Our research encompasses programs, early childhood staff, and children and families. The DIEEC operates a statewide quality rating and improvement system for programs, a statewide professional development network for early childhood professionals, and also provides direct services to children and families as a federal Early Head Start grantee. These initiatives serve as the primary contexts for our research, which is supported by federal, state, and foundation funds. Examples of our projects include research on family child care providers participating in a state quality rating system and an examination of the use of motivational interviewing techniques by early childhood technical assistants.