Small Talks, No. 65

June 24, 2022

Jun 24, 2022

Dear Small Talker,

Welcome to the sixty fifth edition of Small Talks. Every Friday, I highlight 6 areas of weekly joys and reflections in early childhood and the whole family. Small Talks leverages my experience at the intersection of education, philanthropy, and impact investing. Enjoy!

What I’m celebrating -

New study from the University of Notre Dame and Texas A&M University looks at the intergenerational effects of 57-year old program Head Start. It highlights increases in education attainment and wages, and decreases in teen pregnancy and criminal involvement.
A group of advocates, including The Hunt Institute, The Century Foundation, The Education Trust, The Education Alliance and The Trust For Learning publish recommendations toward diverse and inclusive settings. The initial section nicely frames the context of why. Excellent webinar, led by Dan Wuori at The Hunt Institute, available here.
On a related topic, I had the pleasure of leading a session at GlobalMindDED conference with Portia Kennel, senior advisor to Buffett Family Foundation, and Lisa Roy, Executive Director for Early Childhood in Colorado on 3 barriers to equity in early childhood:
- Suspensions/expulsions: Dr. Rosemarie Allen, associate professor of early childhood development at the Metropolitan State University of Denver and president and chief executive officer for the Institute for Racial Equity and Excellence, highlighted that suspensions start as early as 8 months of age and occur 3x more in preschool settings than in K-12. Every day, 250 children are expelled from preschools.
- Housing insecurity: Cindy Kahn, an education activist in Denver, spoke about the rising homelessness issues impacting families- 1,400 families before the pandemic, now 1,700 - and practical solution the city is taking to address this issue, including leverage public school land to build affordable housing.
- Workforce: Dr. Leah Austin, President & CEO, National Black Child Development Institute, reminded us that the early childhood workforce is highly diverse, yet Black teachers are paid $0.78 less per hour than their White peers.
On the innovation side, Winnie launches an innovative platform to help childcare workers find jobs.
Remarkable research results by NewGlobe (top 1%) , an affordable private school model started in Kenya as Bridge International, shows that children have very large gains (more than 2 years) after 2 years of schooling with NewGlobe. Those results are thought provoking, as the organization leverages a highly prescriptive curriculum, begging questions on the role of standardized lesson plans and teacher feedback and monitoring, especially in low-resourced environments.

What I’m listening to -

“The Long Time Academy” is a beautiful podcast on how to become better ancestors, and be better today by experiencing “timefulness”.

What I’m reading -

“Wanting What’s Best. Parenting, Privilege and Building a Just World” by Sarah Jaffe goes through child care, school, college and advocacy to highlight how by wanting what’s best, parents often exclude other kids. The book features interviews with dozens of parents who are resisting the cultural pressures to seek “the best” for only their kid.

What I’m watching -

The Daily Show features Angela Garbes’ recent book “Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change”, highlighting how mothering is arguably the only essential work humans do and the increasing weight placed on mothers and caregivers.

What I’m learning and exploring more deeply -

Fascinating read in Scientific American about how parents’ trauma impacts their children by Rachel Yehuda, one of the leading neuroscientists on intergenerational trauma and epigenetics.
Great piece on play-based learning vs. academics in preschool. Spoiler alert: the two are not mutually exclusive.
Reflections by Emily Tate at EdSurge on the state of evidence in edtech, featuring voice solution Bamboo Learning.
Extraordinary wisdom by Heove ve ‘keso (Yellowbird), Chief Phillip Whiteman, Northern Cheyenne chief in this piece “how love can stop a war”.
- “Without the understanding of diversity there is no unity, & without unity there is no oneness with Creator. The Creator wants us to love each other”

Poem I’m pondering -

By Mary Oliver

Feedback is a gift. Which part above is your favorite? What did I miss? What do you want more or less of? Other recommendations? Please kindly let me know. Thank to all of you who are sending me amazing suggestions.

Small Talks