New America Podcasts

Decades ago, as researchers began to study what young children might learn from educational TV, they often found that "co-viewing" -- the act of parents and children watching together -- was strongly associated with children learning from what they watched.  Today, although TV is still the number-one type of media used by young children, new forms of media are begging new questions.

The assessment of children in the early years and early grades has always been a controversial topic, but now the issue is moving to the forefront of early education debates. Assessment is a pivotal piece of the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge, and the larger education debates on evaluating teachers are tied to data on student achievement.

Last December, the U.S. Department of Education announced 20 winners of the 2011 Promise Neighborhoods grant program. Promise Neighborhoods is the Obama administration's attempt to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone, a 100-block area of Harlem where community organizations and schools work closely together in their efforts to break the poverty cycle for local children.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly known as “The Nation’s Report Card,” is a nationally administered math and reading test that we discuss frequently on Early Ed Watch. The 2011 NAEP scores, which were released earlier this month, showed small improvement in 4th grade math, but no statistical improvement in reading.