Elliot's Provocations Archives - Page 2 of 3

Elliot’s Provocations: Avoiding the Implementation “Valley of Death”

Elliot Haspel·Apr 2, 2024·5 min read

There is a concept, variously used in science and business, known as the “valley of death.” In essence, this is the dangerous period between research & development and on-the-ground adoption where many ideas and ventures fail.

Elliot’s Provocations: Child Care or Early Childhood Education?

Elliot Haspel·Dec 1, 2022·9 min read

For my last column of the year, I want to touch on a less-discussed but not-unimportant question: what in the heck should we call the care and education of children during the first five years of their life?

Elliot’s Provocations: In a Year of Unions Flexing Power, Child Care is a Question Mark

Elliot Haspel·Oct 3, 2023·4 min read

Amid major union actions in the auto and entertainment industries and a historic looming strike by health care workers, I want to talk about the role of unions in child care.

The Child Care Sector Starts to Flex Its Muscles

Elliot Haspel·May 17, 2022·4 min read

Child care has traditionally been a politically quiet sector. I don’t mean there hasn’t been resolute advocacy, but that has largely (though certainly not entirely) happened behind the scenes -- at least in the U.S. there isn’t a long history of major public actions such as protests and strikes.

School Readiness and the Tyranny of Merit, Part 1

Elliot Haspel·Aug 2, 2022·11 min read

While we see the tyranny of merit most active in K-12 and higher education, school readiness is the Trojan horse through which it has breached the world of early childhood.

Elliot’s Provocations: The Minimum Viable Child Care Fallacy

Elliot Haspel·Jul 6, 2023·17 min read

I dislike the economic case for child care. I’m not talking about my take on the role of employers, but the near-constant way lawmakers and advocates of both parties rest their case for supporting child care on its function as an economic driver.

Principles for Implementing the Build Back Better Bill

Elliot Haspel·Nov 3, 2021·4 min read

It feels bizarre to be writing these words, but the U.S. stands on the verge of a real early learning system.

How Congress Can Still Save Child Care

Elliot Haspel·Sep 1, 2022·4 min read

While there is much to celebrate about the Inflation Reduction Act, one group was left on the outside looking in: parents with young children.

Elliot’s Provocations: 5 Early Learning Trends for 2024

Elliot Haspel·Dec 6, 2023·8 min read

Last year, I wrote a column on five trends to look for in 2023 (which I think in retrospect were mostly apt, though the answer to ‘is bipartisanship possible’ seems to have been ‘outlook not so good’), and thought it would be worthwhile to do it again as the calendar gets ready to turn.