EXPLORING NAEYC AND INEQUITY

Following Links

Nobel Prize winner, James Heckman is an economics professor at University of Chicago.  He writes articles for NAEYC and has his own website, http://www.heckmanequation.org/.  The link to his website is very informative, especially in regards to equality.  The following is taken directly from the Heckman website, it is known as the Heckman equation.

+	Invest Invest in educational and development resources for disadvantaged families to provide equal access to successful early human development.

+	Develop Nurture early development of cognitive and social skills in children from birth to age five.

+	Sustain Sustain early development with effective education through to adulthood.

=	Gain Gain a more capable, productive and valuable workforce that pays dividends to America for generations to come.

Area of Interest

A very important and informational area on naeyc.org is the Effective Advocacy Resources section.  In this section you can learn about the steps of making a bill into law as well as common terms so that you better understand the process.  This section also provides research data and the NAEYC position statements so that you have current information and support to back up your advocacy efforts.  Advocates that work nonprofit organizations have legal limits. The dos and don'ts information sheet helps you work through those limits.

E-Newsletter

One of the benefits of joining NAEYC is an automatic membership to your local association.  For me that included a membership to the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children (MiAEYC).  I receive a weekly email update from MiAEYC.  This week they provided links to two articles on the recent Kids Count report that places Michigan with the the third lowest score for the overall well-being of black children.  Montegomery Tabron says, "The report cites that many children of color are growing up in communities where unemployment and crime are higher, schools are poorer, and access to capital, fresh produce, transit and health care is more limited" (2014).  According to Montegomery Tabron the report is a call to action for Michigan communities to help provide every child in Michigan with the basic rights and opportunities needed to meet their full potential.

Montgomery Tabron, L. (2014, April 10). Barriers facing african-american children are a community issue. In Bridge. Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://bridgemi.com/2014/04/barriers-facing-african-american-children-are-a-community-issue/

NAEYC Position Statements

The NAEYC position statements are a wonderful resource when attempting to understand more about the equity and excellence in early care and education.  These position statements use the best research to present guides for educators, parents, and advocates of early childhood education.  My favorite is the the joint position of NAEYC and the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) on early childhood inclusion (NAEYC/DEC, 2009).

NAEYC/DEC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_EC_updatedKS.pdf

NAEYC Website Insights

There is so much changing information that is important to have resources that keep you current on those issues and trends.  I am really pleased with the MiAEYC weekly email update that tells me of current issues in Michigan.  Making the issues more localized to my state and my community helps me feel more empowered to advocate for change.