Hot Topics
Nebraska Survey Finds Child Care Providers Need Help During Pandemic
Nebraska’s early care and education providers are under extraordinary stress from the pandemic and need more support to stay in business, according to a survey released by the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska. The Nebraska COVID-19 Early Care and Education Provider Survey II finds an “urgent need among a workforce that is deemed ’essential’ and yet operates in an environment that poses risks to health and disrupts revenue stability in an industry already operating at poverty-level wages.”
The Effects of Absenteeism on Cognitive and Social-Emotional Outcomes: Lessons for COVID-19
When most of the nation’s schools transitioned to distance learning in March 2020 to contain COVID-19, a significant number of students did not fully engage in these learning opportunities.
Using administrative panel data from California, researchers from the University of California approximated the impact of the pandemic by analyzing how absenteeism affects student outcomes.
They report “student outcomes generally suffer more from absenteeism in mathematics than in ELA,” “negative effects are larger in middle and high school,” and “absences also negatively affect social-emotional development.”
Moving New Jersey Schools Forward Amid COVID 19
Pre-K–3: Arts Ed, Social/Emotional Learning, and COVID-19
Live video forum, Thursday, August 13, 2020, 1 – 2 PM ET
Moderator: Dr. Penelope Lattimer, Former Assistant Commissioner, NJ Department of Education
Special Guest: Robert B. Morrison, Director, Arts Ed NJ and CEO, Quadrant Research
ECE Research
Recent research “demonstrates how a preservice teacher education course in early childhood education was redesigned to provide student teachers with opportunities to learn and teach online.” The course “provided these preservice teachers with opportunities to interact with children, as well as to encourage reflection on how best to promote young children’s development and learning with online communication tools.”
Researchers investigated if there was an association “between children’s propensity towards pretend play in preschool and EF [Executive Function] skills 2 years later…” While suggesting “adults may want to encourage pretend play among children with poor emotion regulation skills,” the researchers note a “need for future studies to determine if pretense interventions can assist in the development of EF among children with poor ER [Emotion Regulation] skills.”
Researchers who “investigated the effects of a 12-week inquiry-based science and engineering (IBSE) program on preschoolers’ science and engineering learning experiences” report their study “demonstrates that teaching strategies of engineering design process (EDP) and the 5Es [https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/teachertoolbox/the5e] instructional model are supportive of young children’s learning with enhanced scientific understanding and skills.”
Parental Involvement and Children’s Peer Interactions
Researchers “examined the link between parental involvement and preschool children’s peer interactions” and found “parental involvement was positively related to positive peer interactions but not with negative peer interactions.”
A new policy brief examines “what is known about the responses during the pandemic to feeding young children who had been in CACFP [Child and Adult Food Nutrition Program] but whose child care programs closed, the gaps in services and who was affected, and the challenges schools and providers have faced in attempting to meet children’s nutritional needs during the crisis.” Released by the Urban Institute, the brief highlights “policy implications and suggestions for the future” and suggests “policymakers and communities would benefit from understanding the roles that WIC [Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children] and other federal programs may have played in meeting the nutritional needs of young children during the pandemic.”
Early Education News Round-up
The week’s key stories on early childhood education. Read now.
Events
National Prenatal-to-3 Research to Policy Summit, Tue., September 15, 2020, 11:00 am Central Time, presented by the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at The University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs. Register.
Starting at Zero virtual world premiere, Wed., August 12, screenings at 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm ET. The film “explores the power of investing in high-quality early childhood education so that all children and families have the opportunity to attain the American Dream.” RSVP
Opportunities
Senior Evaluation Research Associate (UT post # R_00009816), The Child and Family Research Partnership (CFRP) at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin
Evaluation Research Associate (UT post # R_00009817), The Child and Family Research Partnership (CFRP) at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin
Director, Early Childhood Policy, American Progress seeks a Director for the Early Childhood Policy
Early Childhood Policy Director, Public Citizens for Children & Youth
Office of Early Childhood Director, Colorado Department of Human Services
Policy Analyst, Child Care and Early Education, Center for Law and Social Policy
Senior Policy Analyst – Early Learning, Hunt Institute
Chief Executive Officer, Tennesseans for Quality Early Education
Coalition and Federal Policy Senior Manager, Child Care and Early Learning, National Women’s Law Center