The New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) is the largest public school system in the country, and regularly communicates with more families in a month than many school districts do in a year. Innovations in communication or outreach efforts can influence profoundly how families engage with the district, especially innovations in outreach…

This report explains how the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Act came to be and offers promising practices and lessons other states may adapt to their political and economic contexts. Through in-depth interviews with advocates and state leaders, the authors uncovered five factors that contributed to TISA's passage that have…

Science outreach programs that enable real-time interactions between scientists and school-aged children are known to positively impact learning gains and students' perceptions of scientists. To expand K-12 outreach by scientists, it is important to build structured outreach programs which offer scientists well-defined opportunities, while…

Though economically disadvantaged students in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) have "greater" access to pre-kindergarten (pre-k) than their peers, English learner (EL) students do not. Equity in access to nearby pre-k would mean at-risk students, particularly those targeted for free public pre-k in Texas, would have greater…

In this column, I share the experience of learning about community partnerships in early childhood in my region and consider how music educators might play a role in a range of outreach services to children in the area. I encourage readers to reach beyond their current settings to engage in culturally sensitive service learning and community…

Over the last several years, a growing number of cities have invested in early care and education for 3- and 4-year-old children, known as "preschool." This paper aims to aid cities in planning preschool programs by outlining a range of factors to consider. We largely do not make recommendations, but rather try to identify a range of…

The Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) serves K-12 students and teachers, school districts, state education agencies, and ministries of education throughout the world with curriculum materials, digital resources, professional development, leadership development (through our Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform [LASER]…

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) educates over 71,000 students in pre-school through grade twelve and impacts the lives of thousands more through the Non-DoD School Program (NDSP) and Local Education Agency grants program. This annual report represents an essential tool for communication and accountability. The purpose of this…

This article details two important reasons why supporting young children with disabilities who have experienced abuse and neglect and their families is the responsibility and obligation of the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC): (1) Although prevalent in their work, this population is overlooked; and (2)…

Building an early childhood system within the District is similar to efforts taken to complete an intricate puzzle. Imagine having to assemble a 5,000-piece puzzle without access to the box depicting its final image. The puzzle must be constructed without an organized leader by a group of people who speak different languages. Moreover, a…

There are many actions schools and districts can take to help ensure a child's transition into kindergarten is smooth and stress-free for her and her family. This report highlights innovative efforts schools and districts across the country are taking to ease the transition into kindergarten for families and students, including students who did…

In Alaska, where Alaska Native students constitute the largest racial/ethnic group of English learner (EL) students, it is an open question whether and how EL policies and services meet the unique needs of Indigenous EL students. A stronger understanding of how Alaska Native students experience EL identification, classification, service provision,…

Quality early childhood education programs have a responsibility to provide enriched educational services to preschool students paired with parent support, education, and outreach. Pearl Buck Preschool, a non-profit organization devoted to the delivery of preschool services for children of parents with intellectual disabilities or learning…

Pre-K has been shown to strongly boost children's learning trajectories. This is as true, or even truer, for children of immigrants and English language learners (ELLs) as for children overall. Children of immigrants, who make up about a quarter of children in the United States, have significantly lower rates of pre-K enrollment, on average, than…

Even though engineering outreach to K-12 schools initially seemed to be a simple undertaking, it proved to require complex design solutions related to a variety of issues. The purpose of this design case is to tell the story of our National Science Foundation (NSF) supported engineering outreach project, that took place between the years of…