Carrie Germeroth, Ph.D, a former early childhood consultant at Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), is assistant director of research at the Marsico Institute for Early Learning and Literacy at the University of Denver (DU), where she conducts research and publishes widely in the areas of social emotional development and early childhood classroom quality. A member of the Colorado Department of Education's School Readiness assessment subcommittee, she also served as project manager on the development of Colorado's Early Learning and Development Guidelines as well as the Pre-Kindergarten Standards for the State of North Dakota.

Crystal Day-Hess, Ph.D, is a senior researcher and lead of the Early Childhood team at McREL, where she develops and delivers professional development training and conducts research. She has extensive experience developing, coordinating, and conducting literature reviews and empirical research in the early childhood field. Prior to joining McREL, she was a research assistant and instructor at the University of Louisville. Her work in the Early Intervention for Families Lab in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences broadly focused on young children's cognitive, social, and emotional school readiness skills.