A growing concern for the early childhood field is how to best support parents and families in nurturing their young children’s healthy development. Educators and leaders are eager to help families gain the knowledge and tools they need to effectively engage in their children’s learning.

Technology-based interventions hold great promise for reaching and communicating with families. These interventions are relatively low-cost, scalable, and accessible for parents who use their mobile phones for communication and information seeking. Technology-based interventions can also reinforce the learning and community building of on-the-ground family support programs. But this promise can only hold true if the technology products are designed to reach parents and communicate what they want to know.

In the last few years, a number of tech-based family engagement platforms and tools designed to guide parents have emerged, including apps like Vroom, Let’s Play, and Kinedu, video tools like Ready Rosie, texting programs such as Text4Baby and Ready4K, podcasts, and word-tracking wearables like LENA and Starling. As awareness about early childhood development increases, more technology players (non-profit and for-profit) are likely to enter this space.

At The Early Learning Lab (The Lab), we have spent the past year surveying early childhood technology tools, learning how various products and programs are being implemented and evaluated, and identifying best technology practices for early childhood family engagement.

Whether you are an entrepreneur developing a new early learning tech product, a school administrator trying to find an effective family-engagement tool, or a parent-support program operator looking to add a digital component to your program, The Lab sees the following 10 design elements as critical to the impact of any early learning parent engagement tool:

All in all, no one product is going to have all 10 of these elements. But this list can serve as a useful guide for developers and a wish list for people who are evaluating and purchasing technology products for parent engagement. Technology holds great promise for reaching large numbers of families and helping us achieve the goal of kindergarten readiness for all, but only if the products we develop and use are designed for impact.

Trivia Question

Do the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives take final roll call votes on bills in the same manner?

Election Results

Washington State Elections Leave Balance of Power in Olympia
Unchanged.

As a fully mail-in ballot state, it is not uncommon to see initial election night results shift as further ballots are received and counted. On election night, it appeared that House Democrats would gain some seats and Senate Democrats might as well. While there were some swaps where incumbents were unseated by members of the other party, ultimately the overall party breakdown remained the same with House Democrats maintaining a 57-41 majority and Senate Democrats maintaining a 28-21 majority (one Democrat votes with Republicans, so the effective Senate breakdown is 27-22).

Lots of New Faces “Headed” to Olympia

Over the weekend I was perusing social media and came across this picture of House Democratic leadership welcoming its new members (they held a welcome event via Zoom). This picture demonstrates that our legislature is becoming more diverse (and younger!). We look forward to working with all of the new legislators in each of the four caucuses. Bonus points for Speaker Jinkins background – she represents public health well with her background!

Come January, there will be 21 new legislators. We will see five new Senators – one new Democratic Senator and four new Republican Senators. There will be 16 new House members – 9 new Democrats and 7 new Republicans.

What’s Up Before the End of the Year

Uncertainty Continues to be the Theme for 2020

With Governor Inslee’s November 15th announcement of a four-week modified shutdown to combat the accelerating COVID crisis, the tone and
tenor is reminiscent to the early days of the pandemic. In addition to the pressing questions around hospital capacity and sufficient public health infrastructure, there is heightened discussion around the budget impacts of the pandemic (particularly with restaurants and retail largely shuttered during the holidays); if, when and how the federal government will provide relief; and how should the state provide counsel for in-person services. Further, as expected, rumors abound as to whether Governor Inslee will join the incoming Biden Administration to advance climate change. If he makes that move, that will set off dominoes, including our newly elected Lt. Governor temporarily assuming the Governor’s seat until an election could be held.

Updated Revenue Numbers Released

On November 18th, the State’s Economist Dr. Lerch provided the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council with an updated revenue forecast. The forecast came with the following caveats (2020 – the
year of the asterisk):

• The forecast is on the conservative side as it assumes there
  will not be another federal stimulus, resulting in projected
  lower personal income in Q4 in 2020 and Q1 in 2021
• The forecast does not reflect projected implications of the
  restrictions the Governor instituted on November 16th (which
  could be substantial).
• It came with a general statement about continued uncertainty
  due to COVID and its related economic impacts.

