At Start Early, we point to Research, Program & Policy Partnership (RPP) as our guiding framework for data usage among our early childhood programs and services. RPPs consist of collaborations among different teams working toward improvement that is informed by research to understand what works and what does not work, and to allocate resources effectively for the most effective and sustainable progress.

To ensure continuous quality improvement, we recently sought to gain a better understanding of data literacy among Start Early’s Early/Head Start (E/HS) staff and how they currently use data for improving practice. We also recognized this as an opportunity to reaffirm the important role of RPPs in implementing effective changes through data.

Data Literacy: the ability to meaningfully explore, understand, use and communicate with data

The Early/Head Start Network and Research & Evaluation teams collaborated to conduct and analyze the annual Staff Data Utilization Survey from May 2023. This survey measured understanding of and experiences with data from various E/HS staff members across multiple Start Early programs.

Key Findings

95% of the 235 respondents reported that data is an important piece to serving children and families (Figure 1), affirming how important it is that all staff have the training and resources they need to understand and use data.

Chart showing 95% agree and 4% disagree

Figure 1

Our findings also highlighted that many staff, particularly content area specialists and coordinators, family support specialists and home visitors, reported overall high enjoyment, confidence and understanding of data use and management.

Other staff, specifically assistant and lead teachers, expressed less enjoyment in understanding and using data and noted the need for more personalized training in data use and management.

A common hurdle for staff in using data was found to be a lack of time available to enter and work with data, making it essential to find creative solutions that fit into busy schedules.

The Power of Research, Program & Policy Partnerships

Our findings confirmed and emphasized that ongoing training and professional development opportunities were needed. Thus, the Early/Head Start Network partnered with Start Early’s professional development experts, which provides customized professional development trainings for early childhood professionals, to develop a one and a half day training for its E/HS staff later that year.

This training was open to all E/HS staff and focused on breaking down steps in data analysis and utilization, creating awareness and understanding of data terminology, and building confidence in using data to inform practice.

Overall, training participants shared that they learned helpful tools, gained confidence and, as a result, now have a better understanding of data utilization for their work. All participants said this training met their professional development needs and would recommend it to their colleagues.

Conclusion

This example highlights the crucial role that exploring data literacy plays in informed decision-making and enhancing outcomes for children and families. The collaboration between Start Early’s Early/Head Start Network, Research & Evaluation and professional development teams led to a successful training program and demonstrated the value of this ongoing work. We are committed to continue using the RPP framework, showcasing how collaboration can bridge research and practice in data literacy and drive meaningful improvements in programs, policies and practice for children and families.

If you’re interested in exploring how an RPP framework and other tools can drive improvements in your early childhood system, please reach out! You can get in touch with Start Early’s Research & Evaluation team via email at Research@startearly.org.

Earlier this month I had an opportunity to participate on a panel at the Hunt Institute Summit alongside my good friend Connecticut Commissioner of Early Education, Beth Bye and Stanford Professor, Phillip Fisher. During the panel, we engaged with legislators, mayors, city council and school board members from 49 states and the Virgin Islands.

We were all gathered in one room to talk about the importance of early care and education.  Our conversation focused on four critical components of growth and impact for ECE programs identified by The Hunt Institute within their State Snapshots 2024 report:

  • Access
  • Affordability
  • Funding
  • Quality

Over the three-day Summit, we discussed how various states rank on each of these areas. Additional detail regarding the state rankings can be found in The Hunt Institute’s State Snapshots 2024 report. Currently, no one state is doing well in all four areas. In fact, most states scored around a 2 on a scale of 1-4 in each area.

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As I reflect on our conversation, I remain concerned that our country hasn’t figured out a solution to comprehensively address early care and education. Our youngest citizens are certainly worth the investment. The answers were right there in the room, and we left yet another summit without actionable solutions.

The words of acclaimed researcher and quality education pioneer Ronald Edmonds came to mind as I boarded my flight: “We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need to do that. Whether or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far.”

We know that investing in children 0-5 years old is a proactive solution. I know this personally, having reaped the benefits of a high-quality early education through Head Start as a 4-year-old on the south side of Chicago over 50 years ago. I went on to spend over 25 years at the highest levels of state government leading Birth to Grade 12 settings across the country. In my work, I often saw remediation and intervention became the solution as kids walked into classrooms NOT Kindergarten Ready because they did not get what they needed when their brain was developing, during the most critical years from 0-5.

