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U.S. education secretary talks "Race to the Top" in Albany
fox23news.com (August 30, 2010) Reported by Walt McClure - The nation's education secretary came to Albany Monday to talk about millions in “Race to the Top” money to turn New York's schools around - and to talk to teachers about their role in that. -see story
'Those of us who work on children’s issues are very depressed'
washingtonpost.com / Economic and Domestic Policy, and Lots of It blog (August 26, 2010) By Dylan Matthews - Edward Zigler is a Sterling Professor of Psychology, emeritus, at Yale University. He was one of the founders of Head Start, and served as head of Office of Child Development and the U.S. Children's Bureau during the Nixon administration. -see blog
New York Wins Nearly $700 Million for Education
New York Times (August 24, 2010) By Jennifer Medina - New York captured almost $700 million for schools when it was selected Tuesday as one of 10 winners in the federal Race to the Top competition, a victory for state education officials as well as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who had pushed the Legislature to enact changes that helped secure the money. -see story
'Cutting funding for early childhood education in order to meet the current budget shortfall is probably not a great idea'
washingtonpost.com / Economic and Domestic Policy, and Lots of It blog (August 24, 2010) By Dylan Matthews - Raj Chetty is a professor of economics at Harvard University. His most recent paper, "How Does Your Kindergarten Classroom Affect Your Earnings?" (PDF), co-authored with John Friedman, Nathaniel Hilger, Emmanuel Saez, Diane Schanzenbach and Danny Yagan, examines Project STAR, a landmark education experiment conducted in the 1980s in Tennessee, which randomly assigned students to classes of different sizes and to different teachers for kindergarten through third grade. -see blog
Big ideas, small chairs: Officials visit Pre-K
The Troy Record (August 23, 2010) By Cecelia Martinez - TROY – In an effort to encourage the State Legislature to improve early childhood education programs, area law enforcement officials sat down and read with a class of preschool children at the Commission for Economic Opportunity. Police Chief John Tedesco, Rensselaer County District Attorney Rich McNally and Rensselaer County Sheriff Jack Mahar visited the program, saying that in addition to preparing children academically, high quality pre-kindergarten prevents crime. -see story
Early learning paves future
timesunion.com (August 19, 2010) By Reid Hislop - As I continue to witness our global competitive advantage decline year after year, and as the school season sets to begin, I have to ask: Is our education system preparing a work force truly ready to compete and excel in a global economy? I am concerned that we are not. -see opinion
Officials encourage early education as way to fight crime
wnyt.com/News Channel 13 (August 18, 2010) - Studies show that early education can cut crime. Wednesday morning, advocates made their point with some kids in Troy. -see story
How to Close the Achievement Gap
The world’s best schools offer important lessons about what works.Newsweek (August 16, 2010) By Mona Mourshad and Fenton Whelan - All over the world, your chances of success in school and life depend more on your family circumstances than on any other factor. By age three, kids with professional parents are already a full year ahead of their poorer peers. -see story
Little Ed program that could
Times Beacon Record (August 13, 2010) Opinion By Nancy Rauch Douzinas - Let me tell you the true story of an education program called the Parent-Child Home Program, started right here on Long Island some years ago. -see story
Police Descend On NY Pre-Schools
public news service (August 10, 2010) ALBANY, N.Y. - The cops are coming and the kids are thrilled. At pre-K centers on Long Island and in Buffalo and Troy over the next two weeks, police chiefs and sheriffs will be the guests of honor. -see story
Partnership spares Pre-K program at Lew-Port
School district teams with Buffalo Niagara YMCA to plug budget hole
Niagara Gazette (August 8, 2010) BY Nick Mattera - LEWISTON — A new partnership with the YMCA Buffalo Niagara has allowed the Lewiston-Porter School District to maintain its universal pre-kindergarten program for the 2010-11 school year. -see story
The children of the great recession
The Huffington Post blog (August 6, 2010) By J.B. Pritzker - Is The Great Recession over? Is it entering a double dip? Will the economy ever fully recover? -see story
Early Start Is Key
Stimulation Helps Child Development
post-journal.com (August 4, 2010) By Andrew Carr - Early childhood education is very important to the development of children said Barbara Bowman. Bowman spoke to a crowd at the Chautauqua Institution on Tuesday, discussing how education beginning at birth can help children immensely when they reach school age. -see story
Quality of Care Matters in Early Education
SEIU.org (August 3, 2010) By Kate Thomas - A study released earlier this summer indicates that the quality of early care has small, but lasting effects. The repercussions of quality of care last at least into adolescence. -see story
Ed policies ignore science on how/ when kids learn
The Washington Post/The Answer Sheet blog (August 2, 2010) By Lisa Guernsey - Our education system starts at age 5, pays little attention to children’s development and achievement until third grade, and is strewn with remedial programs to get older children back on track. -see story
How Preschool Changes the Brain
