Walter S. Gilliam, PhD
Cards
About
Titles
Professor Adjunct in the Child Study Center
Biography
Walter Gilliam is the executive director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute and the Richard D. Holland Presidential Chair in Early Childhood Development at the University of Nebraska. He is a tenured professor at the Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, and a professor adjunct at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, where he previously was the Elizabeth Mears & House Jameson Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology and director of Yale’s Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy.
He is vice president of ZERO TO THREE; a past president of Child Care Aware of America; board treasurer for the Irving Harris Foundation; a director for First Children’s Finance, All Our Kin, and the National Workforce Registry Alliance; a former senior advisor to the National Association for the Education of Young Children; and a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Gilliam was co-recipient of the prestigious 2008 Grawemeyer Award in Education for the coauthored book, A Vision for Universal Preschool Education. His research involves early childhood education and intervention policy analysis (specifically how policies translate into effective services), ways to improve the quality of PreKindergarten and child care services, the impact of early childhood education programs on children’s school readiness, and effective methods for reducing classroom behavior problems and preschool expulsion, as well as issues of COVID-19 transmission, vaccination, and health and safety promotion in early childhood settings. His scholarly writing addresses early childhood care and education programs, school readiness, and developmental assessment of young children.
Gilliam has led national analyses of state-funded PreKindergarten policies and mandates, how PreKindergarten programs are being implemented across the range of policy contexts, and the effectiveness of these programs at improving school readiness and educational achievement, as well as experimental and quasi-experimental studies on methods to improve early education quality. His work frequently has been covered in major national and international news outlets for print (e.g., New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, LA Times), radio (e.g., NPR), and television (e.g., CNN Headline News, NBC TODAY Show, CBS Early Show, ABC Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, FOX News). Gilliam has actively provided consultation to state and federal decision-makers in the United States and other countries (such as the People’s Republic of China and the United Arab Emirates) and frequently provides testimony and briefings before Congress on issues related to early care and education.
Appointments
Child Study Center
Professor AdjunctPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Child Study Center
- Predoctoral Internship and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychology
- Yale CARES
- Yale Ventures
- Yale-China Program on Child Development
Education & Training
- Research Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Yale University School of Medicine (1999)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Psychology
- Yale University School of Medicine (1997)
- Internship in Clinical Psychology
- Yale University School of Medicine (1996)
- PhD
- University of Kentucky (1996)
- MSEd
- University of Kentucky (1993)
Research
Overview
Dr. Gilliam's research involves early childhood education and intervention policy analysis (specifically how policies translate into effective services), ways to improve the quality of prekindergarten and child care services, and the impact of early childhood education programs on children's school readiness. His scholarly writing addresses early childhood care and education programs, school readiness, and developmental assessment of young children. Dr. Gilliam has led national analyses of state-funded prekindergarten policies and mandates, how prekindergarten programs are being implemented across the range of policy contexts, and the effectiveness of these programs at improving school readiness and educational achievement, as well as experimental and quasi-experimental studies on the effectiveness of various methods to improve early education quality, as well as issues of COVID-19 transmission, vaccination, and health and safety promotion in early childhood settings.
Dr. Gilliam directs The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy. Its mission is to create and disseminate research that can be used to inform legislative and other policy efforts on behalf of children and families and to train future generations working at the intersect of research and policy development. Dr. Gilliam actively provides consultation to state and federal decision-makers, and his comments on early education are sought frequently by national and international news reporters.
Additionally, Dr. Gilliam provides clinical supervision in the early childhood section of the Child Study Center (providing developmental evaluations of children birth to 5-years old) and in the Newborn Follow-up Clinic, for premature and low birth weight infants. Dr. Gilliam holds a joint appointment with the Psychology Department at Yale University.
Dr. Gilliam leads the Yale Children and Adults Research in Early Education Study Team (Yale CARES), an interdisciplinary team of researchers studying COVID-19 transmission mitigation, vaccination, and health and mental health supports in early childhood settings. The team consists of experts in young child development and mental health, epidemiology, vaccinology, pediatric infectious disease control, economics, policy, and early childhood systems.
Dr. Gilliam was PI on the National Prekindergarten Study, the first study to examine the relationship between state-level early education legislation and policy and classroom-level implementation.
Dr. Gilliam has conducting a series of statewide random-controlled trials, examining the effectiveness of mental health consultation infused into child care and early education systems.
A series of studies examining preschool expulsion rates and practices are currently underway.
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Academic Achievements and Community Involvement
Links & Media
Media
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Prekindergarten Expulsion Rates by State
News
- January 11, 2023Source: Scientific American
Half of the 250 Kids Expelled from Preschool Each Day Are Black Boys
- October 04, 2022
Childcare Professionals Endured Higher Rates of Depression, Stress, and Asthma During the Pandemic, U.S. Study Reveals
- September 19, 2022
Documentary Honoring Life and Legacy of Sterling Professor Zigler Premieres at Yale
- May 31, 2022
New Asian-American Early Educators Project Addresses Experiences of Racial Aggression