A new partnership between Columbus City Schools, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and PrimaryOne Health aims to bring mobile health services to students; it launches tomorrow!

Quotable & Notable

Fact of the Week

Despite data suggesting that young readers in 43 states seem to be rebounding from the effects of the pandemic and are on track to read on grade-level, nearly one in three still continue to read “far behind” and need intensive interventions, according to this Education Week article.

Policy Radar

Ohio biennial budget 

The House Finance Subcommittee on Health and Human Services heard testimony this week on the budget bill’s child and early care and education related provisions, among other areas. You can view PDFs of testimonies given through each committee webpage and the meeting calendars. The House will continue its hearings before making additions or changes to the bill, before it then proceeds to the Senate. 

New from Crane

Crane researchers led by Dr. Arya Ansari examined the effects of student absenteeism on the development of peer relationships in kindergarten. Overall, classroom friendships did not seem to be influenced by chronic absenteeism. However, for children from households with less education, frequent absenteeism was related to fewer mutual friendships at school. 

Crane partnered with the Kirwan Institute for a special research forum featuring racial equity in early childhood education as well as child opportunity mapping. The recording is now available on Crane’s website for anyone who would like to revisit the work shared by Drs. Humphries and Clemens Noelke. 

Events and Happenings

The Ohio Legislative Children’s Caucus will host a webinar on March 27 (2pm) about the state’s Healthy Beginnings Home Program, an initiative to address infant and maternal health through housing stabilization for Medicaid-eligible pregnant women experiencing or at risk of homelessness.  

Beyond the Buckeye State

The Center for the Study of Childcare Employment outlines lessons from seven states on reforming early childhood educator compensation.

Bonuses up to $14,000 for early childhood workers in Washington, D.C. - made possible through a new tax on high-income earners - may be stabilizing the sector and can be credited for attracting job applicants from surrounding regions. 

What We're Reading

This piece by Cleveland.com discusses various facets of Ohio’s child care industry challenges – including cost, teacher wages, availability of reliable care, and ways the state can invest in it. The article also announces the outlet’s intention to delve deeper in 2023: “We plan to cover perspectives of families searching for childcare, women quitting or cutting back on work, childcare employees, and businesses struggling with hiring. We will examine the policies that contributed to the lack of childcare in America and the programs elsewhere that support a childcare system. We will explain statistics, interview companies with innovative ideas for providing childcare and talk to economists.”

If you’ve spent any time around folks talking about how to pay for early care and education, you’ve likely heard the terms “braided funding” or “blended funding.” This brief from the Children’s Funding Project defines both of these and describes their role in funding strategies for the sector.

During his State of the Union speech, President Biden referred to long-term positive impacts of attending preschool. Politifact provides a useful recap of research to verify the truth behind this talking point. 

This edition written by: Jamie O'Leary and Janelle Williamson