Early Childhood

The latest news about early childhood, including articles, opinion essays, and special features.

—AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

COVID-19 Forces the Question: Should the Youngest Learners Have Devices?

The coronavirus school building closures are leading to some tough decisions now—instead of years down the road—about providing iPads and Chromebooks, even for kindergartners. (June 8, 2020)

EDUCATION WEEK EXPERTS

Subject-matter experts featured for this topic include:

Issue Backgrounder

For background on this topic, see:

• Prekindergarten

Special Report

Getting Reading Right
In a new ongoing series, Education Week will interrogate the cognitive science behind how young students acquire foundational reading skills, with a focus on grades K-2, and explore the challenges educators face in teaching kids to read.

Quality Counts 2015: Preparing to Launch
Quality Counts is Education Week's annual report on state-level efforts to improve public education. This 19th edition of the report delves into early-childhood education.

Spotlight on Early-Childhood Education

In this Spotlight, learn how schools are using kindergarten assessments to shape instruction, targeting early educators for professional development in math, and developing elementary students into global citizens.

Spotlight on Reluctant Readers
Educators are working to help grow confident readers and assist struggling ones. In this Spotlight, learn about how writing practices can improve reading skills, how educators are boosting reading comprehension, and what classroom methods educators are using to grow readers.

Digital Reading and Literacy
As the nation enters an unprecedented digital learning era due to COVID-19, the need to examine digital reading and literacy becomes more crucial. In this Spotlight, learn about ways educators can use ed-tech in English classes, how online reading has changed, and how teachers are maintaining reading practices during the pandemic.

INFOGRAPHICS

Map: Kindergarten Participation
Three-fourths of the nation's kindergartners attend full-day programs. Click the map to find enrollment numbers for your state.

Data: Kindergartners Enter More Ready in Math and Literacy, Researchers Say
Kindergarten students in 2010 started school with more math and literacy skills than kindergartners did just 12 years earlier. What changed in that time?

Quiz

Quiz Yourself: Social-Emotional Learning and Student Health
What are the biggest challenges to and statistics surrounding student health and social-emotional learning?

Quiz Yourself: Science of Reading
How do children learn to read, how are educators teaching early reading, and how do digital devices and print text affect reading skills differently?

Video

Get RSS Feed for This Topic Latest News

Abuse Allegations Lead Ky. District to Drop Head Start Grant
Jefferson County schools in Kentucky gave up a $15 million grant after 30 years and instead will spend $8 million to start a district-run early-childhood program.
June 13, 2018 – Education Week
Survey of K-3 Teachers Finds Affinity With Preschool Colleagues
Findings from the national survey include significant support for a unified and aligned system of early-childhood education from birth to age 8.
May 30, 2018 – Education Week
Early-Grades Science: The First Key STEM Opportunity
Early exposure is crucial, but finding teachers with strong preparation remains challenging.
May 23, 2018 – Education Week
Trump Wants to Ax After-School Funding. What Would Be Lost?
Federal aid offers a lifeline for local organizations providing after-school programming, but providers remain concerned about the future of the $1.2 billion 21st Century Community Learning Center program.
May 16, 2018 – Education Week
Corporal Punishment and Preschoolers: What New Federal Data Show
A trove of federal civil rights data has, for the first time, captured a snapshot of the controversial practice of paddling of preschoolers in the nation's public schools.
May 8, 2018 – Education Week
Quality Is Crucial to Sustaining Benefits of Pre-K, Studies Stress
New research shows that early-childhood programs can't be seen as a one-shot inoculation that will sustain children throughout their academic careers.
May 2, 2018 – Education Week
Commentary
Early-Childhood Research Needs an Update
Without rigorous research that accurately reflects the current population, early education won't deliver for all students, write two education researchers.
February 14, 2018 – Education Week
Commentary
Principals Aren't Ready for Public Pre-K
Early education in public schools is growing in popularity, but principals require more training to better serve their youngest students, writes Suzanne Bouffard.
February 14, 2018 – Education Week
Nation's Schools Stuck in 'Average' Range on Annual Report Card
The C grade on this year's Quality Counts report continues years of flat performance as states begin to grapple with the challenges and opportunities under the Every Student Succeeds Act.
January 17, 2018 – Quality Counts
Five Common Traits of the Top School Systems
What lessons can states that perform well on Quality Counts annual rankings offer other states looking to move the needle?
January 17, 2018 – Quality Counts

Most Popular Stories

Viewed

Emailed

Recommended

Commented

Sponsor Insights

K-12 IT SUPPORT PLAYBOOK

Prepare Your Educators to Teach Reading

Remote Learning Checklist: Actionable tips for forward-thinking educators

How Are District Leaders Preparing for this Year?

Integrating SEL into Remote Learning

Transitioning to Remote Learning and Progress Monitoring: How One District Connected Home and School During COVID-19

Supporting Diversity in STEM Education

CARES Act Funding for Special Education—What You Need to Know

The State of Cybersecurity Education in K-12 Schools

The Substitute Teacher Gap: Recruitment and Retention Challenges in the Age of Covid-19

Back-to-School 2020 Toolkit

Drive Student Success with Alignment Now

Keep Students on Track with Database Access

3 Key Steps to Choosing Interventions that Meet ESSA Standards

Building connections and curiosity through storytelling: Making space for all students to see themselves in mathematics

Will COVID-19 closures impact student learning?

SEE MORE Insights >

MORE EDUCATION JOBS >>
Post a Job >>