She was project leader for the longitudinal evaluation of New Zealand’s strategic plan for early childhood education 2004, 2006 and 2009 and is currently leading an evaluation of the Ministry of Education’s early childhood education Participation Programme. A key aspect of this evaluation is interviews with families about their views and experiences of early childhood education. Her recent research includes a community research project with Congolese refugee families examining experiences of resettlement, aspirations for their children and views about early childhood education and care, research undertaken in collaboration with teachers analysing multi-modal literacies, a literature review on outcomes of early childhood education, national surveys of early childhood services and research investigating quality in parent/whanau (family)-led services.