We love hearing about on-the-ground research efforts like this one, where teachers were funded and trained to “conduct high-quality classroom research, from miniature randomized controlled trials to A/B tests, a type of split experiment often used by online retailers.”
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"It is clear that the Step Up To Quality program is working in Ohio but removing required participation will only hurt Ohio’s children – particularly for Ohio’s low-income, minority, at-risk and Appalachian children... High quality means children are better prepared for kindergarten, more likely to meet the third-grade reading guarantee and more likely to graduate from high school. In fact, every $1 invested in high quality care today results in $13 saved tomorrow." |
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By 2025, an estimated 560,000 child care workers would receive an increase in take-home pay if the federal minimum wage increased from $7.25 to $15 per hour, according to a new report from Economic Policy Institute and reported on by CNBC.
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State
Ohio lawmakers have entered the final stages of deliberation on the state’s budget bill and will discuss in conference committee – among a vast number of other items – both school funding and rules governing Ohio’s publicly funded child care system.
While the Senate amended its own bill last week to remove a prohibition on spending federal dollars for early educator stipends, the removal of the Step Up to Quality mandate remains a prominent point of difference between the two chambers, who go through this process every two years on nearly the same schedule – reaching finalization by the end of June because that is the statutory deadline. For those wanting to make their voices heard on SUTQ, Groundwork Ohio is coordinating an effort on its webpage.
Members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus are calling for June 19/Juneteenth to be an official state holiday. A bipartisan bill has been introduced to do just that, and has been awaiting hearing since February.
Efforts are also underway in the Ohio legislature to restrict how Ohio school districts, state agencies, and even institutions of higher education teach racial history, or what the bill authors deem “divisive topics.” They also propose requiring the Ohio Department of Education to withhold funding from districts not complying with the prohibition. Another bill would place restrictions on teaching about both “race and sex” as well as “current events.” Lawmakers in many states, especially those led by conservatives, are heading down a similar path.
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Join National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment for a webinar on Wednesday, June 23rd at 3 pm to learn more about how American Rescue Plan funds can be utilized to increase compensation for early childhood educators. Register here.
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Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced a three-year, $405 million plan that would extend the state’s preschool program to all eligible 4-year-olds, if approved by the state legislature.
A bill signed into law last week by Nevada governor Steve Sisolak will give students three excused absences for mental health days and will allow mental and behavioral health professionals to excuse student absences. The bill comes at a time when youth mental health issues are increasing after being exacerbated by the pandemic.
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In this report, the Bipartisan Policy Center offers a “cohesive vision for child care, Head Start, and pre-K.” It covers a lot of solid ground, including a look at inefficiencies in how programs are governed, funded, and administered, as well as a discussion on the unintended consequences of universal pre-K.
Articles like this one based on the latest national child care data suggest that closures over the last year were less widespread than feared. However, two facts seem worth highlighting in tandem with this: 1) The child care sector is still at a fragile point, and in need of continued federal and state investments, and 2) Perhaps lower than expected closure rates should remind us that large, historic federal investments worked and that “relief funds over the past year have helped to prevent the worst from happening in the child care system.”
This brief by NAEYC explains how states should use federal relief dollars to increase early childhood educator compensation.
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This article in Education Week offers sound advice regarding what currently constitutes “evidence-based” in the world of educational interventions and activities, as well as what should. The authors explain that the current bar for “evidence” rooted in federal education law (ESSA) requires just one single study demonstrating student success, and share findings from their analyses illustrating that the majority of Title 1 funds (70%) were spent by districts in their sample on activities or programs with a single study providing their effectiveness. They offer an important caution that “the more often a program is studied, the less likely it is always found to be effective” and “this means that ESSA can inadvertently tip the scales toward less studied—but not necessarily more promising—interventions.”
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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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