In 2022, Brodsky Research partnered with the Mwebaza Foundation to finance a deep water well at Mwebaza Annex Primary School in the semi-urban town of Nkugulutale, Uganda. The well operates alongside two large rainwater catchment tanks which will allow the school to meet their water needs through the long dry season. The well pump connects to the school’s existing solar power …
Colorado’s Preschool Development Grant (PDG) provides $33.5 million to support Colorado’s vision that all children are ready for school when entering kindergarten. Colorado Shines Brighter, the state’s PDG B-5 initiative, works to maximize the number of high-quality early care and education options available to families, especially families identified as vulnerable and underserved such as those …
Colorado Preschool Development Grant Cost Evaluation and Needs Assessment Read More »
High-quality early childhood experiences are one of the most important factors that drive adult success. The child care industry is also an important component of Colorado’s economy. In spite of this, the high cost of quality child care remains out of reach for many parents, and wages for early childhood professionals remain low. BRC is partnering with the Butler …
Strengthening Colorado’s Early Childhood Workforce Read More »
Each year, the Annual Conference of the Early Childhood Social Impact Performance Advisors hosts one of the nation’s most dynamic conversations about the feasibility, research, and policy implications of Pay for Success programs. The conference is organized by the Institute for Child Success, Ready Nation, and Sorenson Impact Center at the University of Utah, with whom I partner as a Senior Research Fellow.
Last week I had the opportunity to present on the opportunities and challenges presented by Pay For Success programs in early childhood. Two early childhood PFS are already in progress in the U.S. – in Chicago and Utah — and another has just been launched in South Carolina.
As I think about the conversations I heard about early childhood in the past year, I find people are usually speaking the same language. At conferences, in journals, and in legislative chambers, those of us who live within the early childhood realm generally agree that early childhood is a great public investment. We also agree …
I’m excited to be working with the Policy Innovation Lab at the University of Utah’s Sorensen Global Impact Investing Center to help develop Pay For Success programs across the Western U.S. The PIL works across sectors to develop innovative, data-driven approaches to difficult social and public health challenges. With support from the White House’s Social …
Andrew Brodsky Partnering With Policy Innovation Lab On Pay For Success TA Read More »
Is your organization suffering from Evaluation As Usual (EAU)? Symptoms of EAU include overly enthusiastic language about successes, wish-washy discussion of potentially negative results, and a general lack of objective and critical data analysis and discussion. Evaluation can be expensive, and billions of dollars are disbursed every year based on its results. With this kind …
The Five Warning Signs Of EAU (Evaluation As Usual) Read More »
The final report from the Early Childhood State Advisory Councils, released in May, documents the $92 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to 45 states to help build higher-quality early childhood systems. The funding touched the lives of millions of children across the country and helped inform President Obama’s 2013 …
Apart from the words “free ice cream”, there’s nothing more exciting in my mailbox than an e-mail that says “new web-based cost-effectiveness tool.” Given the approximately 550$ billion we spend on K-12 education alone in this country, understanding the impact of our investment is more important than ever – so the easier it is to …
Cool New Cost Effectiveness Tool From Center For Cost-Benefit Studies Read More »
In April I had the opportunity to participate in a panel on Pay For Success (PFS) programs at the annual Early Childhood Social Impact Performance Advisors Conference in San Diego. Jointly sponsored by the Institute for Child Success and ReadyNation, the conference is the only one to focus specifically on early childhood PFS social impact financing. …
What Programs Are Appropriate For Pay For Success? Read More »
I contributed a post this week to What Works In America’s Communities, a blog based on the recent book of the same name, which promotes innovative ideas that are helping to build stronger communities across the nation. Pay For Success financing structures fund social programs via investor groups which share in the economic benefits of …
The Promise of Pay For Success In Early Childhood Read More »
Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Child Care 2020 Conference in Winnipeg. The conference is the fourth national child care conference in Canada’s history and the first in a decade. Presenters from around the country and overseas talked about issues ranging from child care funding policy to play-based education to effective advocacy. …
Child Care in Canada: The Child Care 2020 Conference Read More »
BRC is excited to be working with the Boulder Community Foundation to help evaluate an initiative aimed at improving outcomes for Latino families.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the annual Smart Start conference in Greensboro, N.C. The conference also draws a spectrum of early childhood policy, research, practitioners and advocates from around the nation, in addition to a good chunk of North Carolina’s early childhood community. After spending the better part of a week immersed …
