Cover Stories

• Why Intervene Early?

  By the Ounce of Prevention Fund

  Babies’ brains are quite literally wired to learn. This rapid absorption of information creates new neural connections and builds the architecture of a baby’s brain.

• Strengthening the Early Childhood Education Continuum

  By Tom Keily, Alyssa Evans, and Bruce Atchison, Education Commission of the States

  Research suggests that high-quality early childhood education may help close achievement gaps. Separate from some exemplar local programs that align across the continuum from birth to third grade, policymakers are seeking ways to scale similar alignment at the state level.

• Early Childhood Student Learning Outcomes

  From The State We’re In 2019 by Advance Illinois

  Illinois must significantly expand access to quality early childhood programs if we hope to increase kindergarten readiness, eliminate achievement gaps and improve education outcomes.

Regular Features

• Leadership Letter: Consolidation May Again Take Center Stage

  By Thomas E. Bertrand

  Thriving local schools are essential to the economic health of a community.
   

• From the Field: Making Meetings Matter

  By Sandra Kwasa

  Even meetings that manage to avoid common problems may leave some board members with the nagging feeling that they could have done better — made better decisions, made better use of time, made a better impression on observers, avoided some misunderstandings, had a more positive impact on their schools, etc.

• Policy Page: The Law Doesn’t Require a Policy; Should We Have One?

  By Maryam Brotine

  The law does not require boards to adopt a policy on targeted school violence prevention ... Should a school board, as a best practice, have a policy governing this required procedure?

• Practical PR: ECE Continues to Grow

  By Thomas Hernandez

• ICYMI: Closing the “Knowing-Doing” Gap

  By Leslie Weber

• ICYMI: Working with Board Values, Bias, and Generational Differences

  By Tracey Miller

• Journal Resources March/April 2020