The potentially momentary good news is that our projected budget
gap for the remainder of this biennium and the upcoming 2021-23
biennium continues to decrease. The three-year budget gap fell from
a projected $4.2 billion in September to $3.238 billion. The shortfall for 2019-2021 (biennium we are in now) fell from $2.3 billion to $1.666 billion and the gap for 2021-23 (starts July 1, 2021) fell from $1.9 billion to $1.572 billion.

This information will inform the Governor’s budget work that is
underway and the next formal revenue forecast will occur in March –
right before the Legislature is scheduled to finalize its budget.

Legislative Committee Days Approaching

The Senate and the House will gather the week of November 30th for virtual Committee days. Committee days typically have a “first day of school feel” with legislators, lobbyists and staff gathering for a few short days together under the auspices of preparing for the next legislative session. This year the social (and fundraising) part of committee days will not be possible, so it’s like the first day of school with homework as the sole focus!

What will I be watching? There are a lot of hearings throughout the
week, but on November 30th I will definitely be tuned to TVW.org to
watch the Senate Ways and Means Committee at 2:30 and the House
Appropriations Committee at 3:30 (you can always catch-up on
missed hearings by looking at the archive button on TVW.org). Those
hearings will provide a deeper dive on fiscal matters that will influence the budget. I will be particularly watching to hear the questions from
legislators – they are always telling.

There will also be two policy committee hearings focused on child
care and COVID – the House Human Services and Early Learning
Committee is holding a work session on the issue on Tuesday,
December 1st at 1:30 p.m. and the Senate Early Learning Committee
will hold one on Friday, December 4th at 2:00 p.m.

Governor’s Proposed Budget Expected Mid-December

The visual below was developed by the Governor’s budget shop, the Office of Financial Management (OFM), to depict the budget process. As you can see, budget preparation is a year-long affair.

In September, state agencies submitted their recommendations for inclusion in the Governor’s proposed budget for the 2021-23 biennium (which runs from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2023). These are called decision packages. Given our state’s fiscal situation, OFM issued a strict directive to not request new funding and to instead suggest areas where savings could be achieved.

Since the submission of decision packages, the staff at OFM has been reviewing the proposals and meeting with the Governor’s staff and the Governor himself to identify priorities and get direction. The revenue forecast released on Wednesday, November 18th provides additional guidance about the state’s fiscal outlook and that information informs what the Governor will propose.

Typically, the Governor releases his proposed budget in mid-December. We will get hints as the time gets closer. We can expect the Governor’s budget to be “aspirational.” He will likely propose new revenue (such as a carbon tax) and propose investments predicated upon passage of this new revenue.

The Governor’s budget is an important step in the process, but not the end of the process. Once the Governor’s budget is released, attention turns to the legislature as they prepare their response.

What do we know about the 2021 Legislative Session?

Virtual Legislative Sessions on the Horizon
Most legislative activity will be conducted virtually. Both bodies have announced that committee hearings will be virtual and, at this time, the Senate does plan to hold rolling, in-person floor sessions (with Senators being able to vote remotely if they prefer). Limited staff will be in person for support and the entire Capitol campus will be closed to the public and lobbyists. Legislators have advised managing expectations and the virtual nature will mean fewer committee hearings. Additionally, legislators have been directed to limit the number of bills they introduce.

For Diana Barrios, the best thing about being a new mother is [click to hear audio] “seeing him smile. He’s such a happy baby. Knowing that he’s happy, makes me happy.”

Now 6-months old, Matteo is almost crawling and sitting up by himself, and Diana has enjoyed watching him grow. “He’s really strong,” she says. “I’m just amazed with him.”

Our Starting Early Begins With… three-part speaker series kicked off with a panel discussion between early childhood experts who shared the true power of advocacy in today’s world. One of the biggest takeaways? As one panelist stated, “… we are all advocates every day for various things, whether it’s for our children, or for some issue in our neighborhood.”

Panelists shared promising examples of advocacy efforts, encouraging individuals from all professional backgrounds and motivating interests to use their voice to influence change at local and large-scale levels. And, by centering and amplifying voices of those most directly and disproportionately affected by inequality, we can collectively inspire systematic change.