It is beyond time for us to do something. I certainly hope in my lifetime we will once and for all comprehensively address and fix our Prenatal to Age 5 early care and education challenges. As I shared during the plenary panel at The Hunt Institute Summit, prioritizing our youngest citizens IS the economic plan and future for a better America. Early care investments give us a two for one-we address the workforce challenges of today, limited access to affordable high-quality child care, and we also ensure that the next generation of citizens receive what they need during the early foundational years so that they can become tomorrow’s leaders. Let’s leave a legacy of being the first generation of Americans to solve the early care and education crisis!

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Summer is in full swing! Along with the fun the season brings, young children, expectant parents, and those who care for them face many decisions about how to safely navigate heat, poor air quality, extreme weather, and more. Compared to the general population, infants, young children, and pregnant people are more susceptible to the effects of extreme heat.

It is important for child care providers to know how to manage these environmental risks as they plan to keep children and staff safe. Child care providers are also in a unique position to support families by providing resources and guidance to keep children safe while at home.

Below are some common questions caregivers might have about how to protect young children and families from extreme heat and resources to help answer them:

  • How do I know when it’s too hot for infants and young children to play outside?
    • Check out this informative Child Care Weather Watch Poster from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. This resource tells us how to determine if the weather is suitable for outdoor play for infants and young children, both when it’s cold and hot outside.
  • How can I find heat-related health information specific to my community?
  • How do I know when extreme heat is coming to my community?
    • The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) HeatRisk Forecast color-coded map shows a seven-day heat forecast and health risks. CDC also has a HeatRisk Dashboard with resources for high-heat days, local air quality details, and actions to stay safe. The CDC has guidance for heat health, focused on children with asthma, people who are pregnant, and people with cardiovascular disease.
    • Looking for heat updates in your inbox? Check out the Monthly Climate Outlook Reports by the HSS Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE) with forecasts for heat, drought, wildfire, hurricanes, and more for your region. Use this link (the “OCCHE” subscription option) to sign up for the monthly reports via email. See this link for the August report.
  • What heat-related emergencies are happening in my community?
    • The OCCHE and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) NEMSIS Heat-Related EMS Activation Surveillance Dashboard has a map and graph with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) data about heat-related emergencies. The information is useful for knowing heat-related risks in your area.

We encourage child care providers and those supporting networks of providers to share these resources broadly. Climate change is an early childhood issue and programs supporting young children and their families need tools to be responsive and climate-resilient. These resources can be helpful not only during the summer, but year-round, as communities around the globe face an increasing number of extreme weather events.

Interested in other resources supporting early childhood professionals? Sign-up for our newsletter here.

Looking for helpful resources about air quality? Find them here.

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Summer is in full swing! Along with the fun the season brings, young children, expectant parents, and those who care for them face many decisions about how to safely navigate heat, poor air quality, extreme weather, and more. Compared to the general population, infants, young children, and pregnant people are more susceptible to the effects of poor air quality.

It is important for child care providers to know how to manage these environmental risks as they plan to keep children and staff safe. Child care providers are also in a unique position to support families by providing resources and guidance to keep children safe while at home.

Below are some common questions caregivers might have about how to protect young children and families if the air quality is poor, and resources that will help answer them:

  • How can I monitor my local air quality to ensure that it is safe outside for infants, young children, and pregnant people?
    • The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) AirNow Air Quality Index (AQI) Map displays the air quality in your local area and recommends precautions to take when needed. The AirNow Fire and Smoke Map also provides real-time information about where wildfires are happening across the U.S. and Canada and how they might affect your local air quality.
    • As you’re planning the day ahead for yourself or those in your care, access the map on the go and sign up for notifications about local air quality alerts using the AirNow smartphone app.
    • AirNow also has easy guidance for when and how outdoor physical activity should be modified for young children and pregnant people based on air quality: if the air quality is at orange level or above (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups or 101–150) these groups should reduce prolonged and heavy exertion outdoors. EPA also offers educational activities and materials on air quality (recommended for children ages 4 to 7).
  • What steps can I take to protect infants, young children, and staff on days with poor air quality or extreme heat?
    • This resource from the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood includes information about protecting the health of children and staff on days with extreme heat or compromised air quality.
  • Where can I find programmatic guidance about poor air quality and other disasters- before and after they happen?
  • Where can SNAP and WIC be used when poor air quality and other disasters cause families to evacuate?
    • When poor air quality impacts communities, families sometimes face the difficult decision of evacuating their homes. For families who rely on nutrition assistance programs, relocating can cause confusion about how to transfer SNAP and WIC benefits across state lines. EBT can be used across state lines for SNAP and CalFresh. Families who have WIC can continue to use their benefits until their certification expires. Families must have proof that they received WIC benefits in another area or state and should contact their WIC office with any questions.
  • How do I talk with young children and families about wildfires and other climate change issues?
    • Trinka and Sam: The Big Fire is both a coloring book and story, with a parents’ guide at the end of the book with prompts for how to talk about wildfires and their aftermath with families. The book is available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Greek. See a similar story about hurricanes by the same authors.

