Giving Compass' Take:

• A study from the CASJE (Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education) at George Washington University, reveals insights about the connection between Jewish early care and education and engagement in Jewish life. 

• How can this study help inform Jewish families and donors that want to direct money toward education? 

• Read about the impact of Jewish education and learning experiences. 


A study from CASJE (Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education) at George Washington University, led by a research team from Child Trends together with a researcher at Brandeis University, offers new and deep insights into how Jewish early care and education (ECE) can serve as a gateway for greater and long-term engagement in Jewish life. Funded by the Crown Family Philanthropies, Exploring the Associations between Jewish Early Care and Education and Jewish Engagement: Research to Inform Practice, is the first rigorous investigation of Jewish engagement among families with young children and the role of Jewish ECE in their lives.

Key contributions and findings from the CASJE Early Research Project include:

  1. The development of a multidimensional definition of Jewish engagement for families raising young children.
  2. The development of a comprehensive set of new measures of Jewish engagement for families with young children
  3. The distinction between membership, institutional involvement/attachment and Jewish engagement.
  4. The insight that many Jewish early childhood programs are charged with increasing membership and institutional attachment, but not necessarily Jewish engagement.
  5. The use of advanced analytical techniques to estimate the effects of Jewish early childhood programs.
  6. Identifying types of Jewish families more likely to change over time as a result of enrolling in Jewish early childhood programs.
  7. How practice and policy can be adapted in a wide-range of Jewish early childhood settings.

Read the full article about Jewish early childhood care and education at eJewish Philanthropy.