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.