Diane Early is nationally recognized for her policy-relevant research and evaluation projects in early childhood education. Diane has almost 20 years’ experience, with an emphasis state-funded pre-kindergarten, measuring classroom quality, teacher preparation and practices, and children’s academic and social outcomes. She was the Principal Investigator on the Study of State-Wide of Early Education Programs (SWEEP) and a lead investigator for the National Center for Early Development and Learning’s Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten, two of the largest studies of state-funded pre-kindergarten ever completed.

Since completing those landmark studies, Diane was a lead researcher on two randomized control trials (RCT), one investigating the effectiveness of two well-established professional development models on pre-k teachers’ classroom practices in Georgia and the second looking at the school-level impacts of the Every Classroom, Every Day model for improving instruction in five school districts in four states. Currently, helping to lead the Validation Study of Georgia’s Quality Rating and Improvement System and is Principal Investigator for a three-state study investigating the psychometric properties of the newly-revised Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-3). Diane serves on the Research Advisory Committee for the First 5 Los Angeles, a consulting editor for Early Childhood Research Quarterly, and was a reviewer for Phase I of the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge and the Preschool Development Grants.