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…

School-Connected Play & Learns

The First 10 Network launched in 2022 as a way to connect First 10 communities to one another so that they can learn about and build on each other’s innovations and adapt them to meet local needs. At our February network meeting, a panel of on-the-ground experts from the First 10 community—facilitators who lead play…

Alabama Launches a New Transition to Kindergarten Toolkit

Alabama launched its new Transition to Kindergarten Toolkit in December. We have really appreciated the opportunity to partner with Alabama on this important resource. Congrats to Secretary Barbara Cooper (Department of Early Childhood Education), her team, and her colleagues in other agencies. Alabama asks me to convey its thanks to the Rhode Island Department of…

New Webinar Series: How School and Communities can Serve the Whole Child

Save the Dates. Such great work happening all around the country. We have lined up four engaging panels of fantastic leaders to share their expertise and experience. Our theme: Advancing equity through comprehensive approaches that address teaching and learning, deep family engagement, health and social service supports, and continuous improvement. Excited to be working with…

Education Week Reviews the All Children Learn and Thrive Study

  Education Week’s Christina Samuels begins her review of the All Children Learn and Thrive study as follows below. I appreciate that she highlights several examples from the study. While the Executive Summary provides the key findings and proposes a theory of action, see the Full Report for numerous case studies and a fuller explanation…

Video Recording: New America Panel on the First 10 Years

In case you missed it, here is the video recording of the April 30 New America panel event on my new study. The study, All Children Learn and Thrive: Building First 10 Schools and Communities, examines partnerships between school districts and communities to improve teaching, learning, and care throughout the first decade of children’s lives….

New Study, New Name: Introducing First 10

The P-3 Learning Hub is changing its name. We are now called First 10. For the past two years I have been working on a study funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation. The study investigates community initiatives that combine improving teaching and learning in the early grades with strong family partnerships and comprehensive services—all underpinned by…

How a School-Based Early-Learning Program Boosted Later College Attendance (Ed Week)

“Preschool may be be good at offering short-term academic gains for kids, but a program that provided services starting at preschool through 3rd grade showed benefits for children that boosted their college attendance rates years later, according to a new study. Researchers examined the life outcomes of nearly 1,000 children who attended the Chicago Child-Parent Centers…

Innovative Communities Support Young Children and their Families

Just out in Kappan magazine: “In many cities and towns across the United States, elementary schools are forging deeper partnerships with families and community organizations well before children arrive at kindergarten. The aim of this work is to improve children’s experiences and family engagement and support along the entire continuum from prenatal care through grade…