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Philip Fisher, director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood, shares insights from the RAPID Survey Project.

RAPID researchers have heard from more than 23,000 parents of young children and 15,000 child care providers in all 50 states since the project’s launch in April 2020.

The 74: Experts from the Stanford Center on Early Childhood share must-read research from 2025.

The 74: Cristi Carman, director of the RAPID Survey Project, said the difficult choices providers must make, between buying more groceries or paying off a bill, is “really, really devastating.”

EdSource: "Two-thirds of families who have a child with a disability told Stanford researchers that they struggled to meet basic needs, such as food, housing, utilities, child care and health care."

EdSource: “It’s pretty stark data,” said Philip Fisher, director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood. “Our research shows consistently that economic hardship translates subsequently into parent stress and distress, which then gets passed along to child distress..."

EdSurge: "I think most people think we’re in a very prosperous country and with hunger, there’s something of a mindset around it of abject poverty,” says Philip Fisher, director of the Stanford Center for Early Childhood."

KQED: "The Stanford Center on Early Childhood recently reported that three in four California families with young children can’t cover at least one basic need."

The Stanford Center on Early Childhood’s RAPID survey shows that parents who frequently make choices between which monthly bills to pay report higher levels of stress and anxiety.

The Atlantic: "There’s 'a mountain of scientific evidence that the early years are the most important,' Philip Fisher, the director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood said."

Faculty affiliate Jason Yeatman is studying why some kids struggle to read, in hopes of making education work better for all students and deepening understanding of the brain.

Elliot Haspel for The Guardian: "[T]he [C]enter’s ongoing survey of families has begun seeing some of the highest rates of reported hardship since they began tracking in 2020."

"Most [RAPID] survey respondents who have children in transitional kindergarten agree it’s working."

The Center Square: The shutdown is impacting American families already struggling, says SCEC director Philip Fisher.

The 74: "New Stanford data shows a record-high percentage of families facing economic hardships that could worsen with the ongoing government shutdown."

New Mexico In Depth: “The well-being of kids is tied to the well-being of the adults in their lives,” said Dr. Philip Fisher, director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood.

Spectrum News: The Stanford Center on Early Childhood's RAPID Survey found that 70% of child care providers in the country rely on social assistance to meet a basic need.

Dr. Lombardi continues her work as adjunct professor and principal advisor at the Center on Early Childhood at Stanford University