Rebecca Bier

Interest Areas

Education, Stratification, Early childhood

My research explores how the expansion of early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs affect children’s, their families’, and educators’ outcomes. I use advanced quantitative methods to answer descriptive and causal questions related to the role of ECCE policy in processes of social stratification. My work seeks to inform our understanding of the varying roles of ECCE – as an educational program for young children, a source of childcare for families, and a historically undercompensated and fractured industry.

Previous Degrees

• BA Development Studies, University of California – Berkeley, 2015

Publications

Bier, Rebecca, Elizabeth Vaade, and Culleen Witthuhn. 2026. “Peers in the Early Years: Peer Network Homophily among Four-Year-Old Preschool Students.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 76:240–49. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2026.03.009.

Bier, Rebecca, Elizabeth Vaade, and Culleen Witthuhn. 2025. “Do Peers’ Skills Matter for Learning in Preschool Classrooms? Within- and Across-Classroom Differences in the Relationship Between Peers’ Academic Skills and Individual Skill Gains.” American Educational Research Journal 62(4). doi:10.3102/00028312251331035.