News

CBS News Chicago
November 7, 2024
By Jeramie Bizzle
Barbara Bowman, a pioneer in early childhood education, has died, the Erikson Institute announced this week. Bowman passed away Monday at the age of 96. She began as a preschool teacher in 1950, got her master's in education from the University of Chicago, and co-founded the Erikson Institute. The institution trains people in social work, child development, and early childhood education. It's meant to give educators the skills to help children thrive. "Barbara Taylor Bowman was a...

The Baltimore Banner
October 29, 2024
By Maya Lora
Traditionally, pre-K is thought of as learning that sets kids up for kindergarten. But research suggests pre-K prepares children not just for school, but for life, said Christy Tirrell-Corbin, the executive director of the Center for Early Childhood Education and Intervention at the University of Maryland. Those who go into kindergarten with a preschool background have stronger scores in literacy and math, better physical and motor development, improved high school graduation rates, higher incomes and...

San Antonio Report
October 29, 2024
By Isaac Windes
A new 25,000-square-foot early childhood education facility that will serve around 200 children on the South Side of San Antonio is set to break ground in January after years of planning and discussion. The Educare San Antonio initiative joins over two dozen others nationwide and is designed to help fill a need in one of the city’s many “child care” deserts, where there are far fewer quality child care slots than needed. The school will...

The Seattle Times
October 28, 2024
By Michele Matassa Flores
For more than a decade, The Seattle Times’ Education Lab has focused intently on the importance of high-quality public education and the challenges of meeting that need for all children. Now we’re bringing even more attention to that critical issue with an initiative centered on very young children — specifically on early childhood education, how it positions students for success and how it can be made more accessible. Washington last year ranked 33rd...

The Hechinger Report
September 26, 2024
By Jackie Mader
Decades of research have shown that children who are born into low-income households have less access to opportunities like high-quality child care and afterschool activities. Now, a 26-year longitudinal study has quantified the severity of this opportunity gap for the first time, as well as the sizable impact this has on children as they grow into young adults. The new study, published by the American Educational Research Association, followed 814 children from low-, middle- and...

State of Connecticut
Press Release
September 26, 2024
Governor Ned Lamont today announced that his administration is making several changes to Connecticut’s early child care and education programs that will result in more children being able to receive access to these programs, while also lowering the associated costs to their parents. “Access to child care and early education programs is massively important to the success of our state, not only because these programs provide valuable tools for children that will lead them to success...

The Tennessean
September 27, 2024
By Rachel Wegner
A newly launched coalition made up for 29 community partners across Nashville is taking aim at what it calls a child care crisis in Davidson County. The group, dubbed the Nashville Early Education Coalition, said nearly half of children who are infants up to 5 years old lack access to high-quality, affordable early childhood education. Nearly 60% of families in Nashville say their employment has been disrupted by a lack of child care available to them,...

The 74 Million
September 25, 2024
By Amanda Geduld
In Dan Wuori’s upcoming book he argues that America’s early childhood policy has been premised on a harmful myth: “This is the myth of daycare,” he writes, “which — in reality — simply doesn’t exist.” How could a system millions rely on simply not exist? Wuori’s answer: That a “crisis of misunderstanding” has turned early childhood centers into an exceedingly expensive and “industrialized form of babysitting” based on the false idea that child care is somehow...

The 74 Million
September 2, 2024
By Emily Tate Sullivan
Tiaja Gundy was just 19 years old when she started working at Federal Hill House, an early learning center in Providence, Rhode Island. It was 2016, and back then, she lacked experience and expertise working with young children. She had no intention of staying in the field long-term. But the work grew on her. Gundy started out as a “floater,” helping with infants, toddlers and preschoolers as needed. She found she loved being around...

Vail Daily
August 31, 2024
By Zoe Goldstein
Eagle County School District held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Gypsum Early Learning Center and accompanying employee housing on Thursday, Aug. 29. Employees and board members of the Eagle County School District, as well as representatives of the construction companies RA Nelson and Haselden Construction Company, gathered on the cleared site that will soon become homes and an educational facility to kick off the journey. The early learning center and housing site already belong to...

nyc.gov
August 29, 2024
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and leadership of the New York City Council today announced a historic joint effort to strengthen early childhood education across the five boroughs and address longstanding systemic issues, while boosting enrollment and connecting families with more Pre-K and 3-K seats. The strategic plan – developed by an unprecedented joint Adams administration-Council working group, chaired by Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana J. Almanzar and Speaker Adams – will be anchored by $100...

