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Professional Publications & Contributions

• Gittell, J.H.; Douglass, A. (2012). Embedding reciprocal relationships into roles: the relational bureaucratic form. Academy of Management Review, 37(4), 709-733.
• Douglass, Anne; Gittell, Jody Hoffer (2012). Transforming professionalism: relational bureaucracy and parent-teacher partnerships in child care settings. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 10 (3), 267-281.
• Jor’dan, Jamilah; Wolf, Kathy Goetz; Douglass, Anne (2012). Strengthening families in Illinois: Increasing family engagement in early childhood programs. Young Children. 67 (5), 18-23.
• Douglass, Anne; Klerman, Lorraine (2012). The Strengthening Families initiative and child care quality improvement: how Strengthening Families influenced change in child care programs in one state. Early Education and Development, 23, 373-392.
• Douglass, Anne (2011). Improving family engagement: the organizational context and its influence on partnering with parents in formal child care settings. Early Childhood Research and Practice,13 (2).
• Abbate-Vaughn, J., Paugh, P., Douglass, A. (2011). Sound bites won't prepare the next generation: Early childhood teacher education policy public private divide in Massachusetts. Educational Policy, 25(1), 215-239
• Douglass, Anne (1996). Rethinking the effects of homelessness on children: resiliency and competency. Child Welfare, 75(6), 741-751.

Additional Information

Anne Douglass is Assistant Professor of Early Education and Care.  She is the director of the bachelor’s degree program in Early Education and Care in Inclusive Settings, as well as the Post Master’s Certificate Program in Early Education Research, Policy, and Practice.  Her research focuses on quality in early education and care, early childhood policy, professional and workforce development, organizational theory, and cultural competence.  She has strong research interests in organizational theory and how early childhood programs preserve and promote caring practices and implement organizational change.  Her research includes a study of Massachusetts’ new professional development system for early education and care, an evaluation of Boston’s Thrive in Five school readiness initiative, and a study of early childhood educators returning to school to earn a bachelors degree. 

Dr. Douglass’ recent research examined parent-teacher partnerships in early education and care programs.  Her research explored two key influences on the quality of family partnership practices: the Strengthening Families through Early Care and Education initiative, and the organizational culture and structure of early childhood programs.  Her research shows that the organizational culture of early childhood programs is a powerful influence on the quality of parent-teacher partnerships.  The study identifies five key ingredients of a relational organizational system, and suggests that effective partnerships with families in formal child care settings may depend on this relational organizational context. 

Before coming to the University of Massachusetts Boston, Dr. Douglass served as a faculty member in the Early Childhood Education Department at Wheelock College in Boston from 2006-2009.  She has been a consultant and trainer for numerous organizations, including Zero to Three, Boston’s Mentor Accreditation Support Program, and the Enough Abuse Campaign to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse.  In 2005 she was a national fellow with NAEYC’s Supporting Teachers Strengthening Families National Leadership Program.  She began her work in the early childhood field in Boston as a teacher and program director, developing and directing an early childhood education program at a shelter for homeless families for eight years. 

Dr. Douglass received her PhD from the Heller School for Social Policy at Brandeis University, her master’s degree in education from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and her bachelor’s degree in political science from Wellesley College.

 

 

Research Reports and Program Evaluation

Douglass, Anne; Carter, Alice; Smith,Frank; Nitharshan, Balaji (July 2012).  The Massachusetts Early Education and Care Professional Development Study 2012 Research Report. Submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, July 2012.

Douglass, Anne (July 2012).  The Strengthening Families Illinois Learning Network Program Evaluation Report FY12.  Submitted to Strengthening Families Illinois July 2012.

Douglass, A., Heimer, L., Winifred, H. (2011). The Massachusetts Early Education and Care Professional Development System Study Year 1 Research Report. Boston, MA: Research Report Submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. http://www.mass.gov/edu/docs/eec/workforce-and-professional-development/resources-for-professional-development/20110827-umass-pds-rpt.pdf

Friedman, Donna Haig; Coonan, Mary; Douglass,Anne; Gutierrez, Oscar; Carter, Alice (September 2011).  Boston Children Thrive in 5: Connecting Families, Building Community Year 1 Evaluation Report.  Center for Social Policy: University of Massachusetts Boston.

