Early Ed Watch - New America Foundation

Doodle artists captured the top-line issues and new phrases that became part of the lexicon at the CGI America meeting in Chicago last week. This section of their canvas focused on announcements related to early childhood. (Photo by Lisa Guernsey)

Early childhood advocates received some big shots of energy last week. First, ?former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared her dedication to early childhood, including her participation in a national initiative cleverly titled ?Too Small to Fail.?? Second, the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation, announced social impact bonds and $20 million in investments in the first phase of its public-private partnerships projects known as the? ?Early Childhood Innovation Accelerator? project.

As an advisor to the early childhood working group, I had the good fortune of watching these events unfold last Thursday and Friday. Both announcements were made in Chicago, at the annual Clinton Global Initiative America meeting, which brings together more than 1,000 leaders from business, government and non-governmental organizations.

In some of her first domestic policy remarks since leaving the Obama Administration late last year, Clinton announced that one of her top priorities will be to bring more attention to early childhood.? The former Secretary of State, former U.S. Senator, former First Lady and now possible 2016 presidential candidate has been following the science of child development for decades and said she sees investments in early childhood as critical to keeping the United States strong. ?Don?t take my word for it,? she said, ?ask yourself this: Why is it that China is committed to providing 70 percent of its children with three years of preschool by 2020?? She also noted that the United Kingdom created universal preschool and encouraged businesses to create flexible work schedules for parents of young children. ?Here in the United States, ? she continued, ?only half of our children receive early childhood education, and some of it, very honestly, is not of high quality.? She added: ?And very few parents, whether two-parent or single- parent, have the kind of flexibility that enables them to do the most important job of their life ? parent ? while also doing the job they need to do to keep their family going.?

Too Small to Fail appears to be designed to leverage social?media tools, private-sector partnerships and philanthropic investments to assist parents and continue to raise awareness of brain development in children from birth to age 5.? (Within twenty-four hours of its launch on Facebook and Twitter, it received support from White House, First Lady Michelle Obama, and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.)

For those who work in early learning settings ? and for anyone yearning for more focus on improving the environments and learning opportunities for young children ? Clinton?s attention and her ability to tap into new philanthropic resources are good news. The early childhood community is already buzzing with questions and speculation about what Clinton?s involvement will mean for a host of fledgling programs that aim to help children and families ? from flexible workplace policies to home-visiting programs to high-quality preschool.? Many people also wonder how the project will mesh with other advocacy groups? existing efforts, such as the First Five Years Fund, ReadyNation, and Pew?s Home Visiting Campaign.

The website for Too Small to Fail shows a kick-off video (see below) that includes quotes from Jack Shonkoff of Harvard University?s Center on the Developing Child and Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician and CEO of the Center for Youth Wellness, based in San Francisco.? But there are no details yet on specific projects.? Advocates, program administrators and policy influencers will surely be lining up over the next few months to share their ideas and catch Clinton?s eye. ?

Too Small to Fail was actually started in November 2012 by Next Generation, a relatively new research and advocacy organization focused on children and the environment and co-founded by Matt James, a former executive vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation.? The project will be spearheaded by Ann O?Leary, vice-president and director of Next Generation?s Children and Families Program. O?Leary was legislative director for Clinton when she was a U.S. Senator.? Next Generation and the Clinton Foundation are now co-sponsors of the project.?

The first phase of the Pritzker Foundation?s Accelerator project is sparking conversation as well, in part because $2.4 million of its investments include a loan for a Salt Lake City project that will open 450 slots for children on preschool waiting lists by employing ?social impact bonds? ? a new vehicle for infusing money into social interventions that show evidence of reducing costs in the long term. Goldman Sachs is the primary lender, and the loans will go to the United Way of Salt Lake, which oversees the Utah High Quality Preschool Program. As described in a New York Times article on the project, ?The investment?s success will be measured by the level of cost savings when children do not need to use special education services, which are financed by the state.?

In between these announcements at CGI America, the early childhood working group met for six hours to brainstorm new ways to assist families with young children, boost early childhood programs, and help the field of early learning from birth through age 8.? Individuals from more than 75 organizations, seated around tables in a windowless hotel conference room, were charged with coming up with projects and pledges ? known in CGI lingo as ?commitments to action? ? that could help to make headway in providing more access to early learning opportunities.?

Many varying and unconventional ideas emerged. Some people announced efforts already underway, such as First Book's two-year commitment to bring more diversity to children's literature. Most projects were in the conception stage, not yet ready for prime time but full of promise. ?One group, for example, focused on encouraging employers in rural areas to carve out more flexible schedules for low-income working mothers. Others aimed to create ?digital badge? credentials for early childhood teachers who gain media literacy skills. Still others focused on new ways to engage and empower parents. Exactly how ? or if -- these ideas take shape will be determined in the coming months as organizations make plans to work together and draw in new partners. If these groups can harness the energy in the room for those two days, and bottle the adrenalin rush that came from Clinton's comments, we can expect to hear more specifics in the coming year.

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Source: http://newamerica.net/blogposts/2013/hillary_clinton_the_accelerator_and_more-86146

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