A New York Times blog, Bedtime Stories for Young Brains, provides a fascinating discussion of how reading to young children affects their development. We know reading to children from the start is good for children, but the new research explains why. Dr, John Hutton, the lead author of a recent study, says, “I think that we’ve learned...
Imagine if the state issued just one driver’s license per family and continued to prohibit people from driving without a state-issued driver’s license. Needless to say, state lawmakers wouldn’t subject themselves and their families to that sort of extremely problematic approach to requiring a photo ID for driving. Yet a bill that got a...
A Washington Post business page article, The surprising number of parents scaling back at work to care for kids, examines parents’ struggle with child care and work. According to the article, “While it has long been clear that finding affordable, dependable child care is a daily challenge for parents of young children, the new poll...
Three different documents released this week – using different data sources – shed light on the dramatic improvements in access to health insurance that have occurred under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including continued improvements in the first half of 2015. Here are the highlights from the new data sources, some of which include...
This week is National Health Center Week 2015 and the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Community Health Centers (CHCs). Community Health Centers (CHC) are an integral part of the health care safety net for underserved communities across the nation and in Wisconsin. Their doors are open to all – regardless of their insurance status....
Eleanor Clift asks Can This Save Early Childhood Education? in an article in the Daily Beast discussing social impact bonds for funding early education programs. The article discusses innovative approaches in a white paper released on Capitol Hill recently. “The basic idea is private investors loan money to social service providers who...
Medicaid’s 50th anniversary marks a major milestone in our progress as a nation in providing all of our children access to the health care they need to help them stay healthy. The growth in the program has also spurred more research on its benefits over time, and the most recent studies indicate that access to Medicaid for children not...
In the midst of Iowa caucuses, here are the results of an Iowa poll about the priorities they would like the next President to focus on. The top priority: Improving the health, education, and well-being of children. See more information on the survey, see: Iowa Voter Survey Sends Message to Presidential Candidates: Speak Out on Child...
Wisconsin has been named a top state for charter schools at the pre-kindergarten level, according to a new report, Pre-K and Charter Schools: Where State Policies Create Barriers to Collaboration. The report, by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, ranked Wisconsin in the top five states offering a hospitable climate for charter schools...
A Washington Post article says, “Kindergartners who share, cooperate and are helpful are more likely to have a college degree and a job 20 years later than children who lack those social skills, according to a new study.” Go here for the complete article. Research continues to emphasize the importance of social-emotional skills in the...
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