Our Mission
Building equitable opportunities for all young children to learn and thrive through policy, practice, research, and evaluation.
Our Commitment
We value every child’s unique and extraordinary capability to grow, learn, and thrive. We strive to bring the best evidence and ideas forward so that all children – from birth to toddlerhood, preschool and beyond – have equitable opportunities to be nurtured, supported, and appreciated for their unique potential.
About Our Work
Foundational to this commitment to young children are partnerships among practice, policy, research, and evaluation. We pursue scientific discoveries through rigorous methods, and then work to translate that knowledge off the page and into real-world ideas and actions to enhance children’s learning, development, and well-being.
We bring together passionate experts from across disciplines and domains, believing that the sum is always greater than its parts. We apply an equity and anti-racist lens to all areas of our work, seeking to build a world where all children can lead fulfilling lives untarnished by inequities, racism, and structural inequality.
We do this by:
- Educating children in our model demonstration school and Early Head Start sites across the community;
- Discovering best evidence through high-quality research and evaluations;
- Communicating research findings to policy makers, child advocates, and parents;
- Training the next generation of early childhood practitioners and researchers; and
- Partnering across agencies and community groups to serve the holistic needs of children and families.
About the Schoenbaum Family Center
The first five years significantly shape a child’s future, from their experiences in school to developing lifelong skills to their overall health. An important part of these early years of development are a child’s relationships and experiences in the places where they grow and learn. When adults understand and encourage children’s innate curiosity and capabilities, children thrive.
A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning
As a national model for best practices, our school provides high-quality, research-based early care and education to young children with a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and social justice.
+ Learn more about our school
Community Programs
Partnering throughout Central Ohio, our community programs impact child, family, and community success. These programs include professional development and coaching for teachers to a summertime kindergarten readiness program for children throughout central Ohio.
Curriculum & Resources
Born out of Crane Center research and designed with educators and parents in mind, our curricula and resources give proven, hands-on ways to help develop children’s language and literacy skills.
Training Ground for Early Childhood
We are committed to training the next generation of early childhood experts. Our A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning offers internships, paid positions, and clinical field experiences for Ohio State students across multiple disciplines. We also offer opportunities to partner in research and program evaluations.
Our Background
The Schoenbaum and Crane Centers are co-located in Columbus’ Weinland Park neighborhood, about a mile from the main campus of The Ohio State University. Our centers are part of Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology, where early childhood is one of five foundational pillars of work.
The Schoenbaum Family Center opened in August 2007 to offer early care and education to the community. The school was previously located in Campbell Hall and mostly served children of Ohio State faculty, staff, and students. This laboratory school had one infant/toddler classroom and one preschool classroom with a total enrollment of 30 children. When the school moved to the Schoenbaum Family Center in 2007, the school was renamed the A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning. Today, it remains a model demonstration school and serves more than 100 children from the community in a total of seven classrooms.
In 2013, the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy joined the Schoenbaum Family Center after a generous investment from the Crane family, thereby creating an innovative and comprehensive hub for collaboration across early childhood research, practice, and policy.
