New America has been running a learning cohort known as the Early Care and Education (ECE) Implementation Working Group, a set of 18 city and county birth-to-five and preschool programs that began meeting in 2022 to help one another expand services quickly and equitably. This brief summarizes the findings and best practices from the working group…

Efforts to address the identified needs of labeled groups of children (e.g. identified with disabilities, considered at-risk) may magnify difference and further stigmatize children labeled as different. In this article, we introduce a relational framework to the field of inclusive early childhood education that reframes perceptions of difference…

Comprehensive school health education (HE), despite its link to enhancing both student health and academic achievement, often faces barriers to effective implementation. As pedagogical strategies evolve to integrate traditional methods with technological innovations like artificial intelligence (AI), the adoption of innovation in HE preparation…

ANEER, the National Initiative for Early Childhood Education in Rural Areas, is an innovative and impactful project bringing preschools to remote Moroccan villages. Launched by Zakoura Foundation in 2015, in partnership with the Moroccan Ministry of Education and UNICEF, the free ANEER program aims to create the most favorable conditions for a…

We are currently facing one of the largest and most complex refugee crises in modern times. Conflict and natural disasters have resulted in 22.5 million refugees worldwide, more than half are children. As the world struggles to respond to this massive displacement of people, how is this affecting child refugees' development and what is being done…

Against the backdrop of "twin pandemics"--racism and COVID-19--school and system leaders across the country are asking, "How do we reopen schools and re-engage students, their families, and the community?" There is a palpable urgency to serve students well as districts develop operations plans to ensure student health and…

Early childhood education (ECE) conflict zones face profound challenges that undermine children's cognitive, emotional, and social development. Armed conflicts disrupt access to education through displacement, infrastructure destruction, and insecurity, leaving millions of children without safe learning environments (UNICEF, 2023). This report…

One of the most significant recent trends in the U.S. education system is that white students are no longer the majority. This trend is mainly driven by growth in both the number and percentage of Hispanic children. The share of Hispanic students among kindergarten children increased from 19 percent in 1998 to 24 percent in 2010 (ECLS-K,…

In March 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic deeply affected professional and personal lives and resulted in major disruptions in services for children and families. These disruptions impact children of all ages but are particularly problematic for children from birth to age 5 given that this is a critical time period for children's learning…

Consistent, reliable data are hard to come by given vastly differing opinions on the role states should play in creating structures, tracking data, and monitoring outcomes on homeschooling. The goal of this brief is to cut through some of this complexity and provide policymakers with an objective resource on homeschooling, including what is known…

The COVID-19 pandemic created a major upheaval to an already fragile early care and education (ECE) system. As a result of the pandemic, families face additional challenges accessing care and child care providers are experiencing greater financial difficulties and struggling to keep their programs open. The pandemic has also exacerbated the…

In recent years, the United States has made substantial progress in the quality and availability of early childhood education (ECE), especially in the areas of special education and ECE programs for low-income families. Nonetheless, there is room for improvement in terms of access and quality. To improve access and quality in ECE, the United…

This document provides answers to frequently asked questions on the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the education rights of children and youth in homeless situations, based on the amendments made by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, which took effect on October 1, 2016. The answers are general responses based on federal statutes,…

As modern Early Childhood Development begins to gain prominence in African communities, questions are beginning to emerge as to what sort of Early Childhood Development is being promoted as 'best practices'. Thus, the discourse for and against western Early Childhood Development as opposed to indigenous Early Childhood Development, and the scope…

Despite extensive changes in early childhood inclusive education policy and practice, various barriers continue to inhibit access and participation of children with special needs in inclusive schools. Often mentioned barriers include negative beliefs, lack of understanding of inclusive pedagogy and the effectiveness of professional development to…