Shayna Cook

As Mental Health Awareness month comes to a close, it is important to remember that fostering mental health starts in infancy. From birth to age three a child’s brain is developing rapidly with over 700 new neural connections formed every second. Nurturing environments and positive experiences that promote early learning help to foster healthy brain […]

For years, the Obama Administration has been pushing the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math — known as STEM — in many of its programs. And for years, the Administration has also been emphasizing the importance of early learning. Both of those missions came together last Friday when U.S. Secretary of Education John King […]

Picture Steven, a third grader in Mississippi. At the beginning of the school year, his teacher discovers that he is performing far below grade level in both reading and math. The school staff works together to provide him with multiple interventions to help him to master the grade-level standards. Despite many of the interventions that […]

It’s surprising that even today some children around the country don’t have access to free, full-day kindergarten. When young kids have access to high-quality full-day kindergarten programs, they have a greater opportunity to build the developmental and academic skills needed for the later grades and beyond. And, as more children have access to full-day pre-K, […]

Educators use standards, assessment, and data to help guide and drive instruction in the classroom over the course of the school year. State departments of education require a set of learning standards or guidelines to provide a framework for instruction. And in some states, they provide guidance for statewide assessment and data collection.   New […]