Everyone likes good news, so it’s no wonder that when Mississippi went from being ranked second-worst in 2013 for fourth grade reading scores to 21st in 2022, the media kept using the m-word. “Everybody keeps on calling this a miracle,” says Dr. Jill Dent, executive director, Early Childhood Education, Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). “But we have worked really hard, and we were very intentional.”
On Thursday, June 18, Common Sense Media and the Commonwealth Club hosted a conversation titled “Parenting in Support of Black Lives: How to Build a Just Future for Kids (and How Media Can Help).”
Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith, a clinician, consultant and trainer, moderated the conversation, with Julie Lythcott-Haims (How to Raise an Adult) and Ibram X. Kendi (How to Be an Antiracist) weighing in on a range of urgent issues for parents and, really, anyone concerned about the state of our union.
Here are five takeaways from the event, which is available for viewing.
The Pandemic Disrupted Gender Equity at Home. Will It Last?
New Data Explored at Better Life Lab at New America Symposium
Before the pandemic began in March 2020, Melissa and Richard Head would have said they evenly split the child care...
Though it’s been decades since I’ve read it, I’m certain I could come out of a deep sleep and, if...
We’re major fans of The Hunt Institute’s Early Efforts series of webinars moderated by Dan Wuori, Ph.D., who is not only unfailingly eloquent but also thoroughly well versed in the nuances of policy and the implications for young learners.
When the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project reported earlier this year that women in the workforce have made the greatest contribution...
A Decade Ago, Universal Pre-K Seemed Inevitable. What Went Wrong?
Williams: Politics may have killed universal pre-K but the research, results and family economics that made it such a strong bet are alive and well.
Early in my career — when the world was still young and the nihilistic carnival wing of our politics seemed...
Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suddenly became the federal agency everybody knew about. Responding to...
We have a great public library in Takoma Park, Md., but ever since the first Little Free Libraries started popping...
The New Year, with its metaphor of clear vision, calls out to all of us to think about the future; to envision a better world for children, youth, and families. While we can’t predict what the decade will bring, we can use what we have learned over the years—and our common sense—to set some goals and move forward. Here is what I see and hope for in a new year, in a new decade.
According to NYU University Professor Lawrence Aber, poverty and violence are the two most toxic challenges for child development – areas he has researched from the U.S. to Africa and the Middle East. Regardless of location, children can experience poverty and violence in difference ways and levels. Aber explains the research, tools and tactics required to give children the best opportunities for successful development. Filmed for Early Learning Nation’s Mobile Studio at the Society for Research in Child Development’s biennial meeting in Baltimore, MD, on March 22, 2019. #SRCD19
Guilford, the third largest county in North Carolina, was the site of the 1960 Woolworth counter sit-in that helped spread...













