TMW Center Newsletter August 2021
Science of Scaling Updates
We’ve been amazed by the response to The Scale-Up Effect in Early Childhood and Public Policy: Why Interventions Lose Impact at Scale and What We Can Do About It, the edited volume we released in May. It is a privilege to be part of the critical conversations happening around the country related to responsibly scaling early childhood programs, policies, and practices, including those made possible by federal COVID relief funding.
ICYMI, New America published a Q&A with TMW Center Co-Directors John List and Dana Suskind on the book’s themes and recommendations.
On October 20, we are co-hosting a webinar with Child Trends, which will feature several of The Scale-Up Effect contributors discussing their recommendations for scaling in the early childhood space. Please save the date! This webinar will take place from 2:00 – 3:30 pm ET on October 20 and will be open to the public. An invitation is forthcoming.
3Ts-Let’s Talk in the News
“I think as a mom you second guess yourself a lot,” said Katie Tomlin, a participant in our 3Ts-Let’s Talk pilot in Kentucky. But, she added in a recent interview with Lexington’s ABC 36, “With this program I feel like I don’t do that as much.”
We are honored to support parents like Katie with our suite of evidence-based programs, and thrilled that ABC 36 chose to highlight the commitment of the Let’s Talk participants and facilitators in Kentucky. You can watch or read the story here.
TMW Center on Instagram!
Looking for more of our evidence-based tips and strategies? Our new Instagram account shares easy-to-use tactics (and the science behind them!) that parents and caregivers can use to enhance the early language environment for their children. Follow along at @TMW3Ts!
What We’re Reading
Persevering through the Pandemic: Key Learnings about Children from Parents and Early Educators – Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Leveraging data collected in late 2020 and early 2021 as part of the Early Learning Study at Harvard (ELS@H), this report captures the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, families, and early educators. Unsurprisingly, it finds that the pandemic has negatively affected young children’s academic, social-emotional, and behavioral development, and calls for a careful approach to reopening schools this fall. As children return to school, the authors note, they will not only need help in rebuilding their core academic skills, but also with those essential social and emotional skills that underlie all learning and interpersonal interaction. “Taking time up front to ask children about their well-being and providing them with tools to process what they have experienced will make a substantial difference…in the long run,” the authors suggest. As the budget resolution and reconciliation process heats up in Washington, this is an issue that demands our attention.
What We’re Reading
Speaking of child care, Lemonada Media’s new limited series podcast, No One is Coming to Save Us, explores America’s broken system and how it can be fixed. Hosted by Gloria Riviera and featuring Kristen Bell, the series utilizes an innovative combination of reporting and storytelling that helps bring the current crisis into sharper focus.