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Teresa Eckrich Sommer

IPR Research Professor

IPR Research Professor

PhD, Public Policy, Harvard University, 1994

Contact: t-sommer@northwestern.edu

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Teresa Eckrich Sommer is a research professor at the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University. She studies the dual development of parents and children and the social mobility of families. Sommer is a leading scholar in the newly emerging two-generation research field which examines the implementation and impact of adding education and workforce development training programs for low-income parents to early childhood education services, such as Head Start, for children. She also studies the role of child and parent savings accounts in promoting college readiness and persistence across generations, two-generation programs and policies to support immigrant families, and family-centered approaches to improve the education and well-being of children whose parents have experienced incarceration. She holds an MA and a PhD in public policy from Harvard University.   

Read more about the Northwestern University Two-Generation Research Initiative here

Selected Publications

Articles

Sommer, T.E., C. Gomez, H. Yoshikawa, T. Sabol, E. Chor, A. Sanchez, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, and J. Brooks-Gunn. 2020. Head Start, two-generation ESL services, and parent engagement. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 52 (Part A): 63–73.

Chase-Lansdale, P.L., T. Sabol, T.E. Sommer, E. Chor, A. Cooperman, J. Brooks-Gunn, H. Yoshikawa, and A. Morris. 2019. Effects of a two-generation human capital program on low-income parents’ education, employment and psychological wellbeing. The Journal of Family Psychology 33(4): 433–43.

Sommer, T.E., T. Sabol, E. Chor, W. Schneider, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, J. Brooks-Gunn, M. Small, C. King, and H. Yoshikawa. 2018. A two-generation human capital approach to anti-poverty policy. The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 4(3): 118–43.

Sabol T., T.E. Sommer, A. Sanchez, and A. Busby. 2018. A new approach to defining and measuring family engagement in early childhood education programs. AERA Open, Special Issue: Successfully Taking Preschool to Scale: Implications of Research for Policy and Practice.

Sommer, T.E., T. Sabol, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, M. Small, H. Wilde, S. Brown, and Z. Huang. 2017. Promoting parents’ social capital to increase children’s attendance in Head Start: Evidence from an experimental intervention.  Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness 10(4): 732–66.

Sabol, T., T.E. Sommer, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, J. Brooks-Gunn, H. Yoshikawa, C. King, U. Kathawalla, R. Alamuddin, C. Gomez, and E. Ross. 2015. Parent’s persistence and certification in a two-generation education and training program. Children and Youth Services Review 58: 1–10.

Book Chapters and Invited Reports

Sommer, T.E., T.J. Sabol, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, and C. King. 2019. Implementing career pathway training with a family focus: The two-generation approach of the Community Action Project of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In Pathways to Careers in Health Care, ed. by C. King and P.Y. Hong. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute Press.

Sommer, T.E., P.L. Chase-Lansdale, E. Sama-Miller, C. Ross, and S. Baumgartner. 2018. Conceptual frameworks for intentional approaches to improving economic security and child wellbeing (OPRE Report No. 2018-03). Washington, D.C.: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Sama-Miller, E., C. Ross,  T.E. Sommer, S. Baumgartner, L. Roberts, and P.L. Chase-Lansdale. 2017. Exploration of integrated approaches to supporting child development and improving family economic security (OPRE Report No. 2017-84). Washington, DC: Office of Planning Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Sommer, T.E., T. Sabol, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, and J. Brooks-Gunn. 2016. Two-generation education programs for parents and children. In The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education: Linking Science to Policy for a New Generation, ed. by N. Lesaux and S. Jones. Boston, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Yoshikawa, H., A. Nieto, T.E. Sommer, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, T. Weisner, and O. Senders. 2016. Money, time and peers in antipoverty programs for low-income families. In Child Psychology: A Handbook of Contemporary Issues, ed. by C.S. Tamis-LeMonda and L. Balter. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis.

Policy Briefs

Chase-Lansdale, P.L., T. Sabol, T.E. Sommer, E. Chor, A. Cooperman, J. Brooks-Gunn, H. Yoshikawa, C. King, and A. Morris. 2019. What are the effects of a two-generation human capital program on low-income parents’ education, employment, and psychological wellbeing? (Two-Generation Programs: Policy Brief I). Washington, D.C.: Ascend at the Aspen Institute.

Sabol, T., E. Chor, T.E. Sommer, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, A. Morris, J. Brooks-Gunn, H. Yoshikawa, C. King, and S. Guminski. 2019. What are the effects of a two-generation human capital program on children’s outcomes in Head Start? (Two-Generation Programs: Policy Brief II). Washington, D.C.: Ascend at the Aspen Institute. 

Sommer, T.E., W. Schneider, E. Chor, T. Sabol, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, J. Brooks-Gunn, H. Yoshikawa, A. Morris, and C. King. 2019. What are the effects of a two-generation human capital program on children’s attendance and chronic absence in Head Start? (Two-Generation Programs: Policy Brief III). Washington, D.C.: Ascend at the Aspen Institute.