At Start Early, we know that federal support is necessary for early education programs and services to not only operate, but also to reach our children and families living in under-resourced communities. One panelist noted that the current pandemic has demonstrated how truly essential child care is and its influence on every American – whether it be through the workplace or in a community. That said, in order to ensure our child care system can rebuild back better, we need to share these diverse stories and perspectives with local, state and federal leaders.

In this blog, Amanda Stein, Start Early director of research and evaluation, shares findings and takeaways from our latest research study of pre-K access and enrollment policies in Chicago which aimed to remove obstacles and drive engagement for children and families in underserved neighborhoods.

Equity-Focused Research and Policymaking
At this poignant time, a public health crisis is both holding a magnifying glass to and further exacerbating racial and economic disparities and systemic injustices for young children and their families. The need for equity-focused policy making and research has never been more pronounced. And the field of early care and education (ECE) is no exception.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), in their 2019 position statement on advancing equity in ECE, defines equity as “the state that would be achieved if individuals fared the same way in society regardless of race, gender, class, language, disability, or any other social or cultural characteristic.” This means eliminating “differences in educational outcomes as a result of who children are, where they live, and what resources their families have.”

The Value of Early Care and Education
Given the well-established body of research evidence, there is no doubt that the type and quality of ECE experiences children receive both inside and outside of the home have an impact on their short-term learning and development and later life success. Furthermore, public investments in early education and intervention programs generate savings that benefit the economy long-term.

Yet children, their families, and the broader society are unable to reap the benefits of high-quality ECE programs if children and families are not able to access them. Existing research evidence shows that differential access is an important contributing factor to inequities in enrollment. The long-term benefits associated with strong care and education in the early years make these disparities particularly concerning.

A Focus on Pre-K Access and Enrollment in Chicago
Recently, Start Early partnered with a group of researchers from NORC at the University of Chicago, UChicago Consortium on School Research and policymakers in Chicago to explore whether and how policy efforts in the city helped to create more equity within the district’s early education system for high priority students. We examined access and enrollment to school-based pre-K in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), before and after significant policy changes that began in 2013-14, with a focus on re-allocating pre-K classrooms to schools throughout the city and increasing the number of full-day pre-K classrooms.

The overall goal was to improve access and enrollment for high-priority groups to help them better prepare for success in kindergarten and beyond – including students of color, students speaking a language other than English and students living in neighborhoods with lower income and higher unemployment.

Adopting A Neighborhood-Centered Approach in Chicago
In addition to examining changes in pre-K access and enrollment, we used a “neighborhood-centered” method to explore patterns of access and enrollment based on the neighborhood where students resided.

Our methodology resulted in a concise set of five neighborhoods groupings focused on the characteristics of residents and variations within communities, which is critical to informing policy decisions about how to most equitably allocate services, supports, and resources.

What We Learned: Evidence of Greater Equity
Prior to Chicago’s policy changes in 2013-14, White students and students living in the highest-income neighborhoods had the greatest number of full-day pre-K classrooms nearby and were most likely to enroll in full-day pre-K.

We found evidence of improvements following the policy changes:

• A larger portion of CPS elementary schools offered full-day pre-K, students lived an average of 0.6 miles closer to a school with at least one full-day pre-K and full-day pre-K enrollment rates grew nearly four-fold during the study.
• Enrollment tripled in school-based full-day pre-K among Black students and students living in lowest-income neighborhoods.
• Latinx students were more likely to enroll in full-day pre-K, at slightly lower levels than other groups.

In this blog, Kristin Bernhard, Start Early senior vice president of policy and advocacy, identifies measures voters overwhelmingly approved to improve access to early childhood education at community and state levels.

While large questions remain about the results of yesterday’s presidential election, we are proud and thankful for the overwhelming approval of measures that improve access to early childhood education at community and state levels. Across the country, voters expanded the reach of core early childhood development programs and supports, from paid family leave to universal pre-K. These election results are worth celebrating, as state and community systems are closest to families with young children and play a critical role in building an ecosystem that fosters their well-being.