Wired.com/The Frontal Cortex blog (July 27, 2010) By Jonah Lehrer -We live in a world of scarce governmental resources, and they seem to be getter scarcer. This means it’s more important than ever to pick our public investments wisely. A new paper by Flavio Cunha, an economist at the University of Pennsylvania, and James Heckman, a Nobel Laureate at the University of Chicago, documents the wisdom of one particular kind of investment: Preschool. -see story
"Teach Your Children Well"
The Huffington Post (July 22, 2010) By Pat Earley - I was listening to the radio the other day - tuned in to one of those "Oldies but Goodies" stations - when they started playing the song, "Teach Your Children" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. There are several verses in the song that go, "Teach your children well" . . . and it continues, "Teach your children what you believe in. Make a world that we can live in." As I continued on my way to work, the lyrics of this song kept repeating in my mind and I couldn't help but think back to a recent business summit that I had attended in Boise on early leaning and the importance of early education to our future as individuals, as communities and as a nation. -see story
Many States Adopt National Standards for Their Schools
nytimes.com (July 21, 2010) By Tamar Lewin - Less than two months after the nation’s governors and state school chiefs released their final recommendations for national education standards, 27 states have adopted them and about a dozen more are expected to do so in the next two weeks.
-see story
A Look at Proposed Federal FY 2011 Funding for Early Education
Early Ed Watch blog (July 19, 2010) By Laura Bornfreund - Last week, the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee approved its version of the FY 2011 appropriations bill. In his opening written remarks for the subcommittee’s session, Chairman David R. Obey (D-WI) said, “Because of budget considerations, this bill cannot adequately fund programs that are crucial to people most in need. But the bill tries within constraints to give top priority to the most important problems.” -see story
Ed. Dept. Launches New Early Learning Web Page
Education Week (July 19, 2010) By Lisa Fine - The U.S. Department of Education has added a new page to its website to help keep readers updated on early learning issues. -see story
Reading for Life
Learning to read by third grade is a goal that can organize everything we do for kids.
The American Prospect (July 19, 2010) By Sara Mead - If you're reading this, that probably means that someone, once upon a time, taught you to read. Most likely, this happened sometime in your first few years of elementary school -- -kindergarten or first, second, or third grade -- building the vocabulary and language skills you began developing earlier in your life, starting in infancy and even before you were born. -see story
Our view on early education: Fix Head Start before throwing more money at it
USA Today (July 13, 2010) Opinions- Inside Washington, Head Start — the federal preschool program for low-income children — ranks right up there with motherhood and apple pie. Head Start's promise is that it can change lives by giving disadvantaged kids a much-needed boost in school readiness. -see opinion
-download letters in response
Few States Track Children’s Readiness For School
Early Ed Watch blog (June 29, 2010) By Laura Bornfreund - Years of research point to the importance of developing the skills that children need to succeed in school and identifying the kindergartners who could have benefited from more learning opportunities before arriving. This is what kindergarten readiness assessments are all about. And yet while states have heeded the call to begin developing practices that support readiness, only a few are actually tracking readiness based on established statewide expectations. -see blog
Dodd Seeks to Put Spotlight on Children's Issues
Hearings, Proposed Panel Aim to Focus on Challenges Amid Recessionary Fallout
Education Week (June 15, 2010) By Lisa Fine - Longtime U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, who is retiring at the end of this year, plans to use his last months in office to shine a spotlight on the condition of children. -see story
Our Future Dims as Childhood Poverty Jumps
The Huffington Post (June 10, 2010 ) Opinion By Mark Shriver - USA Today reported this week that the national poverty crisis now affects 1 out of 5 children in the United States, up from 1 out of 6 just four years ago. This astonishing figure is a sober reminder that the recession isn't just stretching our safety net, but it's also threatening the success of the next generation of Americans. -see opinion
Tough Times Ahead for Children of the Great Recession
Education Week / The Hechinger Report (June 8, 2010) By Sarah Garland - More children will live in poverty this year. More will have two parents who are unemployed. Fewer children will enroll in prekindergarten programs, and fewer teenagers will find jobs. More children are likely to commit suicide, be overweight, and be victimized by crime. -see story
It pays to invest in kids' programs
LoHud.com (June 6, 2010) Letter to the Editor By Janice Lubin Kirschner of Seniors4Kids - The recent article, "Funding children's services saves money in the long run," was a powerful argument for investing in our children's future. Supporting the youngest members of our society benefits not only children and their families, but taxpayers and the larger community. -see letter
Condition of Education 2010 Report: Where’s Early Education?