Douglass, Anne (July 2011).  The Strengthening Families Illinois Learning Network Program Evaluation Report FY11.  Submitted to Strengthening Families Illinois July 2011.

Douglass, Anne (2009).  Early Care And Education Partnerships That Keep Families Safe: How Strengthening Families Illinois Influenced Change: A Research Brief.  Chicago: Strengthening Families Illinois.

Stone-Macdonald, A., Bartolini, V. L., Douglass, A., Love, M. L. (2011). Focusing a New Lens: STEM Professional Development for Early Education and Care Educators and Programs. Retrieved from http://www.communityinclusion.org/ecs/stem/. 

 

Training Curriculum

Douglass, Anne (2009). "She did WHAT? He said WHAT?” How to respond to the sexual behaviors of children: A manual for trainers. Produced by The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and the Enough Abuse Campaign. For a free download of the training and the manual go to http://www.barcc.org/information/educators/ece.

 

Grants and Sponsored Research

Post Masters Certificate Program in Early Education Research, Policy, & Practice, 2012-2015

University of MA Boston

Principal Investigator

$1,499,000

Sponsor:  MA Department of Early Education and Care/Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant

 

Early Intervention Scholars Grant, 2011-2016

Co-Principal Investigator with Angela Stone-MacDonald (Principal Investigator)

$1,186,012

Sponsor: US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs

 

Access to Higher Education Coursework for Early Education Professionals, 2010-2013

University of Massachusetts Boston

Principal Investigator

$53,730 FY13

$26,640 FY12

$27,500 FY11

Sponsor:  Action for Boston Community Development

 

Thrive in Five Boston Evaluation, 2010-Present

University of Massachusetts Boston

Research Team Member of multi-disciplinary research team to conduct multi-year evaluation of Boston Children Thrive, a school readiness initiative that targets family and community engagement

 

The Massachusetts Early Education and Care Professional Development Study 2012             

University of MA Boston

Principal Investigator, with Alice Carter, Co-Principal Investigator

$61,000

Sponsor:  MA Department of Early Education and Care

 

Strengthening Families Illinois, 2011-2012

Program Evaluator, Strengthening Families Learning Networks

$5000 FY12

$8800 FY11

 

The Massachusetts Early Education and Care Professional Development System Study, 2010-2011

University of Massachusetts Boston

Principal Investigator

$100,000

Sponsor:  Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care

 

Online Professional Development Projects, 2010-2011

University of Massachusetts Boston

Principal Investigator and Co-PI with Angi Stone-MacDonald, PI

$106,077

Sponsor:  Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care

 

Early Education and Care S.T.E.M. Professional Development Project, 2011

University of Massachusetts Boston

Principal Investigator

$40,000

Sponsor:  Action for Boston Community Development and Child Care Resource Center

 

Child Care Research Scholars Dissertation Research Grant, 2008-2009

Dissertation Scholar ($30,000)

Sponsor: United States Department of Health and Human Services 

Administration for Children and Families: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation

 

Early Childhood Teachers, Children’s Sexual Behaviors, & Child Sexual Abuse Prevention   2009-2011

University of Massachusetts Boston

Principal Investigator

Sponsor:  Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, with funds from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health   

 

 

Conference Presentations

Douglass, A., Carter, A. (2013). Characteristics and Professional Development Experiences of Early Educators: Advancing Knowledge About the Workforce.  Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 30, 2013.

Douglass, A. (2013).  Resilience in Change: Positive Perspectives on the Dynamics of Early Education Systems Change.  Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 30, 2013.

Douglass, A., Howard, E., Lipscomb, S. (2012).   Strengthening the Workforce through Professional Development and Quality Improvement Systems.  Annual Meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium, Washington DC, October 24, 2012.

Gittell, J.H. & Douglass, A. (2012),  Symposium Co-Chairs.  Relational leadership: New development in theory and practice.  Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston, MA, August 6, 2012.

Douglass, A., Heimer, L., Hagan, W. (2012).  Building Together:  Implementing A New Statewide Professional Development System for Early Education and Care.  Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada, April 16, 2012.

Gittell, J.H., Douglass, A. (2012).  Relational Bureaucracy:  On the Boundary of Relational and Bureaucratic Organizing.  Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada, April 14, 2012.