Voters in Colorado approved a ballot measure that creates a statewide paid family and medical leave program, joining eight other states that offer this imperative benefit. Colorado is the first to accomplish it at the ballot box rather than through the legislature. With this new program, workers can take up to 12 weeks of paid time off to care for a new baby or adopted child, recover from an illness or care for a seriously ill relative. Increasing paid family leave is a positive step toward reducing infant mortality, improving maternal health outcomes and allowing more individuals to stay in the workforce.

Voters also approved new funding mechanisms to help finance the creation and expansion of high-quality pre-K programs. In San Antonio, Texas, voters approved Proposition A, renewing a one-eighth-cent sales tax that will continue funding pre-K programs in the city for the next eight years. Additional investments were approved for workforce development and infrastructure. Colorado voters approved a nicotine tax measure that will fund universal free preschool for children of age 4 statewide beginning fall 2023. In Multnomah County, Oregon, which includes Portland, voters approved Measure 26-214, known as Preschool for All. Through a tax on high-income residents, the county will provide tuition-free preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds, while also raising the pay of preschool teachers to parity with those of kindergarten teachers. Assistant preschool teachers will be guaranteed a minimum wage of $18 per hour.

In St. Louis, Missouri, voters endorsed a property tax that will raise an estimated $2.3 million annually for birth to age 5 programs and services through the St. Louis Mental Health Board’s Community Children’s Services Fund. This successfully passed measure builds on a collective focus of establishing the city and county of St. Louis as a regional leader in early childhood education.

While we await answers on control of the Senate and the presidency, we applaud these states and communities who have come together to build strong, inclusive and equitable places where families with young children can flourish – from before birth through kindergarten. While the need remains for a more robust national system of early care and education, these victories demonstrate that progress on early childhood can and will continue regardless of what happens at the federal level. We are encouraged by this broad community level engagement to grow support and investment for young children and their families.

In 2020, Start Early was selected to lead the implementation of the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement (NCPFCE), one of four National Centers that develop evidence-based best practices for Early Head Start and Head Start programs across the country.

The NCPFCE identifies, develops and disseminates evidence-based best practices to support the growth and development of young children and strengthen families and communities.

Start Early will focus on creating high-quality responsive training and technical assistance, rooted in equity and cultural and linguistic responsiveness, to support staff, families and communities nationwide.

Our Work & Focus on Equity

Our belief that all change happens through relationships will shape the project activities, training, technical assistance, and resources produced by the NCPFCE.

Working with a consortium of partners, Start Early will lead the NCPFCE to support family well-being, effective family and community engagement, and children’s school readiness, including transitions to kindergarten. These partnerships will integrate the research-practice knowledge of family and community engagement, human services, early childhood, social work, mental health, parenting, leadership, and family economic mobility into the NCPFCE content and activities.

The NCPFCE will have a strong equity focus and seeks to bring program, family and community voice to the forefront of early childhood education. Throughout the project, schools in the Educare Learning Network and other Early Head Start and Head Start grantees will serve as on-the-ground labs for piloting and field-testing innovations in parent, family and community engagement.

Our Partners

• Child Trends
• LIFT
• Early Learning Lab
• Fred Rogers Center
• UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute

Our Funders

The National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (NCPFCE) is jointly administered by the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care.

Head Start offers a critical opportunity to improve the quality of home-based child care and bolster the sustainability of providers, while enabling Head Start to meet its mission to meet the comprehensive needs of young children and families facing the greatest adversity.

Start Early and its partners supported Home Grown, a national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home- based child care, to organize and deliver resources and technical assistance opportunities to potential Round 4 Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCP) applicants to increase the number of high-quality EHS-CCP applications supporting family child care home (FCC) providers.

Individuals from 40 states took advantage of the technical assistance opportunities offered to support new and existing Head Start grantees to include family child care in their EHS-CCP proposals. These included well-attended webinars; an online resource library housed on Home Grown’s website; and technical assistance through group and one-on-one peer learning calls.

Bolstered by recent data demonstrating that more parents are seeking smaller home-based child care settings during the pandemic, partnerships between Head Start and home-based child care providers offer promise for dramatically expanding access to high-quality, comprehensive early care and education services in home-based settings and establishing family child care network models that provide critical supports to sustain home-based providers.