Bettye Caldwell is a woman who is typically ahead of her time – usually by about 30 years.  In the early 1960s, she and Julius Richmond studied the experiences of infants and toddlers in low-income families.  They concluded that high-quality infant/toddler child care, combined with ongoing support for families, might yield important emotional and cognitive gains for the children.  Longitudinal findings from the Syracuse University Family Development Research Program proved them right.  Then, in 1994, Bettye and her colleagues on the Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers incorporated these insights into the plans for Early Head Start.

Bettye Caldwell believes that “direct observation is the best way to learn something.” Her Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment – known everywhere as “the HOME” – has helped researchers and practitioners alike become keen observers of the elements of a supportive home environment for young children – sensitivity and responsivity, acceptance, organization, learning materials, involvement, and variety.  In the more than 35 years since its original construction, Bettye’s HOME has been an open house. In addition to the more than 60 studies that Bettye and her colleagues have produced, more than 300 studies by other researchers have used the HOME.

Bettye Caldwell is a passionate and practical advocate for infants, toddlers, and their families.  She knows the power of words. To capture the critical link between child care and education, she coined the term “educare.” It has caught on in Chicago and Colorado – stay tuned!

Bettye Caldwell has made outstanding contributions to the well-being of very young children through research, teaching, program development, advocacy, writing, and speaking – within the United States and internationally.  Members of ZERO TO THREE’s extended family, as well as the growing infant/family field, honor the impact of her work and the inspiration of her vision.

Links on This Page

Zero to Three: http://www.zerotothree.org
National Association for the Education of Young Children: http://www.naeyc.org/