In 2023, EdSurge revealed a file number of tales on early care and education — basically probably the most we’ve run since we began defending the age group virtually 5 years previously.
So this 12 months, for the first time, we’re bringing you a listing of the tales that resonated most with you, our readers. Beneath, you’ll uncover our 10 hottest early childhood tales from the ultimate 12 months, which could loosely be divided into two camps.
In a single, we have got quite a few tales that dive into the dire conditions of the early finding out sector proper now and what’s at stake now that pandemic-era federal funding has expired. Why is that this space so fractured and fragile? What happens now that early finding out packages have gone over the “fiscal cliff”?
Throughout the completely different, we have got tales of hope and resilience. In these, our reporters and contributors uncover doable choices and promising enhancements underway which is able to present a salve to this struggling space, now that broad federal funding in early education is extraordinarily inconceivable. These tales embody native efforts, private sector contributions and public-private partnerships that, in a number of circumstances, will likely be scaled up.
Check out our most-read tales of 2023 underneath. And if 10 isn’t ample, you can study all of our early childhood safety proper right here.
The ten Most Widespread ECE Tales, in Descending Order
10. How a Small Metropolis in a Pink State Rallied Spherical Frequent Preschool
By Emily Tate Sullivan
In 2017, kindergarten readiness costs in American Falls, a one-stoplight farming neighborhood in conservative Idaho, hit “all-time low.” Then a school chief launched a advertising and marketing marketing campaign encouraging households to “study, converse, play” with children every single day. That easy mantra grew to turn out to be a movement, and proper now, the town has embraced a goal of widespread preschool. Our reporter visited American Falls to hunt out out exactly how this transformation unfolded.
9. The Child Care Cliff, A Cautionary Story
By Rebecca Gale and Dianne Kirsch
What is the child care cliff, and why should people care? These are the questions Rebecca Gale and Dianne Kirsch teamed as a lot as uncover with their graphic story. In a sequence of illustrations, the duo unpacks the child care cliff, what happens after federal funding for child care runs out and why we’ve to assist efforts to spend cash on child care infrastructure.
8. Child Care Purposes See Closures, Resignations and Tuition Hikes After Federal Funding Expires
By Emily Tate Sullivan
It’s been only a few months since $24 billion in child care stabilization grants expired, sending the nation’s early care and educating packages over the so-called fiscal cliff. With out a stopgap funding decision, the problems these {{dollars}} helped paper over are resurfacing. We spoke with educators and households in West Virginia to know what that historic funding enabled them to do — and the “unattainable choices” they now face.
7. What to Know Regarding the Rising Status of Employer-Sponsored Child Care
By Emily Tate Sullivan
Employers are increasingly more becoming concerned in child care, offering perks akin to on-site care and month-to-month stipends to offset costs. Ultimate Would possibly, EdSurge revealed an in-depth story about this rising sample and the controversy surrounding it. The next month, we ran a separate story regarding the prime takeaways from our reporting on employer-sponsored child care — our “TL;DR” mannequin.
6. We Need Increased Pathways for Turning into an Early Childhood Coach
By Jay Lee
“Entry to high-quality early childhood education is among the many many strongest, confirmed strategies to close equity gaps and assist communities,” writes Jay Lee, an early childhood teacher in Oakland, California. Nevertheless there aren’t ample teachers. Why, then, Lee wonders, is it so powerful to develop to be a licensed early childhood teacher? In his essay, Lee explores why setting up inclusive, accessible pathways is significant.
5. Federal Authorities Launches First-of-Its-Selection Center for Early Childhood Workforce
By Emily Tate Sullivan
Challenges coping with the early care and education workforce have reached catastrophe ranges as a result of the pandemic began, and the federal authorities has taken uncover. No, the feds are often not offering widespread pre-Okay or capping the value of child care (at least not however), nonetheless they’ve launched a first-of-its-kind ECE Workforce Center to boost compensation and dealing conditions for the sector. And they also’re searching for to supply precise choices, not merely evaluation evaluations.
4. Who’s Attempting Out for the Psychological Nicely being of Infants and Toddlers?
By Emily Tate Sullivan
There’s been quite a few consideration lately on the psychological properly being catastrophe amongst youngsters. Nevertheless what about youthful children? Children of all ages — even infants — can endure from psychological properly being factors, and they also weren’t proof towards the stressors introduced on by the pandemic. We talked with specialists to hunt out out what it seems like when infants and toddlers are struggling — and why early intervention is essential.
3. Did Covid Break Child Care or Was It Already Broken? A Non permanent Seen Explainer
By Rebecca Gale and Dianne Kirsch
“The U.S. child care system isn’t working for anyone. With out sustained federal funding, it’s going to keep broken,” writes Rebecca Gale, a reporting fellow at Increased Life Lab at New America. This seen explainer, which Gale collaborated on with illustrator Dianne Kirsch, explains why.
2. As Bezos Academy Preschools Unfold Nationally, Early Childhood Consultants Weigh In
By Lilah Burke
5 years previously, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos launched plans to donate money to launch a sequence of free preschools. As of Would possibly 2023, the Bezos Academy group had higher than a dozen web sites all through Washington, Texas and Florida. Proper right here’s what has pleasantly surprised early childhood specialists regarding the new Montessori-style packages — and what has left them decrease than impressed.
1. What Happens When You Give Child Care Suppliers Money — With No Strings Related?
By Emily Tate Sullivan
What happens for many who give child care suppliers predictable, unconditional cash? That’s the question driving the Thriving Suppliers Mission, a pilot launched in Colorado and growing to cities all through the nation. The initiative hinges on the idea that assured earnings will improve caregivers’ monetary stability and, in flip, allow them and the households they serve to thrive. We take an in depth check out the way in which it really works and the way in which it’s going.