Douglass, A. (2011).  Integrating professional development with quality rating and improvement systems – a Massachusetts case study.  Annual Meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium, Bethesda, MD, Nov. 15, 2011.

Douglass, A. (2011).  Teachers' experiences with children’s sexual behaviors in early childhood programs:  a call for professional development, National Association for the Education of Young Children Professional Development Institute, National Association for the Education of Young Children, June 13, 2011. 

Douglass, A.  (2011).  Daring to care: transforming the social architecture of early childhood programs in an era of accountability.  Paper presentation at the international 19^th Annual Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education Conference, London, UK.  October 26, 2011.

Douglass, A.(2011), Early Childhood Teacher Education Policy and Practice, Boston-Deqing Early Education Partnership Meeting, Education Department, Deqing, China, (May 2011).

Douglass, Anne (2011).  Daring to care: transforming professionalism in an era of accountability.  Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, April 2011. 

Douglass, Anne (2011).  Teachers’ experiences with children’s sexual behaviors in early childhood programs:  An opportunity for professional development.  Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, April 2011.

Douglass, A.  (2010). Learning from Different Perspectives, Education as Transformation:  Carrying on the Legacy of Ted Sizer, Brandeis University, Conference in Memory of Theodore Sizer (October 4, 2010).

Elvira, M., Leana, C., D’Aunno, T., Hoang, H., Douglass, A., Gittell, J.H., Maas, A., Rousseau, D. (2010). The occupational and organizational structure of direct care work in an international context, Professional Development Workshop, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada.

Douglass, Anne (2010).  Managing caring: organizational context and its influence on family partnerships in formal child care settings. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Denver, Colorado, May 2010.

Douglass, Anne (2010).  The Strengthening Families initiative and child care quality improvement: influencing change in child care programs.  Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Denver, Colorado, May 2010.

Douglass, Anne (2010).  Transforming professionalism: relational bureaucracy and parent‐

teacher partnerships in child care centers. International Labor Process Conference 2010, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, March 2010.

Douglass, Anne (2009).  Strengthening Families Illinois:  how management and policy interventions influence the quality of professional-parent partnerships in child care.  Poster presentation at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium, Washington D.C., October 2009.

Douglass, Anne and Gillespie, Linda (2007).  Making a difference: your supportive relationships with families can reduce stress and help prevent child abuse/neglect.  Presentation at the 2007 Annual Conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Chicago, Illinois, November 2007.

Douglass, Anne (2007).  Understanding the sexual behaviors of young children: strategies to prevent abuse and foster healthy development.  Presentation at the 2007 Annual Conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Chicago, Illinois, November 2007.

Douglass, Anne and Sanik, Lorraine (2007).  Linking infants and toddlers who are homeless with Early Intervention programs.   Presented at the Vulnerable Populations Conference Call Series entitled Identifying and Serving Young Children and Their Families, sponsored by the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center and the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs Part C Identification Community of Practice, July 2007. 

Douglass, Anne (2007).  Understanding and responding to the sexual behaviors of young children: helping teachers prevent sexual abuse and foster healthy development.  Presentation at the 16^th National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Pittsburgh, PA June 10, 2007.

Olson, M., Douglass, A., Peters, M., Barnea, M., McLaren, E., Booth-Miner, J., Mawson, K., Sobel, A., Musler, M. (2007).  Supporting teachers and strengthening families: what it looks like at the national, state, community, and program levels.  Presentation at the 16^th National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Pittsburgh, PA June 10, 2007.

Douglass, Anne (2006).  Linking infants and toddlers who are homeless with part c early intervention programs.  Presentation at the 134^th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association in Boston, MA, November 6, 2006.

Douglass, Anne; Sanik, Lorraine; & Sears, Gisele (2006).  An early intervention-family shelter model for supporting the healthy development of young children who are homeless.  Presentation at the 27^th Annual Conference of the Massachusetts Early Intervention Consortium in Marlborough, MA May 10, 2006.

Bernier, Jetta; Douglass, Anne; Freedman, Megan (2005). A public health approach to building grassroots collaboratives dedicated to preventing child sexual abuse. Presentation at the U.S. Children’s Bureau Office of Child Abuse and Neglect 15^th National Conference in Boston, MA April 22, 2005.