NPR and Education Week offer ways to talk to children about the riots at the U.S. Capitol and care for children in the wake of a traumatic news event.
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“It’s only a matter of time before a tsunami sort of reaches the shore of our service system, and it’s going to be overwhelmed with the mental health needs of kids... I think we’re just starting to see the tip of the iceberg, to be honest with you.” |
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Jason Williams, a psychologist and director of operations of the Pediatric Mental Health Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado
where:
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According to National Women’s Law Center, women lost a total of 156,000 jobs while men gained 16,000 in December 2020. Latina and Black women experienced higher unemployment disproportionately, underscoring the severe impacts of the pandemic on women with children and women of color in particular.
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State
Ohio schools are slated to receive an additional $2 billion in emergency federal funding, as the Ohio Capital Journal explains.
COVID-19-related quarantine rules in effect for schools have been changed, as Patrick O’Donnell explains here.
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Federal
There is a lot happening federally, with a new administration and newly elected representatives coming on board. If you’re curious about what newly Democratic control of the Senate means for child care issues, start here. Meanwhile, this New Yorker piece written before Georgia’s run-off election also offers insightful thinking about how an emphasis on the “care economy” impacted – and could continue to impact – elections. Vox has a similar article. For other education-related election coverage, check out this tool by the 74 Million.
The Washington Post highlights priorities in President-elect Biden’s proposed multitrillion-dollar stimulus relief package, which may include aid distributed to local governments to address immediate needs (including education and child care).
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The Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy is partnering with the City of Columbus and Future Ready Columbus to conduct a study on the early care and education landscape in Franklin County. The study is currently in the data collection phase and researchers are looking for caregivers of children under the age of 5 to participate in a survey on child care. The survey is available in English, Español, and Soomaali and survey participants could receive a $20 gift card if they qualify.
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February 10th at 1 pm: Join EHE’s superintendents-in-residence for “Successful Leadership Through Stress" on how to lead your team through adversity to meet goals and strengthen the educational community in Ohio and across the country. The panelists include EHE Professor of Human Development and Family Science Dr. Suzanne Bartle-Haring, Columbus State Community College President David Harrison, Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted, Ohio State Professor of Medicine and Section Director of Preventative Cardiology and Women’s Cardiovascular Health Dr. Lexi Mehta, Ohio State’s Chief Wellness Officer Dr. Bernadette Melnyk, and Ohio State Senior Vice President and Wolf Foundation Endowed Athletic Director Gene Smith.
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Colorado is experiencing a shortage of qualified early childhood staff. The state launched a public-private partnership in 2017 “to understand the conditions of the workforce and come up with some innovative solutions to support them,” which led to a 2020 recruitment and retention plan for early educators. Lawmakers also passed a bill in 2020 to ease paperwork burdens and streamline licensing requirements. The governor’s 2021 budget proposal aims to fund an apprenticeship program and early educator scholarships.
California may be expanding its transitional kindergarten program, which serves children who turn five between September 2 and December 2 by allowing them to enroll for an extra year of kindergarten. The governor’s newly released state budget aims to allocate $250 million for school districts to expand these programs, which began nearly seven years ago.
Data on New Hampshire’s young learners show a decrease of 36% in children going to public preschool this year as well as 14% fewer children attending public kindergarten. Both preschool and kindergarten are optional in the state, so there is no further information on what families are opting to do instead.
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Child care centers across the country are struggling with staffing shortages. A report published in December by Action for Children shows the facts for central Ohio child care providers: nearly 1/3 are experiencing shortages. Despite evidence that COVID-19's spread within child care programs has remained low, required quarantines for exposure along with a low supply of substitutes has taken its toll. Meanwhile, this Cleveland-focused article from the 74 Million takes a look at what’s at stake for in a city that has until now made great progress on preschool enrollment.
This Hechinger Report opinion piece makes a clear case for prioritizing child care as part of our economic recovery strategy.
A research brief from the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at The University of Texas at Austin shares a clear, compelling, and research-backed case for why investments during these years are so critical.
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The College of Education and Human Ecology’s latest Inspire podcast showcases stories from five Black Ohio State students on their experiences and how educators can help.
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A study published in the Journal of Early Childhood Research examined the beliefs held by parents of preschoolers, in regards to their children’s home-based reading and math engagement and parents’ confidence in fostering these skills. Researchers found that parents tend to foster reading skills over math, that part of the discrepancy seen for math may be due to low confidence in math on the part of parents, and that two-thirds of parents in the sample wanted to receive more information from preschool teachers on their child’s progress and how to help them at home.
Advocates for “flipped classrooms” (where students watch video lectures before class and use class time to work on assignments and group projects) believe that students learn more when class time is spent actively learning instead of passively listening. The Hechinger Report examines the research on this topic (a recently meta-analysis of 114 studies, to be exact), and discusses several takeaways, including that students only learned slightly more in a flipped format and that live video instruction still remains important.
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This edition written by: Jamie Davies O'Leary, Associate Director of Policy and Caitlin Lennon, Communications & Policy Specialist |
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