Texas Association for the Education of Young Children’s Post

Join us for SCORE’s 2025 State of Education on Dec. 6 at the Frist Art Museum. We’ll explore and discuss an aligned vision to support Tennessee students as outlined in our upcoming report, 2025 State of Education in Tennessee: Casting a Vision for Student Success. Fueled by new statewide goals and data points that help us track progress, this year’s report lays out six priorities our state must focus on to prepare students across their K-12 and postsecondary journey for careers that enable economic independence. https://lnkd.in/ej4NNTT2

Nationally, 54% of undergraduates identify as first-generation college students (Center for First-generation Student Success, 2024). And often unspoken in our conversations about #firstgen is its intersection with family income. Parental income for first-generation college students remained steady at $41,000 since data was last published by the Center for First-generation Student Success, and this highlights the continued need for services (#TRIOworks) and financial supports that empower our first-gen students to keep pursuing their educational and career goals. Bringing it down to the lived experience level, there is an indelible quality to the first-generation student experience that connects all of us that have and continue to trek on the journey. To be first-gen is to punch an entrance ticket to a world we and our families didn't know previously. It's a testament that we dream big and go the distance, in spite of the systemic inequities that undergird our higher education system, particularly in our rural communities. We are poverty cycle breakers; we are worthy of the opportunity that education beyond high school affords us. Thankful to continue doing the work in supporting our #Scholars in community with my colleagues at The Ford Family Foundation and our wonderful campus partners!

Check out the first teaser in a series of videos called “Studio Dialogues: Research Uncovered” from TC Academy at Teachers College. Haeny Yoon, discusses her research on play-based learning and its relevance for young learners and adults alike … #professionaldevelopment #k12 #highereducation #studiodialogues

With no formal credentials or courses in education, I: 1/ Led a public school program where inner-city minority female students enhanced their critical thinking skills in four months. This matched the four-year growth of the average American student on the WGCTA. 2/ Launched a Montessori middle school program where students increased their SAT scores by over 100 points annually. This enabled the average 8th grader (without learning disabilities) to surpass the national average 12th grader, including those from private schools. 3/ Established a charter high school ranked the 36th best public high school in the United States by its third year (Jay Mathews’ Challenge Index). This was achieved despite being in rural New Mexico, one of the country's lowest-performing academic regions. Anyone can learn to do what they need, when needed, without taking classes. It might take time. Start now.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a talk about Neurodiversity in Art at Southampton City Art Gallery. Presented by Verity Babbs, this talk was a self-described “soup” of exploration through historical and contemporary neurodivergent artists, and consideration of the challenges and advantages of navigating the often neurotypical expectations of the professional art world. As an art and design educator, I’m concerned about the learner experience and journey - often working with FE and HE students (who may or may not be neurodivergent) whose previous educational experience has impacted their self-confidence and mental health to such an extent that it becomes a huge barrier to their creative practice. This point was raised and discussed at Saturday’s talk and only reinforced what I already believe to be true. Our education system is in urgent need of review and innovation. Not just for the benefit of neurodiverse learners, but for all. What do you think? How can we approach an educational system shake-up to complement, rather than fight with, the increasingly diverse needs of learners?

If you're someone who is talking about, planning for, trying to provide, or demanding "quality early care and education," I urge you to spend some time with Defending the Early Years' free, virtual summer institute "Advancing Quality in Defense of Early Childhood Education and Care" from June 24-26. "Quality has always been an important component in ensuring that all young children have access to early care and education. Nonetheless, defining, measuring, and guaranteeing high quality demonstrates the complexities and difficulty in making high quality for all a reality. What does quality mean to you? How do you demonstrate quality in your program or classroom? How can the systems used to measure quality be improved? What does high quality mean in relation to justice and equity for disadvantaged and marginalized children? The 2024 Sixth Annual DEY Summer Institute will address these questions and many more." Click the for more information or to register!

Exactly what the UK needs

Haeny Yoon, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Teachers College, discusses her research on play-based learning for young learners, adults and everyone in between in this episode of “Studio Dialogues: Research Uncovered.” Learn more from researchers like Yoon in TC Academy at Teachers College, an accessible professional development suite from Teachers College: https://lnkd.in/ev_3RYqc

This article highlights the vital importance of arts education on students and the challenges faced in school systems not only here, but also around the US. One of the things I have noticed over the past few months with the Baltimore School for the Arts is the extremely high attendance rate of our students: “Studies of students in New York, Boston, Chicago and Baltimore have shown that robust arts education programs are associated with everything from increased school attendance and higher grades to improved morale and mental health.” Not only does this impact overall academic learning, but also fosters students ability to be creative in academic pursuits and set them up for success post high school. #artseducation #artsadvocacy

📅 October Half-Term is Almost Here!   At Visions for Schools and Education, one of our key focus areas have been helping schools improve attendance, alongside adapting to the new DfE guidance. 📊 Regular attendance plays a huge role in academic success, and we’ve been equipping educators and parents alike with solutions to keep students engaged and attending consistently.   Here are some tips to keep attendance on track: 🎯 Schools: Foster a welcoming and safe environment to help students feel excited about learning. 👪 Parents/Carers: Establish consistent routines and open lines of communication with teachers.   We’re excited to see how the schools and students we support progress next half term.   What has been your school’s biggest attendance win so far?