We encourage child care providers and those supporting networks of providers to share these resources broadly. Climate change is an early childhood issue and programs supporting young children and their families need tools to be responsive and climate-resilient. These resources can be helpful not only during the summer, but year-round as communities around the globe face an increasing number of extreme weather events.

Interested in other resources supporting early childhood professionals? Sign-up for our newsletter here.

Looking for helpful resources to protect yourself and the children and families in your care from extreme heat this summer? Find them here.

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Child care remains inaccessible and unaffordable for too many families across the country. As a result of not having access to quality child care, families may lose their jobs, or be unable to complete school or training programs.

States have submitted three year plans for implementing the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) to the Office of Child Care (OCC) by July 1, 2024, and will be finalized by the end of September 2024. These plans address how states will meet the new rules that became effective April 30th (details are available here). The rule changes are designed to improve access, affordability and the stability of providers who accept vouchers. Below are highlights and considerations for state child care leaders and advocates to simplify CCDF eligibility and application processes.

  • Making eligibility determination and application process easier and faster for families. States are required to design their eligibility policies to minimize disruptions for families, and are encouraged to consider presumptive eligibility, use documentation from other programs (i.e., SNAP, Medicaid) to enroll families, and to provide online enrollment options. Significantly, if a state does not provide online enrollment opportunities, they must describe why it is impractical to provide this option.
  • Leveraging application guide for best practices in benefits application design and processes. The guide includes a sample online child care assistance application and provides examples of how states are already implementing recommended best practices. The intent behind the guide is to support states as they consider how to reduce long wait times for application approval and allow families to apply online at any time and from anywhere. The guide recommends reducing unnecessary documentation, which can reduce inequity in the child care subsidy program by improving access for families who most need services.
  • Clarifying how states can implement presumptive eligibility. These policies allow families to access child care subsidy while their eligibility is being determined, so they do not lose their child care slot or end up turning down a job or school opportunity. States are expected to approve applications for child care assistance within 30 days, but it can take much longer for some families. States can apply presumptive eligibility to families that present circumstances that strongly suggest they will be eligible, such as enrollment in other income support programs (SNAP, Medicaid, WIC, etc.), enrollment in Head Start programs, as well as those families who are part of a priority group such as families experiencing homelessness, or children with disabilities.

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The burden placed on families to complete an application – collecting and submitting required documents, attending in person interviews and following up on application errors or requests for further documentation, can cause families to lose their slot in a child care program, or to simply stop the process because it is too cumbersome. Likewise, child care providers face uncertainty around receiving payments or are unable to fill slots while awaiting eligibility decisions.

Making the application process less taxing for families can also reduce the administrative burden for Lead Agency staff and improve program integrity. Because OCC monitors the Lead Agency based on how the State Plan describes the eligibility determination, streamlining these processes will make the implementation less complicated for eligibility case workers and others responsible for the administration of the program. The less difficult to implement, the less likelihood there is for error, thus less risk of being out of compliance when the state is audited by the OCC.

Conclusion

Ensuring access to high quality child care is an imperative for parents and children, providers, communities and the economy. One of the simplest ways to do this is to make the eligibility policies simpler and the application for child care subsidies easier for families. There is an opportunity now to address this through updated CCDF State Plans.

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Authentically and meaningfully engaging families in systems design and improvement work requires careful attention to how we value the expertise and lived experiences of these critical partners. Oftentimes, there is a contrast in our espoused beliefs and actual behaviors (explicitly or implicitly). How conscious are we of the disconnect? What tools and frameworks exist to help us as systems leaders on our journeys to be more genuine in our beliefs and equitable and liberatory in our practice? Here are some key insights from Start Early Consulting’s work focused on centering family and provider voice.

Systems leaders aiming to engage families more equitably and effectively in systems design and improvement efforts need to assess their progress towards meeting these goals. Start Early has developed a self-assessment tool focused on cultivating family leadership in systems building work through the establishment of Family Councils. Framed as a continuum for developing capacities, the tool incorporates tenets of the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership framework.

