Bezos foundation gives $5 million to TCU to expand study of early childhood education
Texas Christian University is expanding its influence in the field of early childhood education with a new endowed chair funded with a gift from the Bezos Family Foundation.
The inaugural chair will be Jan Lacina, a professor who focuses on early childhood literacy and the associate dean of graduate studies at the TCU College of Education. She began her career as an early childhood teacher, and served in numerous roles before becoming the endowed chair, including interim dean, early childhood program coordinator and post baccalaureate graduate program coordinator.
Lacina said the funds will allow expanded research on critical issues such as the impact of COVID-19 on families and young children, and refining professional development in order to help teachers support young children.
Recently, the school has partnered with a non-profit to review community agencies that provide child care in Tarrant County. The results of that study have not yet been published.
She will continue in her role as associate dean and expand research in the field with the new funds.
The school has also partnered with community nonprofits to review Kindergarten readiness and student achievement data as educators continue to navigate teaching amid a pandemic.
“This work includes research and data on student readiness for school, analysis of that data, analysis of their school curriculum, as well as providing professional development support for teachers,” Lacina said. “That work is essential, I think, during a time of a global pandemic, to be a part of our community and provide not only research, support, but professional development for community agencies and teachers.”
Lacina said she hopes to use some of the funds to support early childhood and elementary teachers taking part in a TCU Summer Literacy Institute in July, 2022.
The professor has led an effort by the school to put a focus on the science of learning in order to produce better teacher candidates. She is part of a national organization called Deans for Impact that is working with partnering institutions to review and bolster their educator preparation programs.
“It’s not often the College of Education and early childhood through sixth grade program, where faculty will come together in an interdisciplinary way,” she said. “So we have math professors, literacy, special education, bilingual and we are all engaged together using the same language of the science, learning science principles, and being strategic and how we are implementing this in our program.”
That mission aligns with the Bezos Foundation, which provided $3 million for the chair endowment as well as $2 million for a scholarship program for the school’s learning lab kindergarten program.
“Our foundation’s mission is to invest in the science of learning and the experiences that youth from birth through high school need to pursue their own path for success,” the president of the Bezos Family Foundation, Jackie Bezos, said in a statement. “Our goal with this investment in TCU’s College of Education is to bolster faculty leadership in the critical field of early childhood education and learning.”
The foundation is run by Mike and Jackie Bezos, parents of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The $2 million commitment to establish the KinderFrogs Endowed Scholarship Program at Texas Christian University will provide tuition assistance for students and their families with the greatest financial need to receive an education at the KinderFrogs School at TCU.
KinderFrogs is a family-focused, early intervention program that provides a developmentally appropriate educational environment for children with Down Syndrome and other developmental delays.
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify the timing of Jan Lacina’s numerous roles at TCU. It also corrects the school’s partnership with a non-profit.
