MA Secretary of Education Paul Reville Discusses School Readiness with Root Cause Social Impact Research

Julie

With the generous support of the EOS Foundation, Social Impact Research (SIR), the research division of Root Cause, brought together representatives from the government, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors at the Omni Parker House on July 7^th to discuss school readiness in Massachusetts. 

To listen to the full conference, click here.

Andrew Wolk, CEO of Root Cause, introduced SIR’s School Readiness Reports and expressed his hope that these reports will help spread effective solutions surrounding early childhood education to nonprofits, philanthropists, businesses, and government. Colette Stanzler, Director of Social Impact Research, presented more specific findings from SIR’s School Readiness Reports. These reports detail the current state of early childhood education, outline school readiness best practices, and feature high performing organizations in the greater Boston area. Furthermore, the reports offer a unique opportunity for social impact investors to maximize investments made in the early education space. To access the School Readiness Reports, please visit http://www.socialimpactresearch.org/research.

Serving as the event’s keynote speaker, Secretary of Education Paul Reville stressed the importance of improving teacher quality, undertaking a deliberate approach to literacy, and involving parents in the early education process through training and other resources. Mr. Reville echoed SIR’s stance that poverty and other risk factors directly correlate to the achievement gap between students from low-income and middle-income families. Additionally, he emphasized that programs that provide school readiness programs to low-income students provide a highly leveraged investment opportunity for social impact investors.

Root Cause and SIR were thrilled to welcome panelists Sherri Killins, Commissioner of Early Education and Care; John Lippitt, Executive Director of Thrive in Five; Mary Reed, President of Bessie Tartt Wilson Initiative for Children; and Wayne Ysaguirre, President and CEO of Associated Early Care and Education. Andrew Wolk moderated the lively panel discussion that revolved around the key issues of access, quality and impact in early childhood education. Panelists focused on the importance of a holistic approach to school readiness as well as developing a competent and well-compensated early education workforce.

Panelists stressed that early education approaches and curriculum must be aligned with that of kindergarten through twelfth grade. Continuity and quality of education must start early and is critical to a child’s success and development throughout school. Additionally, parental involvement is critical and promotes ongoing and close collaboration between teachers and parents. Given the resource constraints connected to education, policies must be altered to allow various funding streams to be integrated and leveraged. The private sector also plays an important role in the provision of early education in terms of the capacity to fund and implement innovative approaches such as grant programs, improvement strategies, and informative events. Overall, transparency and rigorous assessment of school quality and student achievement are imperative to the development and success of school readiness programs.