Download Our New Tool

Download our new self-assessment tool focused on cultivating family leadership in systems building work through the establishment of Family Councils.

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Centering family voice and fostering genuine co-creation spaces is complex work that will not happen overnight; it is evolutionary. And giving ourselves grace, knowing we are all in different places and that where we fall at any point in time will depend on various, ever-changing contexts (i.e., as often as we engage new families as partners in the work), is necessary. The promise of nurturing sustainable conditions for change is held within one key, foundational step — shifting mindsets to value families as experts, in words and action. A few relevant reflections from our team’s experiences providing support to advocate and public sector leaders seeking transformational change within and across their early childhood systems follow:

  1. Shifting mindsets to acknowledge and leverage the expertise families hold regarding what best meets their diverse and unique needs is critical.
    When we approach engaging families from a deficit perspective (e.g., families are unknowing of what quality is or dismissing cultural contexts that also shape these definitions; families are unaware of resources or “hard to reach”), we consequently message that families are the problem and WE hold the answers to solving these challenges.
  2. Families have valuable insight and perspective towards creating high-impact and sustainable solutions.
    Acknowledging that most systems, by design, limit access and opportunities for families to thrive, shifting our mindsets to prioritize families’ input better prepares us for the important and complex work of questioning dominant perceptions of quality and learning what the true barriers to access are. When we focus on addressing these root issues — WITH families — we get closer to achieving transformational change.
  3. Families are valued as experts and the key drivers of systems change when their voices are centered and they are empowered and supported to LEAD co-creation efforts.
    Embracing this mindset and enacting aligned practices requires positive and trusting relationships and restructuring power dynamics (e.g. shared governance). These conditions prime us for critical and generative dialogue.

Need extra support with equitably centering family voice in your systems change efforts? Contact our team to learn more.

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On January 19, 2024, Start Early and the Educare Network submitted comments to the Office of Head Start (OHS) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) related to changes to the Head Start Program Performance Standards. The proposed changes reflect important potential changes centered around improving workforce compensation and benefits, integrating mental services more broadly in programs, and enhancing program quality initiatives focused on engaging families, health and safety, and better meeting community needs.

The submitted comments represent feedback from over 150 staff and parent leaders across Start Early and Educare schools. Overall, both Start Early and Educare Network organizations applaud these efforts to promote quality through support for the workforce and recommend OHS provide additional guidance to programs on the implementation of the proposed changes. As one staff member noted, “These changes seem to be a big step in creating equitable and inclusive educational programs for students, families and staff. It supports teaching staff’s wellbeing and keeping them from burnout, while also creating more opportunities for families furthest from educational justice.”

Additionally, in order to fully realize the benefits of the proposed updates to the performance standards, Start Early and the Educare Network encouraged OHS to consider the significant resources that programs will need to successfully enact these changes and also to address the need for a more urgent timeline for these changes given the current workforce crisis. Download the full text of the letter below.

For any questions on the comments, please reach out to Nadia Gronkowski at ngronkowski@startearly.org.

Focusing on the Needs of Early Childhood Professionals

The word “innovation” can be perceived as a buzz word. We see it everywhere – in job descriptions, in resumes, organizational websites, etc. and people almost instinctively pay attention to it. And rightfully so… it’s desirable to think of new ways of doing something, especially if it saves time, human effort, and money.

And yet, I often wonder if designing relevant and engaging professional learning for today’s early childhood educators is a matter of innovation, or rather a matter of focusing on the learner and what matters most to them.

The field of adult learning has provided some principles about how adults learn…and there have been research studies to confirm these. I like to think of these as conditions that we can create to center the needs of adult learners. Here’s a few of them:

  • Give learners choice
  • Respect learners and meet them where they are
  • Show, don’t tell them
  • Let learners practice
  • Make it relevant

These conditions that support adult learning help us shift our focus from what we want (learning designers, subject matter experts, etc.), to what learners need. In my work at Start Early, we’re focusing on learner needs through centering equity using inclusive facilitation and offering microlearning.

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Microlearning

Educators’ time seems to be shrinking by the year as the needs of children and families grow. Microlearning is a flexible strategy that supports ongoing, meaningful professional learning while lessening time requirements for learners.

This year, Start Early launched microlearning modules for its evidence-based framework – The Start Early Essentials. We designed six accessible, introductory microlearning modules to create a critical knowledge base for teams in under 15 minutes per module. It’s called The Essential Microlearnings.

