Early Childhood Blog

Early Years

Staff writer Christina A. Samuels and Contributing Writer Marva Hinton provided insight, news, and analysis on early-childhood education. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: early childhood.

Two young kids (one girl and one boy) dressed up as old people, holding hands, and standing in front of an empty light blue wall.
E+
Early Childhood 100 Days of School: A Wacky Celebration Goes Viral
Schools use the 100th day of school as a fun exploration of math. But some activities edge too close to mockery, in the view of some.
Christina A. Samuels, February 15, 2019
4 min read
Early Childhood Child Care Provides Nearly $100 Billion Economic Impact, New Report Finds
A new report by the Committee for Economic Development finds that in addition to allowing parents to work, child care itself has a big economic footprint.
Marva Hinton, February 11, 2019
2 min read
Early Childhood 'Father of Head Start' Edward F. Zigler Dies at 88
Zigler was the last surviving member of the committee that developed the federal Head Start program, part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty.
Christina A. Samuels, February 10, 2019
2 min read
Early Childhood New Report Lists How States Plan to Use Increased Federal Funding for Child Care
A new report by the National Women's Law Center details how states plan to spend historic Child Care and Development Block Grant funding allocated by Congress last year.
Marva Hinton, February 8, 2019
2 min read
Early Childhood Many Large City Pre-K Programs Fail to Meet Quality Benchmarks, Study Finds
A new study finds that the majority of city pre-K programs in the nation's 40 largest cities fall short on a research organization's yardsticks, and 40 percent fail to reach more than 30 percent of the 4-year-old population.
Marva Hinton, January 23, 2019
3 min read
Early Childhood New Study Finds Strong School Climate Key to Effective Early Learning
A new study finds that several factors that can be measured through surveys of teachers, staff members, and parents reliably predict the effectiveness of an early-childhood education.
Marva Hinton, January 22, 2019
4 min read
Early Childhood Early Childhood Is Ripe For Investment in Innovation, Says Philanthropic Network
The Omidyar Network, which has invested nearly $1 billion dollars in multiple areas including education, is drawing attention to early childhood as an area for more public and private investment.
Christina A. Samuels, January 9, 2019
2 min read
Early Childhood Democrats, Independents Want Early-Childhood Funding, And Don't Care Who Gets Credit
Support for early-childhood education appears to transcends today's polarized political climate, according to a poll from the First Five Years Fund, an early-childhood advocacy organization.
Christina A. Samuels, January 8, 2019
3 min read
Early Childhood Incoming California Governor to Seek Nearly $2 Billion in Early-Childhood Funding
Democrat Gavin Newsom, who takes office Jan. 7, plans to expand full-day kindergarten and child-care offerings in the state, according to media reports.
Christina A. Samuels, January 4, 2019
1 min read
Early Childhood Work Needed to Improve Efficiency of Early-Ed Programs, Report Says
The Bipartisan Policy Center's state-by-state analysis of the administration of federal early-childhood education programs found inefficiencies and recommended that governors call in outside experts for help.
Marva Hinton, December 21, 2018
4 min read
Early Childhood Long-Term Study of Universal Preschool in Quebec Yields Sobering Outcomes
Researchers who found early negative impacts of participating in a universal child-care program in Quebec have shown that those impacts continue once children enter school and adolescence.
Christina A. Samuels, December 19, 2018
2 min read
Reading & Literacy Yale Child Study Center Joins Forces with Scholastic to Study Literacy, Health
Organizers of the new Yale Child Study Center-Scholastic Collaborative for Child & Family Resilience hope to improve young people's academics and mental health through a broad study of literacy.
Marva Hinton, December 17, 2018
2 min read
Early Childhood New Report Calls on Governors to Lead the Charge for Early-Childhood Education
The Center for American Progress has released a set of recommendations for governors in 2019 that includes things such as full-day universal preschool and the study of pre-term births, which can cause learning difficulties.
Marva Hinton, December 13, 2018
3 min read
Early Childhood New Study Calls for More Research Into Early-Childhood Teacher Preparation
There's a new focus on getting more training to early-childhood educators, but there's a dearth of information about what constitutes a high-quality, teacher-preparation program.
Marva Hinton, December 10, 2018
2 min read