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Reaching The Youngest Hearts And Minds: Interviews With Diocesan Leaders Regarding Catholic Early Childhood Education, James M. Frabutt, Rachel Waldron

Journal of Catholic Education

Early childhood is a critically formative stage of human development and the educational experiences of children at this young age impact their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical competencies. In the U.S., early childhood education has grown dramatically since the 1960s, both in federal and state dollars invested and in terms of overall enrollment. However, despite what is known about early childhood education in general, the picture of whether and how the Catholic education sector—particularly diocesan schools and parishes—is serving early childhood needs remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to begin mapping the landscape of Catholic early childhood …