Early Ed Watch blog (June 3, 2010) By Laura Bornfreund - What’s missing from the 2010 edition of the Department of Education’s Condition of Education (COE) report that came out last week? Data on the condition of early education. -see blog
Preschool For All
Good (June 2, 2010) Good Guide to Education Innovation- How universal pre-kindergarten programs are sweeping the country, one state at a time. - see story
Make Child Care Affordable for Working Parents
nytimes.com (May 28, 2010) Opinion/LTE - Re “Cuts to Child Care Subsidy Thwart More Job Seekers” (“The New Poor” series, front page, May 24): Given the economy, you draw important attention to a grave failure in America’s social policy: a growing number of low-income single parents cannot afford to work because of the overwhelming cost of child care. -see letters
State of Education: Pre-K
Educators, legislators, and public agency experts were among the participants at the "Winning Beginning NY" forum.
YNN News (May 27, 2010)
By Vince Gallagher -"The coalition is made up of about sixty organizations from across the state all interested in informing policy makers about how to improve support and service for young people and their families," said Karen Schimke with the Schuyler Center for Advocacy. -see story
20 States Receive State Longitudinal Data Systems Grants
Ed Money Watch blog (May 27, 2010) By Jennifer Cohen - On Monday, the Department of Education announced that 20 states had been awarded State Longitudinal Data Systems grants for the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant cycle. The ARRA provided $250 million for the State Longitudinal Data Systems program which provides three-year competitive grants to states to help design and implement
Pre-K–16 education data systems. -see story
Only Kids Can Fix This Economy
huffingtonpost.com (May 26, 2010) Opinion By J.B. Pritzker - In my day job, I worry non-stop about making wise investments for long-term gains. In my philanthropic work, I do precisely the same, but I face far less worry and enjoy much more certainty. Why? Because I focus on supporting high quality early childhood health care and education. By betting my resources on very young children, I know I'm making an investment that pays guaranteed dividends with a high rate of return. Our politicians ought to do the same, and we ought to demand it. -see opinion
Cuts to Child Care Subsidy Thwart More Job Seekers
nytimes.com (May 23, 2010) The New Poor, By Peter S. Goodman - TUCSON — Able-bodied, outgoing and accustomed to working, Alexandria Wallace wants to earn a paycheck. But that requires someone to look after her 3-year-old daughter, and Ms. Wallace, a 22-year-old single mother, cannot afford child care. -see story
Good Childcare Has Benefits That Last Into High School - But Free Play Time Is Important
Medical News Today (May 16, 2010) - Pre-school children who receive good quality childcare have benefits related to academic and cognitive achievement which persist right up to the end of their high school years, according to an ongoing study. -see story
More Evidence that Quality Matters in Child Care
New America Foundation/Early Ed Watch blog (May 14, 2010) By Lisa Guernsey - The parenting, child care and early learning community is abuzz this morning with news of the latest results from a large national study on the long-term impact of child care. The study, which is to be published today in the May-June issue of Child Development, showed that children in high-quality settings had significantly higher outcomes on tests of cognitve growth at 15 compared to those in less-quality environments. -see story
Your Day Care Choice May Have an Impact on Your Child's Later Success in School
parentdish.com (May 14, 2010) By Tom Henderson - There are obviously many reasons you want to take care when choosing a good day care provider for your infant or toddler. Add this to the list: Your day care provider might affect how well your child does on tests in high school. -see story
“Don’t Cut the Core!” Advocates Protest Planned Budget Cuts
New York Nonprofit Press (May 13, 2010) - Clients, providers and advocates from a variety of programmatic sectors came together at City Hall yesterday to oppose proposed budget cuts to a broad range of “core” human services for children, families and seniors. Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed Executive Budget for FY2011 includes millions of dollars in cuts to child care, after school programs, adult literacy programs, and senior centers. -see story
Kids' day care quality makes slight difference in later tests
usatoday.com (May 13, 2010) By Liz Szabo - Children who attended high-quality childcare as babies and toddlers do slightly better on academic tests at age 15 than kids who were in lower-quality care, according to the largest and longest-running study of its kind, released today from the National Institutes of Health. -see story
Parents, advocates rally against day-care cuts
LoHud.com (May 7, 2010) By Gerald McKinstry - WHITE PLAINS — If Holly Wesley loses a valued day care help, she's not exactly sure where she or her 1-year-old will end up. -see story
Commentary: The Hole in High School Equivalency
The GED was created as a second chance for students to get a degree and move up the economic ladder. New data show it fails to deliver.
