I spent a year researching child care around the world. Here’s what I discovered

Hello! I’m excited to be back at Hechinger after spending the past academic year as a Spencer Fellow at the Columbia Journalism School. This past year was eye-opening and invigorating. I spent the bulk of my time researching and reporting a child care policy investigation, which will be published this fall. I also spent time digging into child care quality and systems, including visits around the country and to Scandinavia.

Some highlights:

• In October, I spent time in a program in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where I saw the impact of a free, high-quality early learning program .

• In November, I visited Birmingham, Alabama, with the nonprofit Small Magic, to learn about local efforts to improve staff-to-child interactions in child care programs. This visit will be the subject of one of my next newsletters.

• In February, I spent an abnormally warm few days in Des Moines, Iowa, to discern the needs of providers amidst debate over controversial child care legislation that would allow teen child care employees to work unsupervised. This child care policy investigation will publish later this year.

• In what has been a highlight of my reporting career, I spent a week in April visiting child care programs in Oslo, Norway . These outdoor-focused, play-based programs are organized around a Norwegian law that requires that child care programs “acknowledge the intrinsic value of childhood” and “contribute to well-being and joy.” I can’t wait to share that story with you, which will publish this fall with the Christian Science Monitor.

• Lastly, this spring, two mothers in New York City showed me how stringent and inflexible child care subsidy rules affect families. That story will be published later this year as well.

As I finish up those fellowship stories, I have a long list of additional early childhood stories I’m jumping into, including a look at kindergarten readiness, access to field trips and enrichment for elementary students and deep dives into specific aspects of child care quality. I’ll be keeping an eye on the implications of the election and policy proposals from both parties. I also want to know what you would like to see from me during the next year. Please feel free to reply here—it will go directly to my inbox—to share any tips or story ideas.

Finally, I’d like to extend a huge thank you to my colleagues Ariel Gilreath and Sarah Carr for the thoughtful, detailed early ed stories they published while I was gone, as well as for the support of Hechinger’s editors, which allowed me to take advantage of this unique opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you, our readers, and thank you, as always, for following our work!

This story about child care policy was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter .

The post I spent a year researching child care around the world. Here’s what I discovered appeared first on The Hechinger Report .