Our Podcast Debut: A Conversation About Early Learning Councils

This week, we are joining the ranks of wonky podcasters with our debut edition of the bi-weekly Early Ed Watch podcast. On this recording, we interview our very own Christina Satkowski, author of The Next Step in Systems-Building: Early Childhood Councils and Federal Efforts to Promote Policy Alignment in Early Childhood. This paper, published late last year, provided a 50-state survey on how — and whether — states are making progress in establishing early learning councils, which are mandated by federal law to be established in each state and the District of Columbia. The purpose of these councils is to help coordinate and improve the quality of already existent programs, and as we recommend, they could be helpful in creating linkages with public schools in the early grades. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided states with $100 million in grants to establish and run their early learning councils. Grant applications  are being received through August 1, 2010.

Christina is now in graduate school, but we pulled her away from her studies to talk about how these councils have already become an active ingredient in states’ plans to deliver high-quality care and education to children from birth to age 5.  She also gave a presentation on this topic at last week’s National Head Start Leadership Institute. Her presentation is now available here as a PDF.

So rest your weary eyes and listen. Or download the file, which is available to the right, and drag it into iTunes for listening on your mp3 player later. (We’re hoping to be listed within the iTunes directory soon.)

And let us know if you have ideas for future guests on issues related to early childhood education through the third-grade year of elementary school. We want to make this program as useful and interesting as we can.

Early Ed Watch podcast — February 4, 2010

Early Learning Councils — What They Are and Why They Matter

With our guest Christina Satkowski, former program associate at the New America Foundation