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Teresa Eckrich Sommer

IPR Research Professor

IPR Research Professor

PhD, Public Policy, Harvard University, 1994

Contact: t-sommer@northwestern.edu

View CV| Department Page

Teresa Eckrich Sommer is a Research Professor at the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University. Sommer designs and builds research-practice partnerships to study pressing issues in education and social policy. Her main area of focus is the dual development of children and parents and the economic mobility of families. She is a leading scholar in the two-generation field and recent research projects include:

  • The long-term effects of education and career training for parents of young children enrolled in Head Start on parent and youth outcomes,
  • The implementation of the first-ever college promise scholarship program for youth and one of their parents,
  • The impact of combining ESL services for parents with Head Start services for children on outcomes for immigrant families,
  • And the design and study of strategies to promote identity, belonging, and leadership among parenting students and their children on college campuses.

Sommer began her career at the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice following a Coro Foundation Fellowship in Public Affairs. Both experiences solidified her life-long commitment to advancing social policy and practice in the U.S. She received her master’s and doctorate in public policy from Harvard University. Sommer currently directs the Northwestern University Two-Generation Research Initiative (NU2Gen), which she co-founded. 

 

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.