Talking is Teaching Community Campaign Guide
Check out the growing list of resources on the Too Small to Fail website, including the Talking is Teaching Community Campaign Guide.
Introducing the New “Transforming the Workforce” Report
For an introduction to the important new report, Transforming the Workforce For Children Birth through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation, see this post by Lisa Guernsey, who served on the report’s committee. From Guernsey’s post: At the report’s heart is the recognition that supporting the growth and development of young children from birth through age…
Chicago’s Birth-to-College Collaborative
The Ounce of Prevention Fund (“the Ounce”) has organized a Leadership Summit on the role of districts in Birth through 3rd Grade efforts in Chicago this week. More on the Summit to come, but as a start I’d like to highlight some of the recommendations found in the Ounce’s Birth-to-College Collaborative Toolkit, a compendium of guidance documents and tools that communities implementing Birth–3rd…
New Bedford’s Emerging Work on Transitions and Some Good Resources
The New Bedford Birth–3rd Leadership Alignment Team has chosen to focus its work on three strategies: 1) improving transitions, 2) aligned and collaborative professional development for community-based and district early childhood teachers focused on social-emotional and literacy skills, and 3) effective use of Teaching Strategies Gold data. I’m supporting the New Bedford team along with…
Birth–3rd Policy Developments in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts team that participated in the National Governors Association early learning policy academy reports several new developments: The Boards of the Department of Early Education and Care and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education have created a joint birth through grade 3 sub-committee that will include representatives from both boards. The team has released…
Family Engagement Teaching Cases
The renowned Harvard Family Research Project has developed a new resource that is available to the public, The Create Your Case Toolkit. This toolkit builds on the Harvard Family Research Project’s extensive work on Family Engagement Teaching Cases. Here is how the Family Research Project describes the new tool: Stories help people form relationships and…
Announcing: New Early Educators Leadership Institute in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) is sponsoring Getting It Right for Children: Early Educators Leadership Institute, a series of four full-day workshops that begins in late February. The EEC has contracted with Early Childhood Associates to offer the Institute. The Institute will feature prominent national and state early learning leaders, including: Albert Wat…
Preparing to Launch: Early Childhood’s Academic Countdown
Also don’t miss the helpful collection of articles in Education Week’s 2015 edition of Quality Counts, which focuses on early childhood education.
Not To Be Missed: Chris Martes in Commonwealth Magazine
Don’t miss the recent article in Commonwealth Magazine by Chris Martes, president and CEO of Strategies for Children: “A Chance to Lead on Early Education.” As Martes says, From the White House to business boardrooms to the offices of scores of Republican and Democratic mayors, governors, and members of Congress, we’re seeing historic momentum on…
Why Some Teams Are Smarter Than Others?
Are some teams “smarter” than others? Researchers at MIT and Carnegie Mellon say yes. They have found three characteristics that distinguish smarter teams. You may be surprised by the results, which make a strong case for well-structured, interactive meetings guided by discussion protocols that create a level playing field for rich conversations.