Every day the numbers testing positive for COVID-19 rise and countries around the world face new realities. If there is anything this crisis has reinforced, it is that there are no real borders. We are all interconnected. While advocates for children a

We might all wish for some magic in our worlds right now, but while waiting for that I thought I would share with others my practical approaches to home schooling. At least for me, there is no Olaf to keep the happy going, and I feel slapped with a rea

High-quality care for infants and toddlers is essential to the well-being of families. It supports the healthy development and learning of children during their crucial early years and enables parents to work so they can gain financial security for the

The quality and standards for early childhood education (ECE) can vary widely across the U.S. and often depend on where you live. The Council for Professional Recognition (CFPR) has helped establish standard competencies for early childhood educators b

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(Part II) We visited the first child care center at the beginning of my second trimester. For comparison, I don’t think we visited pediatricians until I was nearly 8 months pregnant. (I’ve never heard anyone having a problem finding a pediatrician, but

Recently, our research team released findings from a set of studies on the Boston Public Schools Prekindergarten Program that examined whether and under what conditions the boost from their prekindergarten program lasts through third grade.  Findings a

Katherine Hodges and Karin Garver The State of Preschool 2018 yearbook makes it easy to find how many children in your state attend public pre-K. Or whether your state, or others, requires pay parity for pre-K teachers with K-3. And if someone with onl

This article draws from the authors’ new book Ready or Not: Early Care and Education’s Leadership Choices —12 Years Later. Why has early childhood education (ECE) not yet achieved its desired level of impact? As authors, we’ve tried to tackle this ques

Class size reduction policy has been long debated in early education as well as the K-12 sphere. This is not surprising given the ambiguity in defining class size and the mixed findings across several research studies. The only true experiment for pres

Worldwide, nations have increased public investments in early care and education to improve the development of young children. Research has found that interventions that enhance caregiving in the early years can alter children’s developmental trajector

The State of Preschool 2018 Yearbook included a section on the state-funded preschool workforce, specifically focusing on salaries, benefits, and other policies in place to support preschool teachers. The picture the survey painted is grim. State-funde

This post originally ran on the blog Maine Kids VOICE. According to a recent report released by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) more children are attending state-funded pre-K programs across the US, but state funding is not

NIEER released its 16th State of Preschool report this week, once again providing information on enrollment, spending, and policies, especially those related to quality. This is a complex report and so we have written this blog to help readers get behi

Every year, NAEYC’s Week of the Young Child and NIEER’s State of Preschool Yearbook bring attention to early childhood education, celebrating what we do, and sharing research on how far we have to go. This year, both organizations included a focus on e

When you meet with a contractor to build a house, what is the first question you’re compelled to ask? Is it “How much is this going cost?” or maybe “How long is this going to take?” Of course, the contractor is likely to respond with something like: “W

There is no one comprehensive indicator of child well-being. Instead, child well-being spans physical, social-emotional, and cognitive health and development. Since children do not grow up in a vacuum separate from parents or communities, a variety of

This blog was originally published by the Alliance for Early Success.  The midterm elections of 2018 is ushering in a group of new state superintendents who will put their stamp on states’ education systems and reforms. Though most of them probably wil

Our new Data-for-Equity Research Brief, Child Care Affordability for Working Parents, finds that many U.S. parents who are highly attached to the labor force would have a difficult time purchasing full-time center-based care. This finding is especially

Imagine you are in charge of developing or implementing a large scale early childhood program  to reach a significant number of young children and families across a specific geographic area. Perhaps the plan is to reach several hundred children in a ru