Kathryn Tout is a developmental scientist who focuses on how policies, practices, and innovations can promote effective early childhood systems, program quality, and the well-being of young children and their families. She conducts research and evaluation to understand and identify best practices in early care and education systems including workforce supports for early childhood educators, program quality improvement, and access to high quality early care and education for families and children. She provides technical assistance to build capacity in the early childhood field for continuous improvement and monitoring of progress toward equitable experiences and outcomes for young children, their families, and the early care and education workforce.

At the federal level, Kathryn is the managing director of the National Early Care and Education Workforce Center, a joint research and technical assistance center that equips state and local leaders to drive change in ECE workforce policy. Kathryn is also a co-principal investigator on a study to assess the feasibility of using an innovative quality improvement method to support practice and organizational change in child care and Head Start programs.

Kathryn is based in Minnesota but works across the nation with a variety of local, state and federal partners. She is passionate about using data to spark conversations that inform action for children, families, and the workforce. In each of her projects, Kathryn has developed strong, collaborative relationships with state agency staff and administrators, program developers, implementation teams, researchers and other stakeholders to support the development of findings that are policy-relevant and applicable to decision making.