Page 12 – Early Learning Nation

Head Start Chaos Is Harmful for Children, Parents and Educators

President Trump’s guidance to pause federal funding created uncertainty for many. As the crisis subsides, let’s remember who lost out amid the chaos.

Elliot Haspel·Jan 30, 2025·5 min read

On Monday afternoon, the Trump administration dropped a public policy bomb: the Office of Budget and Management (OMB) released a...

Feeding Our Children’s Future, Neighborhood to National

The Big Fragmented Landscape

Anna Hammond·Nov 14, 2019·7 min read

The good news? With increased research, policy, evaluation, tracking and funding for early childhood nutrition, healthy eating and equitable food access programs, we’re seeing a growing positive impact on the health, cognitive, physical, emotional and social development of the next generation. The not-so-great news? There’s lots of work to do.

Economists Find Investing in Child Care Will Dramatically Reduce Costs, Increase Mother’s Employment and Increase Quality Care

Bryce Covert·Jun 24, 2022·6 min read

After decades of disinvestment in child care that went largely unnoticed, the pandemic knocked the fragile system even more off...

5 Top Takeaways from the CGLR Conversation: AI and the Early Childhood Workforce

Mark Swartz·Jul 24, 2024·3 min read

On June 25, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading held a webinar on the benefits and risks of bringing artificial intelligence...

Mississippi’s “Miracle”: Fourth Grade Reading Scores Keep Climbing. Is Early Learning the Reason?

Mark Swartz·Nov 10, 2023·4 min read

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.”

Why ‘Family, Friend and Neighbor Care’ Is an Essential Part of America’s Child Care System

FFN care is the most common type of non-parental child care in the United States today.

Ashley Álvarez·Jan 14, 2025·6 min read

At 3 a.m., Reina Solano was startled awake by the ring of her phone. Her daughter, Ivonne Valadez Solano, was...

Lessons for Reporting on Child Care – A Glimpse Into the Future

Rebecca Gale·Oct 12, 2022·5 min read

A former editor of mine, while editing a policy-heavy story that needed more depth, lamented the demise of beat reporting....

These Federal Policies Support Spanish-Language Child Care

How some states are building a multilingual child care workforce

Scout Hudson, Hechinger Report·Oct 22, 2024·4 min read

A quarter of the children in the U.S. are Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census, yet 60 percent of Hispanic...

Some of Tennessee’s most vulnerable families could soon get relief from the high cost of diapers, as the state works...

Head Start Chaos Is Harmful for Children, Parents and Educators

Feeding Our Children’s Future, Neighborhood to National

Economists Find Investing in Child Care Will Dramatically Reduce Costs, Increase Mother’s Employment and Increase Quality Care

5 Top Takeaways from the CGLR Conversation: AI and the Early Childhood Workforce

Mississippi’s “Miracle”: Fourth Grade Reading Scores Keep Climbing. Is Early Learning the Reason?

Why ‘Family, Friend and Neighbor Care’ Is an Essential Part of America’s Child Care System

Lessons for Reporting on Child Care – A Glimpse Into the Future

These Federal Policies Support Spanish-Language Child Care

5 Top Takeaways from the Conversation: Strengthening Systems by Embedding Equity when Defining Quality

Building Life-Giving Places with Majora Carter

Thirty Years after Her Gold, Kristi Yamaguchi Reflects on Parenthood, Competition and Kindness

Tennessee on Track to Become First in Nation to Offer Diaper Benefit to Medicaid Families

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