Earlier this month, Early Learning Nation magazine created our first-ever survey to better understand our audiences’ motivation for reading and sharing our work. Why? We want to better inform our work in the early learning landscape, and to garner reader’s help to measure our impact. To sweeten the response pot, participants who wanted, were entered to win a book bundle package of some of our favorite books. Applause, please, for Becky T from Birth to Five Illinois!
Here’s how we did it. We sent the survey invitation to our Substack subscribers and our monthly newsletter subscribers, who are among our most engaged audiences (88% of respondents came from either our monthly newsletter or our Substack subscribers). Of the 200 respondents, 100% completed the entire survey.
Here are the top-line learnings:
- Our most popular topics are policy and brain science research, followed by local success stories
- People find us through their professional settings: our work is discussed/shared in the workplace and in their professional online networks
- Our readers take actions that connect them with other people and organizations working in the sector—we help them find and make those connections. Actions included joining a webinar, writing a letter to the editor, reading a book, following new people on social media and signing up for a newsletter or Substack.
- Two-thirds would like for Early Learning Nation magazine to have a podcast
- 86% say our work is very or extremely valuable
- 95% find our work is trustworthy
- Respondents said that they are most concerned about funding, equity and access facing the early childhood sector
- They also wish more people understood early learning’s impact on future outcomes
- They want everyone to understand that play is critical to learning
- The most-used phrase on how they would describe us was: “A great resource”
- Demographically, survey respondents were evenly distributed across age groups, overwhelmingly identified as female/feminine spectrum, live throughout the country, and most are parents themselves
- 26% of our respondents identified themselves as directors or administrators of early learning organizations and programs; 18% as educators; 10% as researchers
- 7% of respondents had a .edu email address; 4% had .gov email addresses
When asked how they describe Early Learning Nation magazine to friends and colleagues, responses included:
- “Ahead of the pack publication to go to for EL content. Broad range of topics, from neuroscience to policy to practice. Covers topics before they hit the mainstream.”
- “A valuable resource offering insights on challenges, success and research in the child care industry”
- “A well-curated, insightful and relevant early childhood news source”
- “An awesome well-written research-based magazine with lots of informative information”
- “A great resource to learn more about what’s happening in the policy and practice of early learning”
- “A valuable resource to deepen and broaden knowledge of early childhood education and policy across the country”
- “A high-quality early childhood resource for practitioners, particularly those at the larger systems levels, that shares up to date and relevant work, policy and science in the field”
5 Ways to Stay in Touch:
- Get the latest in early learning policy, research and more by signing up for our monthly newsletter, which offers a recap of the month’s offerings.
- Join our Substack to receive an email as each article is published.
- Grab a coffee or cocktail and explore our Early Learning Nation Studio interviews with early learning leaders, authors, practitioners and innovators.
- Follow us on social media for a distinctive, engaging voice and to-the-minute updates– we’re active on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. You can also find us on newer platforms like Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon.
- Visit our site for the latest articles and all of our rich archives.