Bloomberg Business Week (May 6, 2010) By James Warren - Here's one misconception about the GED: It stands for General Education Development program, not, as is commonly thought, General Equivalency Degree. Here's another: The program doesn't do what it's supposed to do. -see commentary
NY ranks in the middle for pre-K spending, access
The Business Review (May 4, 2010) - Preschool-age children nationwide are feeling the impact of the recession as states cut back on early education programs, according to an annual survey of state-funded preschool programs. -see story
Hard Times Derail Growth of State-Funded Preschool
Education Week (May 4, 2010) By Liz Willen, The Hechinger Report - Early-education programs are struggling to serve all the children who qualify for them, as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has caused states to slash budgets and reduce spending, according to an annual survey of state-funded programs by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. -see story
Education Chief Vies to Expand U.S. Role as Partner on Local Schools
nytimes.com (May 3, 2010) By Sam Dillon and Tamar Lewin- WASHINGTON — Education secretaries usually keep a low profile, in keeping with their agency’s backseat status to states and local districts, which control schools. -see story
Don't dismiss early education as just cute; it's critical
usatoday.com (April 28, 2010) Opinion By Lisa Guernsey - Picture an arborist puzzled by an ailing tree. He has tried giving it more water. He has protected it from blight. Why won't it grow? -see opinion
School Districts Warn of Even Deeper Teacher Cuts
nytimes.com (April 20, 2010) By Tamar Lewin and Sam Dillon - School districts around the country, forced to resort to drastic money-saving measures, are warning hundreds of thousands of teachers that their jobs may be eliminated in June. -see story
Duncan Prescribes Drastic Measures For Schools
NPR.org (April 190, 2010) The Obama administration plans drastic measures for underperforming schools. But school systems are being asked to implement these changes just as cash-strapped states nationwide are considering major teacher layoffs. -see or listen to the story
Liverpool school district eliminates Universal Pre-K
News Channel 9 WSYR/Syracuse (April 7, 2010) - The parents of nearly 200 children in Liverpool will have to find a new pre-k or childcare option for next year. Liverpool's school board has voted to eliminate the district's Universal Pre-K program. - see video
ACS Releases EarlyLearn NYC Concept Paper
New York Nonprofit Press (April 5, 2010) - The New York City Administration for Children’s Services has released a 10-page Concept Paper for its new EarlyLearn NYC program model for “Early Care and Education (ECE)” services. -see story
Obama’s ed reform ignores high-quality Pre-K
The Answer Sheet/Washington Post (April 4, 2010) By Marci Young - The Obama administration’s “blueprint” to Congress for rewriting the law commonly known as No Child Left Behind aims to encourage proven reform strategies and policy-making based on data and research. -see blog commentary
EarlyLearn NYC: ACS Prepares to Revamp
Early Childhood Programming
New York Nonprofit Press (March 31, 2010) New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) is about to offer a first look at EarlyLearn NYC, an entirely new vision and structure for City-contracted early childhood programs. -see story
A Next Social Contract for the Primary Years of Education
New America Foundation (March 30, 2010) By Lisa Guernsey and Sara Mead - Research shows that education investments in the earliest years of life make the greatest difference in the educational outcomes of children and can have a long-term impact on the workforce and citizenry of the United States. Yet today's education policies do not reflect that understanding, nor do they do nearly enough to prompt improvements in the primary years of our public education system. -see story
Children need good start in life
timesunion.com (March 29, 2010) Letter to the Editor by Jack Mahar - The March 15 commentary by F. Michael Tucker and John Cavalier, "Educate our kids, and the jobs will be there," calls for greater investment in early care and education in the Capital Region and elsewhere in the state. -see letter
Early Learning in ESEA, Part 5: Recommendations to the U.S. House's Ed & Labor Committee
Early Ed Watch blog (March 29, 2010) By Lisa Guernsey - Create a fund for states or districts that prompts improvements throughout the early years of children's education, from pre-kindergarten to third grade. Reward states for creating high-quality early education systems. Include pre-K teachers in professional development programs. Improve data collection to include the years before kindergarten entry. -see blog
