Researchers and clinicians offers tips to help children “break out of their pandemic bubble" - in other words, to help them manage the effects of isolation and anxiety as the world increasingly returns to “normal.”
|
|
“There's nothing soft or second-tier about child care as infrastructure. That's what it is. And I can tell you that the business community recognizes this, that this is as important to them as transportation modes for recruiting and retaining the workforce that they have, and getting them back to work. The pandemic revealed so much about the inequities, and the under-investment in child care was one of those glaring areas.” |
|
|
|
A new report from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio ranks the state 47th out of 50 states and D.C. on its “health value.” According to HPI, the reasons contributing to this poor ranking include lack of prevention services, inequities, and several factors related to children, namely that so many Ohio children experience early life trauma and that the state ranks poorly on indicators that expose children to adversity and trauma (such as drug overdoses and incarceration).
The much-discussed school funding overhaul (the Fair School Funding Plan, previously known as the Cupp-Patterson Plan after the lawmakers who led workgroups and the development of the proposal) was accepted in a substitute version of the budget bill in the Ohio House Finance committee. Ohio lawmakers have been working for years on the latest funding overhaul, which may finally end up passing this year via the biennial budget process. The details related to changing the formula are complicated and vast; we look forward to seeing funding simulation models to observe what it might mean for Ohio students once fully phased in (across six years).
On the topic of funding, Pres. Biden is pushing for historic increases to Title 1 federal funds, which provides funds to schools with high percentages of students living in poverty. He is also seeking increases for early childhood education, special education, and student wellbeing, and wants a grant program that would help schools come up with desegregation plans.
|
|
Missouri’s education agency has begun utilizing a hub model for early childhood education, funded through a $6.5 million federal grant. The newly named 16 regional hubs will be run by a nonprofit and partner with local school districts to enroll more children in preschool. The governor also announced the creation of an Office of Childhood earlier this year, which is set to open this summer.
In New York City, officials are making mental health a priority for the new school year. Towards this goal, the city’s education department is creating a parent-facing program that will pay parents $500 to become “wellness ambassadors” to address mental health needs in 950 schools.
Idaho lawmakers may end up accepting federal early childhood education dollars, after all. This comes after a protracted debate about whether early childhood funding and a partnership with NAEYC might “indoctrinate young children with a social justice agenda.” We don’t normally like giving attention to such misinformed ideas, but there *are* state lawmakers across the U.S. who really do hold antiquated ideas like this. It serves an important reminder about the ways in which politicians may differ in viewing child care as a public good (versus the role and responsibility of the family), or as part of a larger cultural debate.
|
|
The Crane and Schoenbaum Family Centers are hosting an event on Tuesday, April 27 from 1:30-3 pm on “Building ideal learning environments for children of color.” The webinar will feature Dr. William Jackson, chief dreamer at Village of Wisdom (VOW) in Durham, North Carolina, and a panel of early childhood educators from the Schoenbaum Family Center. Find more details and register here.
Crane Center scientists Rebecca Dore, Laura Justice and Kelly Purtell recently had their study, “Media Use Among Kindergarteners from Low-Income Households During the COVID-19 Shutdown, ” published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. They found that weekly average media use was 6.6 hours per day and that reported weekday media use was higher than weekend, suggesting media was likely being used as a replacement for time in school during the pandemic. The results of the study suggest that among this population of children, high levels of media use appear prevalent, but the varied uses of media caregivers reported suggests they are relying on media to supplement their children’s learning during the pandemic.
|
|
Some experts are predicting that an increasing number of kindergarteners will be less prepared for formal schooling and that the gaps between incoming kindergarteners (ages 4, 5, and 6) may be vast. Idea Stream takes a look at Ohio data on this topic.
The New York Times explains how forward-thinking Pres. Biden’s new infrastructure plan is, with the “care economy... being recognized for what it is: invisible scaffolding that allows American workers to actually get the job done.”
This Washington Post column argues that Pres. Biden’s policy initiatives might be seen through a gender lens as well; the policies “directly acknowledge structural sexism in American society — and provide substantial resources to remedy the problem.”
In a post for Education Week, researchers discuss student chronic absenteeism, a metric used in state and district accountability systems which may have lost some of its usefulness due to changing types of schooling during the pandemic. (How does one capture attendance in a virtual or hybrid world?) It’s a thoughtful read about the need to rethink what is essentially student access to meaningful participation.
|
|
Here’s an interesting Q&A with Deborah Lowe Vandell, a researcher on child care programs and afterschool programs, whose new study suggests that both types of programs can predict higher academic achievement years later. Similarly, a study examining outcomes for students in Georgia found that children who attended the state’s pre-K program were more likely to math reach benchmarks in grades 4-7.
|
|
This edition written by: Jamie Davies O'Leary, Associate Director of Policy and Caitlin Lennon, Communications & Policy Specialist |
|
|
|
|
|
|