  • Accessible: the language is straightforward, they feature interactive components, and the design follows best practices for adult learning.
  • Practical: first, learners acquire a basic understanding of each Essential, then they explore real-world examples of it in action, and by the end of the module they start building an action plan to improve their own practice.
  • Flexible: they provide a useful knowledge base on their own and they pair well with live trainer sessions, communities of practice, and coaching for comprehensive year-round professional learning.

Centering Equity

I’ve been part of many discussions this year about the poor state of black maternal health in the U.S. These discussions about interpersonal biases and differential treatment of people based on race, and how they contribute to poor maternal and infant health, underscore the importance and urgency of our collective work to design, develop, and deliver professional learning through the lens of equity.

One of the predominant ways we’re doing this is through inclusive facilitation. We’re shifting away from the expertise of the trainer and towards the lived experience of the learner/professional.

We’re also making a concerted effort to elevate parent and caregiver voice through stories that build learner empathy and are introducing counternarratives to interrupt learner implicit bias.

We know we can’t solve every problem in early childhood through professional learning, but I’m hopeful that we can create professional learning that early childhood educators find engaging, relevant, and inclusive, and challenges them to show up in meaningful ways to the communities they serve.

The 2024 National Home Visiting Summit brought together advocates, home visitors, program leaders, funders, and researchers, alongside federal, state, and local level public sector system leaders for three days of learning, reflection, and action, both in person in Washington, D.C. and virtually with attendees joining from across the globe.

This year’s gathering spotlighted the tremendous progress public sector early childhood system leaders, particularly at the state level, have made to advance home visiting as part of an equitable, comprehensive early childhood system.

In breakout session presentations, small group discussions, and networking opportunities throughout the Summit, the four points below emerged as the key themes from system leaders regarding progress toward equitable early childhood systems:

  1. Consolidation is not enough. There was energy and excitement about the lessons states are learning as they move towards consolidation of early childhood programs and funding streams into single, state agencies focused solely on early childhood. For example, state home visiting leaders shared promising practices around single statewide referral lines, and increasingly integrated funding streams. As more states consider consolidation, system leaders at the Summit asked attendees to consider how consolidation and integration are actually experienced by families and providers when they interact with public systems, and challenged leaders not to stop with integration at the top.
  2. Look for “catalyst” funding opportunities. In a session about the Preschool Development Grants for Birth-Five (PDGB5) , state leaders reflected on approaching the funding opportunity with the question of “what can PDGB5 do for us, versus ‘how do we meet the requirements?” The Summit offered numerous examples of system leaders looking at federal, state, and increasingly philanthropic funding sources as catalysts – not carrying the full weight of system infrastructure but inspiring progress.
  3. Communities are key. State system leaders are increasingly operationalizing infrastructure at a state level with reverence, respect, and leadership from the unique needs of individual communities. Home visiting programs, with their connection to community infrastructure, offer a unique opportunity for child care, preschool, and other early childhood programs and funding streams to leverage the existing relationships and networks of home visitors.
  4. The Home Visiting Work Force is a part of the Early Childhood Education Workforce. Chronic staffing shortages, low wages, high turnover rates, and a feeling of lack of respect for the child care workforce have been well publicized in the media, but these issues are also being felt across the home visiting workforce. While it might sound obvious to those in the field, system leaders are increasingly implementing cross sector approaches to recruit, support, and retain the early childhood workforce, inclusive of those in the home visiting sector. These comprehensive strategies to lift all the professionals who support young children and their families send a message of value to all those in the field, while also attacking the structural impediments to an effective workforce.

How can you bring these takeaways into your state’s system? Mark your calendars for February 12-14, 2025, for the 2025 National Home Visiting Summit! We hope you will join us in person at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. for more peer learning on these topics.

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Start Early’s Consulting Practice also invites system leaders to leverage our consultants as strategic advisors to support more equitable early childhood systems. We expand the bench wherever support is needed, bringing seasoned, practical experience to leaders, advocates, and their teams.  Please reach out to us at Consulting@StartEarly.org to learn more.

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The month of December is often referenced as the most wonderful time of year, and I have always taken advantage of this time to personally reflect and think about the successes and challenges over the past 12 months. 2023 has been a tumultuous year for me as I personally experienced the best and worst that our profession has to offer, getting caught in the crossfires of a book ban aimed at dismantling the foundation of the early learning profession. My experience has strengthened my resolve that we must invest in young children and the workforce that serves them by providing holistic, high quality early learning environments.

