpVmXZP
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Well this is great news!
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Thanks to @piacar.bsky.social for putting this early care and education policy and researcher starter pack together! Glad we are continuing a community in a new space go.bsky.app/SpVmXZP
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
On a brighter note: I have 2 recent working papers to share, both led by PhD students! Paper 1: we examine how redshirting patterns changed during the pandemic. We find increased redshirting, particularly among groups not previously likely to redshirt. edworkingpapers.com/ai24-1038
edworkingpapers.com
Changes in Kindergarten Redshirting During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on academic "redshirting" in kindergarten, the practice of holding a child back for a year and enrolling them in kindergarten at age 6, using student-level d...
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Earnest post, but: a thing I like here is it’s okay to have moments of happiness in public without being broadly scolded, and I believe that sustaining this kind of humanity will be very important as we resist fascism. We have to sustain each other. Making joy isn’t denial, it’s how we will survive
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Here's a great starter list - just followed it!
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Finally making the full transition over here from Twitter. Any starter packs that are a must in the education, early childhood, social policy worlds? Looking forward to engaging with everyone here💙
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 06/05/2024
Our commentary on the long-term effects of preschool is out now in Science. We call for more rigorous research on preschool programs, particularly on understanding the key ingredients that promote short and long term child development. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Unsettled science on longer-run effects of early education
More rigorous research is needed on how to design programs
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 16/01/2024
Honored to be part of this group and proud of the work we've done so far in Delaware! wtgrantfoundation.org/announcing-t...
wtgrantfoundation.org
Announcing the 2024 Institutional Challenge Grant Finalists - William T. Grant Foundation
The William T. Grant Foundation is very pleased to announce six finalists for the 2024 Institutional Challenge Grant competition. The Institutional Challenge Grant encourages research institutions to ...
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 10/01/2024
I spoke with Education Week about our new working paper on preschool effectiveness. Glad to have a chance to talk more about this paper! www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...
edweek.org
Preschool Studies Show Lagging Results. Why?
Researchers try to figure out why modern preschool programs are less effective than the landmark projects in the 1960s and 70s.
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 06/01/2024
Excited to share a new article where we examine state ECE policies on suspensions and expulsions. We find: - inconsistent policies across & within states - limited data collection requirements on suspensions & expulsions - terms are inconsistently used, making comparisons difficult t.co/RnbNJHB2fY
t.co
Policies addressing suspension and expulsion in state early care and education subsystems: A nationa...
Exclusion from early care and education (ECE) programs creates employment challenges for families and disrupts learning for children, often differenti…
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 04/01/2024
Glad we had a chance to talk more about our working paper on preschool effectiveness! #ECE #prek newamerica.org/education-po...
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 27/11/2023
Excited to share a new working paper on preschool effectiveness! Recent high-quality evaluations of preschool programs produced puzzling results. We examine theories on why results from modern programs differ from those from demonstration programs. edworkingpapers.com/ai23-885 Comments welcome!
edworkingpapers.com
Why are Preschool Programs Becoming Less Effective?
High-quality preschool programs are heralded as effective policy solutions to promote low-income children’s development and life-long wellbeing. Yet evaluations of recent preschool programs produce ...
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 19/11/2023
Another crisis highlighted in this harrowing editorial: “…more than 40% of high school students had persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness; 22% had seriously considered suicide; 10% reported that they had attempted suicide.”
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Thomas S. Dee @tomdee.bsky.social · 18/11/2023
I'm glad to see the NYT Editorial Board drawing needed attention to our ongoing academic-recovery challenges today and noting the relevant insights from our recent Stanford-AP collaboration (osf.io/bfg3p/). www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Startling Evidence on Learning Loss Is In
The effects of the pandemic on children are persistent and require urgent attention.
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 21/09/2023
Jumping on the introduction trend...👋 I'm Ana Whitaker an Assistant Professor of Early Care and Education Policy at the University of Delaware. Mostly studying ECE policy alignment, ECE quality, and pre-K effectiveness.
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Federica Bulgarelli @fedebulgarelli.bsky.social · 11/09/2023
The Department of Learning and Instruction in the UB Graduate School of Ed is hiring in Early Childhood Education! This is an incredibly supportive department and school, and I'm excited to have another early childhood colleague! Deadline Oct 1
jobs.chronicle.com
Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education - New York, United States
Posting Details Position Information Position Title Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education Department Learning and...
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 20/09/2023
A new publication from me and Melissa Dahlin on the impact of Head Start on families' use of services and demographic predictors of service use. Glad this paper is finally published! www.tandfonline.com/eprint/UMDVY...
tandfonline.com
Family Well-Being and Self-Sufficiency Service Use in Head Start: The Impact of Family Participation...
Two-generation programs are designed to provide services to children and their parents, yet the extent to which parents use family well-being and self-sufficiency services is not widely known. We u...
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 06/09/2023
What started as my 2nd yr paper in grad school is now finally PUBLISHED in Dev Psych! We examined the long-term association between early home and ECE quality on youth and early adult development. psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-...
psycnet.apa.org
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 10/05/2023
Well this is already great. 99% of my following tab is @darthbluesky.bsky.social ❤️
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Ana Whitaker @anawhit.bsky.social · 10/05/2023
Alright. Let’s give this app a try. Where are the ed policy, education, ECE folks? Follower suggestions?
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