Early childhood insights inspiring us right now
- Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven
- Nov 21
- 4 min read
Since the start of the school year here at ParentCorps, we’ve been deep in conversations and programming with new partner schools and Head Starts across the country. One of the things we know makes our program so unique and so impactful is the deep way in which we ground ourselves in evidence. We, first, have evidence that our program works — that it helps improve children’s reading outcomes and mental health, that it helps the caregivers and educators in a child’s life feel more connected to each other, and that it helps improve families' engagement in children’s learning. We also ground ourselves in the other research that’s emerging in our field. So, this month, as we head into the holiday season, we’re sharing some of the most interesting early childhood research we’ve come across lately. There’s a look at what we might be missing when we focus exclusively on academic outcomes in early childhood, what true partnership in family engagement can look like, and more.
A robust connection between home and school is a crucial ingredient in supporting students' growth and achievement. But traditional approaches to family engagement in schools often leave lots of parents and caregivers out. Studies have documented that many approaches are often designed to serve the school’s interest, rather than the families. Embedded within much of the school structure, too, is a deficit mindset about families — especially families who come from marginalized backgrounds. So, how do we do family engagement in a way that is culturally responsive, respectful, and speaks to the needs of caregivers?
“Studies have documented that many approaches are often designed to serve the school’s interest, rather than the families.”
As the authors explain, “community programs and schools that successfully engage families from diverse backgrounds exhibit three key practices: they focus on building trusting relationships among school staff, families, and community members; they recognize, validate, and support families’ needs including class and cultural differences; and they broker and share power and responsibility between schools and families.” The study dives into two programs that achieved this deep, holistic level of engagement, leading parents to build community with each other, and to feel more confident advocating for their children and their own needs in the school environment. The analysis explains that when caregivers are invited to participate as knowledge-holders and collaborators, they offer rich insights into children’s learning, challenge stereotypes, and reclaim their rightful position as powerful agents in their children’s education and school community.
This study looks at the effects of attending a Montessori public preschool versus a traditional public preschool. At first, children’s outcomes didn’t differ in 3K or pre-K, but by the end of kindergarten, children who’d attended the Montessori school showed higher skills in reading, short-term memory, executive function, and social understanding. The Montessori schools were also less expensive per child, likely due to the lower staffing numbers Montessori schools have since the model utilizes multi-age classrooms. As more cities and states invest in public early childhood programs, the results strengthen the case that Montessori preschool can yield meaningful cognitive, academic, and social advantages— and do it at a lower cost.
Much of the research that exists on early childhood interventions, the authors argue, is a result of the “streetlight effect:” researchers investigate and measure what can easily be seen and measured — that which is under the ‘streetlight.’ These tend to be academic skills, like literacy, math, and language acquisition. But relying primarily on these measurements can lead us to underestimate the value of early childhood programs, since children can often “catch up” on these academic skills later. They propose looking beyond academic outcomes to skills that drive long-term success and whose foundations are set during the early years. They call these FOLD (foundations of learning and development) skills, and they name six: curiosity, creativity, self-regulation and executive function, critical thinking, perspective taking, and internal representations of self. These pieces might give us a more holistic picture of how an intervention impacts a child’s development, and though they’re more difficult to measure, it’s not impossible, and doing so may lead to more effective and equitable early childhood programs.
Outdoor education in early childhood is tremendously valuable. It can support children’s social-emotional development and promote physical activity, offer them the opportunity to learn in the way that works best for them, be it physically, creatively, or sensorily, and help children connect to the environment. But there are real challenges educators face when it comes to implementation. Outdoor education isn’t as simple as just “take them outside.”
”Outdoor education isn’t as simple as just ‘take them outside.’”
When it comes to planning and executing an outdoor lesson plan, teachers are often faced with their own lack of knowledge or confidence around the approach. They also might face issues with logistics or institutional constraints. In order for outdoor education to be as successful as we know it can be, it has to be part of an intentional pedagogical design (likely starting at the system level), so teachers can feel confident they’ll receive support if needed.
To read some of the research literature on ParentCorps — lessons from our large research-practice partnership with NYC, the essential elements of building adult capacity to support children, the program’s return on investment, the impacts ParentCorps has on children’s reading achievement and mental health, and more — visit our website.
Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven is the ParentCorps Communications Specialist.
