Starting at Zero Podcast is LAUNCHED!

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22 Aug

Posted at 16:26h in News by

By Emily Tate Sullivan | Ed Surge
August 12, 2022
This week, the Aspen Institute announced its 2022 Ascend fellows, a cohort of 22 individuals hailing from a range of disciplines including medicine, research, entrepreneurship, government and policy, and nonprofit leadership and advocacy.
Their respective fields may vary widely, but what unites this particular group—on the 10-year anniversary since the fellowship was first launched—is their commitment to transforming early childhood education. The fellowship has always been about investing in leaders from various...

22 Aug

Posted at 16:20h in News by

By Ann Schimke | Chalkbeat Colorado
August 12, 2022
Universal Preschool: Inside Colorado's Free Preschool Initiative
Child care providers, school district staff, and a pediatrician are among 15 people appointed to a new group that will advise Colorado’s early childhood chief on rules ranging from preschool funding rates to preschool teacher credentials.
Lisa Roy, executive director of the state’s new Department of Early Childhood, will have the final say over new rules, but state law requires her to consult with the newly formed Rules...

10 Aug

Posted at 16:54h in News by

By Eden Stiffman | The Chronicle of Philanthropy
August 9, 2022
After spending her day in an Albuquerque classroom with 3-year-olds, teaching them how to hold a pencil and other skills to prepare them for kindergarten, Ivydel Natachu puts on her organizing hat. During the Covid-19 pandemic — as the lives of teachers and families changed exponentially — the 17-year veteran day care teacher got involved with Organizers in the Land of Enchantment, or OLÉ. The nonprofit advocacy group made up of working...

03 Aug

Posted at 17:10h in News by

By Blake Jones | Politico
August 2, 2022
BRACING FOR A RAID: California’s long-awaited, longer-pursued rollout of universal pre-k finally began Monday as a handful of school districts kicked off the academic year. For the child care industry,the timing couldn’t have been worse. Like other states, California is spending part of a record budget surplus to offer free pre-K to tens of thousands more children. Families will be spared costly child care tuition. Up to 35,300 public school jobs will be created over four...

16 Jul

Posted at 19:40h in Press by

By Peter Bart | Deadline
July 14, 2022
Where do great movies come from? When Netflix started creating its own shows a decade ago, Ted Sarandos and his colleagues put that question to select creatives around town. It was a smart exercise – but most respondents insisted there was no answer. Coincidentally I’d been putting out that question at various times over the years with equally ambiguous results. Saul Zaentz, the feisty film and music producer, once offered this response: “Great movies come...

16 Jul

Posted at 17:38h in Press, Zaentz Initiative by

By Mark Swartz | Early Learning Nation
July 15, 2022
The Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) emphasizes research that drives policy and practice, as well as collective action that sparks systemic change. Since 2016, 43 fellows have taken part in the initiative, going on to leadership roles throughout the country while remaining in touch with the burgeoning Zaentz community. I spoke to three of the nine most recent fellows about their experience and their plans....

13 Jun

Posted at 18:20h in News by

By Linda Smith
June 13, 2022
President Biden and Congress can take a major step in the coming weeks to strengthen our economy and help workers and their children by fully funding the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the biggest federal funding source for child care.
Child care is not only a social program that lifts young families out of poverty. It’s also a vital economic program. Child care enables millions of parents, especially women, to be in the workforce. It...

10 Jun

Posted at 17:20h in News, Press, Zaentz Innovation Fund by

By Yitzi Weiner
June 6, 2022
Why & How Filmmaker Annette Porter of Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund at Johns Hopkins Is Helping To Change Our World
Meaningful change isn’t always instant, large-scale, or permanent. Real impact can take months or years, and may mean starting very small. But the rewards for facilitating even small changes are enormous and you have no idea where that small change may lead for you, or anyone else....

11 May

Posted at 16:14h in News by

By Elizabeth Bruenig
May 8, 2022
America is a much harder place to be a child than it has any excuse to be, and a much harder place to have and raise a child than it has any possible reason to be: It’s hard to find a politician who’ll disagree with either proposition, and harder yet to find one with any intention of doing anything about it. When it comes to the crucial business of caring for children and families, our country...

