Sponsoring Agencies

The ECLS-B benefited from the collaboration of many federal agencies. The ECLS-B represents the efforts of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and several education, health, and human services agencies. These federal agencies collaborated with NCES on the design and implementation of the study. Because the ECLS-B was a unique opportunity to gather information on early childhood health and development, many agencies committed funds to and assisted with the project. Their participation helped to avoid duplication in data collection efforts across federal agencies and resulted in a broad and comprehensive study of children’s development and experiences from birth to kindergarten entry.

Federal agencies collaborating with NCES on the ECLS-B included:

Within the U.S. Department of Education:

• National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER)
• Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
• Office of Indian Education (OIE)

Within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS):

• National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
  • National Institute on Aging (NIA)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
  • National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
  • National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
  • Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)
  • National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Office of Minority Health (OMH)
• Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
• Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration (MCHB)
• Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)

The Economic Research Service (ERS), U.S. Department of Agriculture

The Role of the Collaborating Agencies

These agencies contributed to instrument content, sampling operations, and decisions about special population coverage. NCHS played a critical role in the design and selection of the ECLS-B sample. NCHS and NIH contributed significantly to the health content of the study. NICHD, along with other NIH Institutes, and other DHHS agency partners (MCHB/HRSA and CDC) supported the oversampling of twins, low and very low birth weight children, and Chinese children. NICHD also supported the self-administered questionnaire for resident fathers while ASPE helped sponsor the collection of data from nonresident fathers and children by racial/ethnic group. USDA supported questionnaire items regarding families' food sufficiency and nutrition (e.g., participation in federal food programs, infant feeding practices) and the measurement of children's height and weight. OSEP and NCSER contributed items on children with disabilities. ACYF sponsored the observations in child care and early education settings, and the videotaping of parent-child interactions.

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