Escaping From Poverty
The New York Times (March 24, 2010) Opinion By Nicholas D. Kristof - Before I ask for a drumroll and reveal “the secrets” of fighting poverty, a bit of background: -see Opinion
AP source: New York Assembly to block many cuts in state budget
syracuse.com (March 24, 2010) By the Associated Press - ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s Assembly was set Wednesday to release its version of a crisis budget that won’t include many of Gov. David Paterson’s proposed cuts to schools, hospitals and public universities and would keep all the state’s parks open, an official said. -see story
Nobel Laureate Speaks At Case Early Childhood Education Forum
npr radio/wcpn.org (March 18, 2010) Earlier this year, the Obama administration promised to make a major investment in early childhood education to the tune of $10 billion. It's not clear what form that would take, but it would be the largest new early childhood initiative since Head Start in the 1960's. -hear interview with James Heckman
Educate our kids, and the jobs will be there
timesunion.com (March 15, 2010) Commentary By
JOHN C. CAVALIER AND F. MICHAEL TUCKER - Let's face it. These are hard economic times in New York, with some experts predicting that our economic woes could drag on for another two years. -see commentary
The Cliffhanger: What Will Become of Challenge Grants and Home Visitation?
New America Foundation/Early Ed Watch Blog (March 12, 2010) By Lisa Guernsey - A few weeks ago, we wrote about the imperiled fate of the proposed Early Learning Challenge Grants -- a competitive federal grant program that would provide winning states with funding to improve quality and access to child care and pre-K programs for disadvantaged children, birth to 5. Today, it's becoming clear that Congress's machinations over health-care reform could determine whether this program passes this year. -see blog
Child care payoff
Study finds economic benefits gained from programs for children
timesunion.com (March 12, 2010) By Larry Rulison, Business writer - ALBANY -- If you want to help boost the economy quickly, spend money on early education and child care for children five and under. -see story
Business Leaders See Major Economic Boost for NY By Expanding Child Care and Pre-K
WAMC
Northeast Public Radio (March 11, 2010) By Dave Lucas - ALBANY, NY (WAMC) - There's a report out showing that New York should keep up investments in pre-k and child care as an effective way to stimulate the economy and build a stronger workforce. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports. -see story
Advocates Protest Day Care Closings
New York Nonprofit Press (March 4, 2010) - Parents, advocates, employees and elected officials turned out at City Hall yesterday to protest the Administration for Children’s Services plans to close a total of 16 child care centers. The closings are part of Mayor Bloomberg’s efforts to close the City’s budget gap and are designed to save $16 million on an annualized basis. -see story
ACS Lists 15 Day Care Centers to Be Closed
New York Nonprofit Press (February 4, 2010) - The NYC Administration for Children’s Services has released a list of 15 day care centers to be closed as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s Preliminary Financial Plan for FY2011 which begins on July 1st. -download story
Budget update: School Aid cuts laid out here
timesunion.com / Capitol Confidential blog (January 19, 2010) By Rick Karlin - Keep this chart from the governor’s on-line budget proposal in mind: It’s going to be one of the more contentious points in what is sure to be a lengthy budget-building battle with the Legislature. -see blog
DOE seeks UPK providers
New York Nonprofit Press (January 13, 2010) - New York City Department of Education (DOE) is seeking providers for the implementation of Universal Prekindergarten Programs in New York City districts with a high need for prekindergarten seats. -see story
Should the Government Help Provide Child Care?
Wall Street Journal Blogs/The Juggle Blog (Jan. 5, 2010) By Sue Shellenbarger - Any working parent knows child care is an economic issue. The ability to find and pay for good daycare has a big influence on whether parents work for pay and how many children they decide to have. -see blog
Pre-K lottery next in line
Albany school district to use new system to eliminate long lines of parents waiting to register students
timesunion.com (January 4, 2010) By Scott Waldman - The long line of shivering Albany school district parents aiming to get the jump on pre-kindergarten registration is a thing of the past. -see story
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