09 May

Posted at 18:36h in News by

By Gal Tziperman Lotan
May 9, 2022
Child-care workers and advocates came out to about 90 playgrounds, T stops, and public squares across Massachusetts Monday to talk to parents and community members about the importance of their work and advocate for publicly funded universal early childhood education. The actions were part of a “Day Without Child Care,” a national day of action for child-care workers. Some providers closed their doors for the day or for a few hours, and others rallied, called elected...

04 May

Posted at 16:15h in News by

By Elizabeth Bruenig
May 8, 2022
America is a much harder place to be a child than it has any excuse to be, and a much harder place to have and raise a child than it has any possible reason to be: It’s hard to find a politician who’ll disagree with either proposition, and harder yet to find one with any intention of doing anything about it. When it comes to the crucial business of caring for children and families, our country...

04 May

Posted at 15:30h in News by

By Barry Ford, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
May 4, 2022
As the 2022 election season heats up, Americans will be inundated with reminders of our divisions, including differences in political party, demographics, and voting patterns. Yet, what far too often gets ignored in these conversations, or omitted in 30-second attack ads, is just how much we have in common as Americans. Ideology shouldn’t drive the way we think about what’s important in our country. Nor should party affiliation be considered a stand-in for patriotism. We share...

02 May

Posted at 15:23h in Hunt Institute, News by

By Javaid Siddiqi, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
May 2, 2022
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” The famous saying, adapted from the work of Scottish poet Robert Burns, reminds us that even our most thoughtful and well-intentioned efforts can sometimes yield unexpected results. The expansion of public pre-kindergarten is an excellent case in point. High-quality preschool programs have been shown to reap benefits to both students and taxpayers that can span across decades — which is why both...

26 Apr

Posted at 14:30h in News by

By Valerie Strauss
April 26, 2022
Every year the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education releases data on the state of public preschool programs — and the 2021 is out on Tuesday with devastating news. According to the research, progress made in public preschool programs over the past decade was wiped out during the coronavirus pandemic that began in March 2020. Drastic declines in enrollment were reported during the 2020-21 school year, with 298,000 fewer children...

26 Apr

Posted at 14:16h in News by

By Linda Jacobson
April 26, 2022
Enrollment in state pre-K programs fell for the first time in two decades after a period of steady growth, according to a new report focusing on the 2020-21 school year. Before the pandemic, states were serving 44% of 4-year-olds. Now they might not reach 40% over the next 10 years, the report found. “The pandemic erased an entire decade of progress in preschool enrollment,” said Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the National Institute for Early Education...

25 Apr

Posted at 14:26h in News by

By Erica Meltzer
April 25, 2022
Starting next year, every Colorado 4-year-old will have a chance to attend preschool at no cost to their parents, under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Jared Polis. “With this bill, families in Colorado with 4-year-olds will have access to free preschool in the fall of 2023, saving them money and preparing kids for success,” said Polis, noting the benefits his own children experienced from preschool. ...

20 Apr

Posted at 21:00h in News by

By Ann Schimke and Erica Meltzer
April 20, 2022
With just over a year until Colorado begins providing free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide, state lawmakers want to inject $100 million into efforts to beef up the early childhood workforce and create more slots for young children. During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, a group of lawmakers announced the legislation, which would be funded with federal COVID relief dollars. The money would go toward several existing grant programs, including one to help child care providers...

20 Apr

Posted at 20:37h in News by

By Nico Franks
April 20, 2022
Sesame Workshop is teaming up with Discovery’s educational unit to launch an early learning channel for children aged between three and seven in the US. The Sesame Workshop-branded channel will be available in the fall on Discovery Education’s learning platform. It will include Sesame Street video content as well as lesson plans and educator resources alongside interactive games and activities for kids....

19 Apr

Posted at 20:43h in News by

By Dale Mezzacappa
April 19, 2022
Pre-pandemic, Black children in Pennsylvania had less access to high-quality preschool than white children, according to a new report. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University found that this disparity was due primarily to the way the state funds its two main preschool programs, Child Care Works and Pre-K Counts, and the different standards policymakers have set for them. As overall enrollment in the program grew from 2014 to 2019, Black children’s enrollment in Pre-K Counts declined slightly, before...