I am frequently asked how the so-called “culture wars” impact early childhood education. I begin these conversations praising our early childhood workforce for their resilience and commitment to early learning. We show up every day to serve children and families despite what’s happening around us. We hug babies and toddlers and offer support for families when our own world is crumbling due to the lack of infrastructure to fund our profession and support our work to create inclusive early childhood systems.

We cannot continue to ask more and more of our workforce while our country continues to devalue and disrespect our early educators.

  • Early childhood workforce turnover is as high as 40% 1
  • Average wages are $11-15/hour, with early educator poverty rates 8X that of K-12 educators. The federal poverty line for a family of 4 is $30,000. A typical early educator earning the average hourly wage would come in around $26,000 annually 2
  • Professionals are deeply stressed, with depression rates 13% higher than the national average 3

These statistics are compounded when we consider that our workforce is comprised primarily of women – particularly women of color.

Recently, we have seen yet another wave of oppressive legislation and public attacks, including doing away with loan forgiveness and affirmative action, striking the right to abortion, and demonizing and limiting the use of words and practices around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

All of these efforts silence, scare and limit our efforts to foster a diverse and effective workforce that provides high quality early learning experiences for children and families. How can we be okay with policies and practices that discriminate against children and families while disregarding their culture and diversity?

Attacking Early Childhood Quality

On a personal note, for 5 years I led in a state where we heralded pre-k as a bi-partisan policy effort and as a result we had a pre-k program that was number 1 in reaching NIEER (National Institute for Early Education Research) quality for 17 years in a row. For DAP (Developmentally Appropriate Practice) to be under attack now is unconscionable as DAP was always the foundation for quality in our classrooms.

Terms including “culturally responsive,” “social-emotional learning,” “implicit bias,” and “diversity” are being censured. When states change competencies, dismantle standards and professional learning to remove these words, it prevents our workforce from receiving the support they need to employ best practices that are critical for children’s development. An urgent example is the crisis we are experiencing around harsh discipline practices that disproportionately affect black children. We must teach culturally responsive, anti-racist, and anti-bias pedagogy to address this.

Silencing and Restricting Workforce Rights

We have a staffing crisis and desperately need qualified, prepared teachers and staff. Striking down Affirmative Action and Loan Forgiveness programs shuts down essential educational support for staff.

When our professionals can’t access the healthcare they need for themselves and their families because of losing Reproductive Rights, it jeopardizes well-being.

“Color Blind” lawsuits threaten specific programs and interventions for Black, LatinX, and indigenous children and families who make up both our workforce and classroom populations. We see gaps in rights, quality of life, and wealth growing even bigger from this discrimination and racism. The workforce, and the children and families we serve, are from diverse backgrounds and we cannot serve them effectively when we employ strategies that force us to ignore the complexities of race, culture and ethnicity.

A question I keep hearing is, “How can we remain hopeful and enable a brighter future for our professionals, families and children?” My response is that there is no living and no better tomorrow without hope. Hope allows us to return each day knowing that we are making a difference and putting the needs of others first.

At Start Early our mission is to eliminate the opportunity gap so that all children can thrive and learn. We are focused on four areas of action:

  1. Career Pathways. We must create accessible and affordable pathways to support our workforce in getting the credentials and knowledge they need to earn higher wages.
  2. Professional Learning. We need powerful, rich onboarding to support new staff. We must improve workplace culture and climate to be inclusive and supportive. And we need to foster ongoing learning to increase educator effectiveness and confidence – and improve retention.
  3. Engage Congress & Lawmakers. We must raise awareness about the science behind early childhood and demand support for early learning as the economic plan for improving our country and preparing tomorrow’s leaders.
  4. Support Each Other. And equally important, we can create space to slow down and be intentional about supportive environments in our programs and classrooms. We can embrace rest, joy, relationships, and connections. This is what will help us cultivate resiliency and hope as we face these historic challenges to our workforce.

“Culture Wars” are a call to action for us all. As we prepare to end one year and start a new one, we must ensure that the early learning workforce has the support necessary to build strong relationships with children and families that last a lifetime. Our educators must not be forced to work in fear of retaliation for using strategies that optimize early learning spaces. It is up to each of us to do our part to tackle these issues with those in power. We must arm ourselves with knowledge and engage our communities and local coalitions to spread the word about why the work we are doing for our youngest citizens matters. We must demand for every child what we expect for our own young children.


Sources
1Turnover: Ed Surge; OPRE; Yale Medicine 
2 Hourly Wage Average & Rate of Poverty: 2020 Early Educator Workforce Index; Alabama 
3Depression: Children’s Equity Project, Mental Health Report