All Work
Early Childhood Education
New Horizons for Early Education — Interview with Chad Dunkley
New Horizon Academy CEO Chad Dunkley sits down with Katharine Stevens to explain what's key to providing high-quality childcare, the important role of for-profit providers, and what he sees as a constructive federal role in ensuring good childcare for all children who need it.
Why Michigan Should Spend New Federal Funds on High-Quality Childcare — Not Universal Pre-K
What Detroit desperately lacks isn’t school for 4-year-olds. What it lacks is high-quality child care for the city’s youngest, most vulnerable children.
Going Upstream: Closing the Achievement Gap Before It Starts
Leaders from Public Prep and the Parent-Child Home Program explain their innovative, new partnership, followed by a panel discussion on the potential of K–12 collaboration with early childhood and the implications of including birth-to-kindergarten in federal education law.
Closing the Achievement Gap Before It Starts
While good schools are important to children’s success, education really means human development, not schooling. And the educational opportunities that children most need to succeed begin not in school but before they can walk.
Executive Function Skills — Interview with Stephanie Carlson
Dr. Stephanie Carlson explains how the development of executive function skills in early childhood profoundly affects lifelong ability and achievement.
The Centennial Institute's Distinguished Policy Lecture: Early Childhood Care & Education
Katharine Stevens joins a panel of experts at the Centennial Institute for a discussion of market-based policies that strike a healthy balance between family wellbeing and a prosperous economy.
Decoding the Nonverbal Language of Babies
Dr. Beatrice Beebe presents her pioneering research on mother-infant interactions, followed by a discussion with Katharine Stevens.
Social from Birth
A growing body of research has revealed that infancy is a far more critical period of life than previously recognized, laying the foundation for future development and lifelong ability. One of the most significant new understandings is the degree to which babies are inherently social from birth.
A Breakthrough Federal Initiative in Early Care and Education
The Preschool Development Grants B–5 program is perhaps the federal government's most thoughtful and comprehensive approach to early childhood care and education to date — and a notable departure from previous federal initiatives.
A Federal Performance Partnership for Early Childhood
States increasingly recognize childcare’s critical impact on children’s early learning and development. Yet to support growing state efforts to provide low-income working families with adequate access to high-quality care, we must fix dysfunctional and fragmented federal funding streams.
Expanding Pre-K Will Do Little for Children
Tacking additional grades onto a poorly performing school system won’t help the children who need help the most. Improving the 13 grades they already attend could help them a lot.
When School Choice is Too Little, Too Late
School choice alone isn’t enough. Real education choice means enabling parents to make sure their child’s foundation is built right in the first place, starting at birth.
Nature and Nurture: Can New Science Inform Child Policy? – Interview with Jack Shonkoff
A scientific revolution is changing the way scientists and researchers think about how early life experiences affect genetic predispositions.
America’s Forgotten Communities — Interview with Chris Arnade
Photojournalist Chris Arnade joins Katharine Stevens to explain why he abandoned his Wall Street banking job to chronicle the lives of 'forgotten Americans,' and what he's learned from five years spent traveling across the country.
Military Readiness and Early Childhood: What Is the Link?
Four retired military leaders join Katharine Stevens to discuss how high-quality early childhood programs can help prepare more children for success in school and in life, including in the military for those who choose to serve.
Can the Tax System Be Used to Help Working Families Afford Child Care? A Conversation with Representatives Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL)
Katharine Stevens joins a panel of experts to analyze the proposed Promoting Affordable Childcare for Everyone (PACE) Act and discuss other approaches to increasing the affordability of child care for low-income American families.
Growing Up in ‘Forgotten America’: Chris Arnade’s Photographs and the Stories Behind Them
Photojournalist Chris Arnade presents his striking photos of 'forgotten America,' illuminating profound gaps between the reality experienced by millions of struggling Americans and policy discussions in Washington, DC.
Portraits of ‘Forgotten’ America
Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election illuminated growing political, economic, and cultural polarization in America. The work of photojournalist Chris Arnade provides valuable insight into the everyday experiences of the Americans long overlooked by many.
Does a Mother’s Mental Health Affect Her Fetus?
It's now well known that a pregnant woman’s physical well-being can affect the health of her fetus. Recent research shows that her mental health, too, has a much greater effect than previously recognized.
Bipartisan Childcare Bill Won’t Help Families That Need it Most
While PACE Act supporters claim that it will “promote expanded access to affordable child care for everyone," it will actually do zero for the families who need help most.