Arne Duncan: Getting the Movement to a Tipping Point
Arne Duncan speaking to the Early Learning Challenge and Preschool Development Grant grantees: “We need to get the movement for high-quality early childhood education to a tipping point.”
Jim Lesko on “Why a Birth–3rd Approach?”
In Washington, DC for a meeting with Preschool Development Grant and Early Learning Challenge grantees. Jim Lesko of AEM discusses the rationale for Birth–3rd approaches: Eliminates artificial distinction between early childhood and early elementary education. Supports continuity, coherence, and support for children Promotes intentional and collaborative professional development Promotes cross-pollination of knowledge about development leading to…
“Kindergarten Readiness Begins Early in New Bedford”
A great article about how New Bedford, MA has come together to support a focused Birth–3rd strategy. Thanks to Titus DosRemedios and Strategies for Children for laying it out so clearly and compellingly (and for the kind mention). Titus has also been a key contributor to New Bedford’s Partnership. It has been very inspiring to see New…
“Why What You Learned in Preschool Is Crucial at Work”
… Skills like cooperation, empathy and flexibility have become increasingly vital in modern-day work. Occupations that require strong social skills have grown much more than others since 1980, according to new research. And the only occupations that have shown consistent wage growth since 2000 require both cognitive and social skills. … Preschool classrooms, Mr. Deming…
Media Coverage of Tennessee Preschool Study
Education Week’s Early Years blog has a helpful round-up of a wide range of media coverage of the Tennessee preschool study. A few choice excerpts: Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman, whose work on the return of investment on prekindergarten has been cited eagerly by early-education advocates, has weighed in on a study that found Tennessee’s…
New Social and Emotional Learning Standards in Massachusetts
Eye on Early Education reports on Massachusetts’ new Social and Emotional Learning Standards: The standards explain: “As Preschool children enter group settings, they engage in a growing circle of deepening relationships with adults and peers outside of the family, and move from self-focused activity to participation in groups. They develop a growing set of skills…
Carol Dweck Revisits the ‘Growth Mindset’
Carol Dweck, renowned Stanford professor and author of “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” offers important advice about the hard work of promoting growth mindsets. Be sure to see her discussion of the growth mindset being about more than sheer effort and the helpful graphic at the end. From the article: … a few years back, I published…
“What’s the Difference between Boston and Tennessee?”
In a word, quality. “Tennessee doesn’t have a coherent vision,” Dale Farran, a Vanderbilt professor and the Tennessee study’s co-author, told me. “Left to their own devices, each teacher is inventing pre-K on her own.” See David Kirp’s article, Does Pre-K Make Any Difference?, in response to the recent Pre-K study in Tennessee.
Build Initiative’s Community Systems Development Toolkit
The Build Initiative has published a large collection of resources to guide community system-building efforts. The Community Systems Development Toolkit supports the hands-on implementation of collaborative systems work at the local level, providing resource tools that cover the full spectrum of community systems and coordination work. Tailored to the needs of community-based collaboration and organized in…
Interesting Takes on the Kindergarten Social Competence Study
A new study shows that kindergarten teachers’ ratings of social competence strongly predict important adult outcomes. The study has received much attention in the popular press, including a number of thoughtful reactions: The gist from a summary by the study’s funder, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Overall, research findings show that teacher-rated social competence in…