Assessing the Capacity of Child Care and Head Start Centers to Participate in New Jersey’s Preschool Expansion I nitiative: Phase 1 Debra J. Ackerman, Ph.D Rachel Sansanelli, MA National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) Rutgers University October 2, 2008 This study was funded by the New Jersey Department of Education and the Schumann Fund for New Jersey. Its design and implementation also benefited from the support of the New Jersey Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies and the National Institute for Early Education Research, as well as the valuable assistance of W. Steven Barnett, Diane Dellanno, Ellen Frede, Jacqueline Jones, David Joye, Nancy Thomson, and Ellen Wolock. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by all of these individuals and organizations. The opinions expressed in the report are theirs alone and do not necessarily represent those held by the study’s funders or supporters.