Three Lessons on Early Childhood Systems From Smart Start Read More »
I had the opportunity to present some updated analyses of the cost-effectiveness of early childhood investments in Colorado at March’s Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference. The RMECC itself is a blast as it draws an unusually diverse combination of folks from all corners of the early childhood field, from teachers to directors to government agencies …
Early Childhood Cost-Effectiveness in Colorado: RMECC Presentation Read More »
State leaders who are trying to rally support for early education can use several strategies to make sure their message comes across loud and clear. In a new post on the Build Initiative’s blog, I outline five messages that advocates and policymakers can use in their states. Here’s a teaser: Message 1: Everyone’s Doing It! …
Rallying Economic Support for Early Care and Education Read More »
Preschool is now “hot”, according to the New York Times. “If early childhood education were an actor, it would be Tom Cruise or Meryl Streep,” Gail Collins writes. “If it were a video game, it would be Candy Crush or Angry Birds.” It’s true that preschool initiatives are popping up around the country, from Cambridge …
There is increased buzz around the country for Pay For Success financing programs for early childhood initiatives. Sometimes referred to as Social Impact Bonds, these programs allow investors to underwrite the costs of social programs and then reap financial benefits as societal costs savings are realized down the road. A number of interesting programs are …
Investor Returns in a Pay-For-Success Preschool Program in Colorado Read More »
Last month I had the pleasure of attending the Asia Regional Early Childhood Network (ARNEC) conference in Singapore. It was remarkable to connect with engaged, passionate early childhood advocates from around the world. This week I report on my presentation at ARNEC (the full PowerPoint is here), which focused on approaches to ECD cost estimation …
Early Childhood Cost Estimation in Developing Nations – My Presentation at ARNEC Read More »
Last week, Congress introduced the Strong Start for America’s Children Act, which would expand high-quality preschool, Early Head Start, and home visiting across the United States. The bill is similar to President Obama’s Preschool For All plan, though with some differences in funding mechanisms. Much has been written recently about issues such as the effectiveness …
As people go to the polls around the country, a number of early education initiatives are on this years’ ballots. Last week I wrote about Colorado’s Amendment 66, which would allot $950 million to education, of which $165 million would go to fund full-day kindergarten and $77 million would fund preschool. In New Jersey, Virginia, …
Next week Colorado will vote on a constitutional amendment to raise $950 million for education funding. Amendment 66, which Governor John Hickenlooper somewhat hubristically claims would be “one of the most comprehensive education-reform initiatives in the history of the United States,” would direct $165 million for full-day kindergarten and $77 million to expand the number …
Funding Preschool in Colorado Could Create Billions in Benefits Read More »
A new study out this month sheds light on the evidence base for preschool education. The report, financed by the Foundation for Child Development and produced in collaboration with the society for Research in Child Development, concludes that high-quality preschool programs are “the most cost-effective educational interventions” for society as a whole. That’s pretty big …
As early childhood assessments and quality ratings systems become more sophisticated, it is interesting to see the testing and accountability issues percolating K-12 start filtering down to the preschool world. The same essential – and largely false – dichotomy seems to be emerging. Either one is for tests or against them. Perhaps standardized tests are …
As the government shutdown takes effect, programs for the neediest kids are the most vulnerable.
A new study reports what parents of preschoolers already knew: naps make you smarter. UMass-Amherst researcher Rebecca Spencer studied 40 preschoolers and found that naps help kids remember what they learned earlier. In the study, children completed a visual-spatial memory game in the morning, and then tried to recall item locations on the memory test …
A new survey from the First Five Years Funds reports that Americans strongly support early childhood investments. For example, 70% of voters agree that we should be doing more to ensure kids enter kindergarten with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful, while 70% support a federal plan to help states and local …
Public Overwhelmingly Supports ECE Investments – So Why Don’t They Pay For Them? Read More »
I just came across this cool graphic from OECD, which represents the economic returns to education in OECD countries. The graphic shows costs and benefits for both private and public sources. Returns include increased earnings, taxes, and public benefits, while costs include direct costs and foregone earnings (private) and taxes (public). Quick reactions: Returns are …
Cool Interactive Graphic About Economic Returns to Education Read More »
The World Bank has released a report detailing the effects of a psychosocial intervention for toddlers in Jamaica on personal earnings 20 years later. The intervention involved weekly one-hour visits over a two-year period for stunted Jamaican toddlers living in poverty. Twenty years later, young adults who had received the intervention as toddlers had 42 …
Randomized intervention in Jamaica finds economic benefits Read More »