Motherly
June 28, 2024
By Katrina Nattress
It’s an election year, and one of the largest hot topic issues for parents is the surging cost of childcare. Nonprofit Moms First, founded by activist Reshma Saujani, vocalized the importance of the childcare crisis to voters by starting a petition urging CNN to address the problem during the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, which aired on Thursday, June 27. “The extreme cost of child care is crushing moms all over the country,”...

NC Newsline
June 26, 2024
By Greg Childress
Stephanie Smith’s nearly eight-year run as a home childcare provider in Durham is coming to an end just as the Child Care Stabilization Grants that came from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) expire. The childcare veteran with more than 20 years of experience says she can no longer afford to keep the doors open due to rising expenses and state and federal childcare subsidies that haven’t kept pace with the cost of doing business. So, Smith...

Chalkbeat Detroit
June 17, 2024
By Patrick Dunn
In a cozy second-floor room at Brilliant Detroit’s Morningside facility, a small group of moms, grandmas, and caretakers learned about the importance of singing to the children in their lives. Surrounded by children’s art and photos of notable Black Americans, the women listened, chatted, and laughed as they participated in what’s known as a “Six-a-Day” workshop. The workshops, held weekly in multiple locations by the nonprofit Detroit Champions for Hope, teach family and caregivers to help young...

The 74
May 27, 2024
By Susan B. Neuman & Lily Wong Fillmore
In joyful preschool classrooms, three- and four-year-olds play and pretend together. They sing and dance, listen eagerly at story time, and ask endless questions. Nearly everything is new, which fuels an intense enthusiasm for learning. High-quality preschool supports social skills, fosters friendships, and builds a sturdy foundation for kindergarten and beyond. As researchers specializing in linguistics and early literacy development, we celebrate the growing movement to connect preschool instruction with the...

Los Alamos Daily Post
May 26, 2024
By Carol A. Clark
$1.1 billion. That’s how much money Virginia included in the compromise budget for the next biennium early toward early childhood education. “This is the first time that we’ve seen funding levels as high as they are,” Senior Director of Early Education for United Way of Greater Charlottesville Meredith Locasio said. “The bipartisan sponsorship from the governor and the general assembly is a huge historic win for early education.” Locasio says this monumental investment will...

Virginia 29 News
May 26, 2024
By Jacob Phillips
$1.1 billion. That’s how much money Virginia included in the compromise budget for the next biennium early toward early childhood education. “This is the first time that we’ve seen funding levels as high as they are,” Senior Director of Early Education for United Way of Greater Charlottesville Meredith Locasio said. “The bipartisan sponsorship from the governor and the general assembly is a huge historic win for early education.” Locasio says this monumental investment will allow organizations...

Wisconsin Examiner
May 20, 2024
By Sarah Kazell
You hear the refrain everywhere — when it comes to raising children, it takes a village. As an early childhood educator, I know this to be true. It takes a community of parents, child care providers, community members and our elected officials all working together to set the next generation up for success. Unfortunately, unlike all other developed nations, the U.S. supplies bare minimum public funding for early care and education despite decades of research showing...

Chalkbeat Colorado
May 13, 2024
By Ann Schimke
Fourteen preschoolers sang “Eggs, larva, pupa, adults,” on a recent morning, curling up on the grass, wriggling around like caterpillars, lying still, and then flapping their arms in search of wildflowers. The song, along with redwing blackbird calls and a bit of traffic noise, was the soundtrack of their morning circle, which kicked off near a wetland in southeast Denver....

Nebraska Examiner
May 1, 2024
By Cindy Gonzalez
More than 80% of respondents in a new statewide survey agree, and about half strongly agree, that Nebraska lawmakers should support child care and early learning programs as they do for K-12 grades and higher education. About the same proportions believe state legislators should make child care and early learning a higher priority than it is today. And the bulk of parents, nonparents, rural and urban folks alike favored using a portion of a state...