New Case Study: Building Systems that Work in East Providence, RI
First 10 brings together school districts, elementary schools, early childhood programs, and community agencies to build coherent systems of support for young children and their families. Although our First 10 communities share the same model, it comes together differently in each location. In this case study, we showcase an especially strong partnership between a school…
Practical Ideas for Deepening Family Partnerships
We at First 10 were excited to welcome Dr. Karen Mapp to our May network meeting. Dr. Mapp, a Senior Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and Faculty Director of the Education Policy and Management Master’s Program, developed the widely-used Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships for the U.S. Department…
The First 10 Network is Underway: Our First Community of Practice Webinar
A community of practice brings together people around a common interest to share best practices and create new actionable knowledge. We launched our community of practice with a webinar that brought together representatives from our six First 10 states to hear from two groups that are successfully building partnership systems to support young children. Our…
Inaugural First 10 Newsletter
With the launch of our new National First 10 Network in March, we have created a newsletter for First 10 colleagues and friends. We will share resources and news of interest via the newsletter. In our inaugural issue sent April 5, we spotlight the work that East Providence (RI) is doing to share its progress…
How Head Start Programs Can Drive Change in their Communities
All across the country, Head Start, school, and community organizations are working to address the fundamental fragmentation that characterizes our mixed-delivery early childhood systems. In my work leading First 10 school-community partnerships, I’ve witnessed the vital role that Head Start and Early Head Start programs play in supporting the whole child and promoting family well-being. Head Start…
Taking Action for Children and Families: Learning from the First 40 Communities (Post #1)
“The ultimate goal of a stronger, more seamless care and education continuum is to initiate and sustain a strong foundation for future success by providing effective learning opportunities across the infant-toddler years, preschool ages, and early grades in all settings.” (National Research Council, Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation).[1]…
A Game-Changing Opportunity for Early Childhood (Yale School of Medicine)
As we rebuild after the pandemic, we have an enormous opportunity to reinvent early education and care in the United States in ways that dramatically improve outcomes for children and families, strengthen communities, and advance equity for all. In this post, I share three core principles for rethinking how communities serve children and families and…
How to Fix America: Think of Education as More Than Just School
The New York Times business reporter, Andrew Ross Sorkin, asked experts and industry leaders to name one thing we should do right now to “fix America.” Harlem Children Zone leaders Kwame Owusu-Kesse and Geoffrey Canada argue that we must, “We must broaden the focus of education to encompass the communities around the school building.” An…
The Way Forward: Reinventing Early Childhood Education After COVID-19
COVID-19 has exposed a fundamental truth about our systems of education, health, and social services: They are fragmented and siloed, thwarting efforts to improve the quality of learning and care for children. Nowhere is this clearer than in the schools, preschools, and community programs that serve the 44% of U.S. children under 9 identified as…
In Some Cities, Closing Achievement Gaps Is Not for Schools to Fix Alone (Ed Week)
“Weaving a seamless and tailored web of services for children and families inside and outside of school has been the central tenet of an experiment underway in Salem and five other communities over the past two years. The cities—Somerville and Newton, Mass.; Louisville, Ky.; Providence, R.I.; and Oakland, Calif.—set off in 2016 on an experimental…