Hot Topics

NIEER Survey: More Than 4 Million American Children Lost Preschool Education Due To Pandemic as Classrooms Closed and Home Learning Opportunities Declined

America’s preschools schools failed to meet children’s needs after shutting down in-person instruction in March due to the coronavirus pandemic according to a nationwide survey by NIEER released this morning. The research team for this survey included Dr. Kwanghee Jung, Dr. Milagros Nores, and Dr. Steve Barnett.

Prior to the pandemic, about 61% of children ages three to five participated in preschool education, but as COVID-19 cases began to rise throughout the United States, it dropped to 8%. With many classrooms closed, most preschool programs provided at-home learning support. However, only 47% of parents said they continued to receive support for remote learning as the closures endured.

“Neither parents nor preschools were prepared for the sudden transition forced on us by the pandemic,” said Dr. Steve Barnett, NIEER’s senior co-director and a study author. “Perhaps ten percent of preschool children received a robust replacement for in-person preschool attendance. Preschools should reopen when and where possible and prepare much stronger remote support for young children’s learning and development when needed. Children lost 3 months of learning opportunities in the spring and perhaps 3 more in the summer as many children remained unserved. Continuing this in the fall would be a disaster, especially for the most disadvantaged.”

View the technical report, special report, news release, and methodology report.

Biden Proposal Makes Child Care and Preschool More Accessible and Less Expensive

Former Vice-President Joe Biden has presented a plan to make child care and preschool affordable and accessible to American families.

Biden’s plan would cap child care costs for many families, reports USA Today. No household with children under 5 and earnings less than 1.5 times the state average would pay more than 7% of their income for child care. Preschool would be free for 3- and 4-year-olds.

NIEER Activities

NIEER Senior Co-Director Discusses “Covering Coronavirus” on USCAnnenberg Panel

NIEER Senior Co-director Steve Barnett served on a panel discussion sponsored by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Center for Health Journalism Digital. Covering Coronavirus: When Kids Miss Out on School covered the latest developments in the nationwide debate over reopening schools and what’s at stake for student learning and wellness as the pandemic continues. The event was recorded and is available online.

Moving New Jersey Schools Forward Amid COVID 19

Special Considerations for Reopening P-3 Video Recording

The video recording of yesterday’s Special Considerations for Reopening P-3 may be viewed now on YouTube.

Previous forums are available to view from our YouTube playlist.

Video Forum Schedule

Th., July 30, 1 PM ET / What to Know About Legal Liability and Reopening

Th., August 6, 1 PM ET / Staff Supervision and Support: A New Approach for the New Normal

Visit the links above to register.

Call for Papers

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

The COVID-19 pandemic conditions have fundamentally affected numerous aspects of young children’s lives via the introduction of significant familial stressors, modifications to regular care-giving experiences due to school closures, and even direct exposure to the virus itself. Researchers whose work is focused on early childhood have shifted attention to how the pandemic is affecting children, families and educators.

Early Childhood Research Quarterly’s upcoming special issue seeks to capture emerging COVID-19 related research that may be used to inform early childhood policy and practice responses in pandemic conditions. ECRQ is soliciting manuscripts describing rigorous empirical studies, integrative reviews, policy analyses, or evaluations of innovative approaches for addressing children’s learning and wellbeing in pandemic conditions. More information is available on NIEER’s website.

COVID-19 and Early Childhood: Narratives of Young Children’s Lives’

The European Early Childhood Education Research Journal is seeking papers for its upcoming special publication on COVID-19 and early childhood. Extended abstracts of proposed articles are by noon, GMT, August 31, 2020. See announcement for more information.

ECE Research

The Interplay among Early Childhood Teachers’ Social and Emotional Well-Being, Mental Health Consultation, and Preschool Expulsion

Researchers found that “teachers with greater levels of depression are more likely to request that a child be expelled from their care but that this association is attenuated by their centers’ utilization of infant/early childhood mental health consultation services.”

Home Language and Literacy Environments and Early Literacy Trajectories of Low‐Socioeconomic Status Chilean Children

Exploring whether “belonging to a given HLLE (Home Language and Literacy Environments group was related to children’s language and early literacy growth from prekindergarten to kindergarten,” researchers found that “children from groups whose mothers either read and talk about past events with them or teach them letters in addition to reading and talking about past events, showed higher relative vocabulary and letter knowledge.”

Burnout and Teacher–Child Interactions: The Moderating Influence of SEL Interventions in Head Start Classrooms

Studying “the extent to which teachers’ participation in professional development focused on children’s social-emotional learning moderated the relation between self-reported burnout and teacher-child interactions,” researchers suggest “training and participation in interventions focused on social-emotional learning may serve as a buffer against the detrimental influence of burnout on teachers’ classroom practices.”

The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Program: Effects for Students Receiving Special Education Services

Researchers found that “children who receive special education supports, who were in classrooms of general education teachers trained in the IY TCM intervention, had significant improvement in concentration problems, disruptive behavior, and social competence in comparison with children receiving special education in control classrooms.

Using Multiple Methods to Describe Supports for the Transition from Head Start to Kindergarten

Examining “the types of practices Head Start programs engage in to support the transition to kindergarten,” researchers suggest “Head Start policy and guidance around transition practices is leading to high implementation of transition practices that Head Start has control over, but more supports may be needed for Head Start to build relationships with elementary schools in order to strengthen coordination practices.”