Dr. Stephanie Curenton Discusses Preschool for All Evaluation with a Racial Equity Framework

by Rafael Otto | Dec 18, 2024 | Podcast

Summary

This episode of The Early Link Podcast features Dr. Stephanie Curenton, a professor at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development and the lead evaluator for Multnomah County’s Preschool for All program. Dr. Curenton brings her personal and professional expertise in early childhood development, emphasizing her passion for creating high-quality early learning experiences, influenced by her own time as a Head Start student.

Dr. Curenton outlines the objectives of the Preschool for All program, which is now in its third year, with a racial equity framework built into its design. The program, offering more than 2,000 preschool slots for the 2024-2025 school year, aims to create equitable access to early learning opportunities for families throughout Multnomah County. She highlights the intentional efforts to reach children from diverse racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, emphasizing that equity must extend beyond race to include ability, gender identity, and financial considerations.

“What this mother said is nothing about us without us, and that was really this value of making sure that we center the voices of the children and families who are actually enrolled in this program and that they have a stake in this, and that they have access to all of this information to help learn and grow. I think for me, the responsibility as researchers that is placed upon us to make sure that we are sharing information and that we’re telling the stories of the community in a way that is respectful, a way that is really honoring who they are and the values that they place around this, and what the community has invested.”

Children's Institute · Dr. Stephanie Curenton Discusses Preschool for All Evaluation with a Racial Equity Framework

More about The Early Link Podcast

The Early Link Podcast highlights national, regional, and local voices working in early childhood education and the nonprofit sector. The podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Rafael Otto, Children’s Institute’s director of communications.

Listen to more episodes of the Early Link Podcast here or stream on Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Apple Podcasts.

What We’re Reading: Preschool for All

by Suze Wehr | Apr 13, 2023 | Preschool, Benefits of Preschool, Featured Programs, What We're Reading, Equity

What if there were a way to connect every 3- and 4-year-old in Multnomah County to free, inclusive, culturally responsive preschool experiences? This inspiring goal is coming to life through Preschool for All, a program built through long-term community engagement with parents, educators, policymakers, organizations and early childhood specialists. In just one year, Preschool for All has made the dream of preschool possible for more than 700 children at 47 sites in 16 zip codes across Multnomah County.

As one of the most expensive states in the nation for preschool, public funding for preschool in Oregon has been limited, reaching fewer than 20 percent of three- and four-year-olds in the county. Within this already severe lack of access, racial disparities intensify the impact of inequality in Oregon and across the country. According to the State of Preschool Annual Report (NIEER 2020), 59 percent of white three- and four-year-olds were enrolled in preschool, compared to 43 percent of Black children and 46 percent of Latinx children in the same age group. This imbalance only compounds the systemic disadvantages faced by BIPOC children and communities as they progress through the education system. Access to preschool makes a huge difference in supporting children and families early on and transforming unjust circumstances into opportunities where everyone can thrive.

Preschool improves life-long health, education, economic, and social outcomes for children and their families. But as research from Schools Skills and Synapses shows, it’s also a great investment for communities, where every dollar spent on high-quality preschool represents a return of $7–10. Because of this exponentially positive benefit, Preschool for All receives its funding from a small personal income tax on those with the largest incomes in the county. This 2-3 percent tax allows individuals with the county’s highest earnings to support and improve the lives of those with less access to financial resources, all while boosting outcomes for their own communities.

While tax revenue from personal income naturally varies from year to year, Preschool for All ensures a stable funding structure and level of service to families through three strategies: a reserve fund, a contingency fund, and revenue smoothing. This preparation allows for the ebbs and flows of every decade to be managed from a steady, long-term perspective of abundance.

A graph showing expenditures for PFA funding.

Building a new system that will not just survive but flourish requires intentionality and time. Through consistent evaluation, accountability, and a willingness to innovate, Preschool for All is ready to keep growing as both a smart public investment and a commitment to supporting the next generation.

Want to learn more about how tuition-free preschool can help by making sure every child has access to high-quality, joyful early learning programming? Check out the Preschool for All 2023 Implementation update or learn about the funding and budget plan for PFA in the report below.

ZERO TO THREE Report Outlines Key ways that States are Addressing Bias and Equity in Policy

by Celeste Yager-Kandle | Nov 5, 2021 | Policy in Other States, National Research, Oregon Policy

We know that the first five years of a child’s life are foundational for healthy brain growth and development. Before age five, a child’s brain makes one million new neural connections per second! We also know that racial and economic injustice begin to affect a child’s life before birth, which is why early childhood is such an important time to eliminate disparities based on race, ethnicity, income, geography, disability, language, immigrant and refugee status, houselessness and foster care.

A new report from ZERO TO THREE explores some of the key ways that states across the US are addressing bias and equity. Below are some of the major takeaways from the report, outlining what states are doing to center racial equity in state early childhood policies.

Thoughtful collection and use of data

Data collection must focus on identifying and addressing challenges in reporting on children and families in all racial and ethnic groups, including communities that have been under-reported because of smaller population size.

Data collection must be committed to equity and recognize the experiences of all babies, young children, and families — especially from communities who have been overburdened, and under-resourced, and historically excluded from data.

Lifting up family and provider voices

The policymaking process fails to center those who are most directly impacted by policy decisions, which reinforces current and historical inequities grounded in systemic racism.

Families and child care providers are the experts in their own experiences and know what they need; it is crucial that they are recognized for their expertise, based on their lived experience.

Policies to increase equity

Led by Early Childhood Coalition partner, Black Child Development PDX, Oregon’s Senate Bill 236 will eliminate suspension and expulsion in early childhood programs by 2026, thanks to strong advocacy efforts from BCD PDX and Reimagine Oregon.

Illinois’ Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultations Act increased childhood mental health consultation services, addressed childhood behavioral health, and extended early intervention for three year olds.

California’s Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act was the first legislation of its kind in the US, requiring implicit bias training for all health care professionals working in perinatal services. It also required states to track outcomes for pregnant women, and mandated hospitals and birthing centers to provide information on how patients could file discrimination complaints.

Additional Resources

CI Denounces Tragic Violence in Georgia

by Karen Twain | Mar 26, 2021 | News, Announcements, Equity

A statement from Karen Twain, Interim President & CEO

The tragic violence in Atlanta, Georgia last week left eight people dead, six of whom were Asian women. As an organization committed to a just and healthy future for all Oregonians, Children’s Institute condemns the violence — and the racism, hate, and misogyny that fueled it.

According to Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 4,000 anti-Asian hate incidents have been reported across the country, including all 50 states and the District of Columbia, since March 2020. More than 35 percent of incidents have occurred at businesses and women reported hate incidents at more than twice the rate of men. Oregon has seen a similar trend, with a rise in the number of reported physical attacks and bias crimes against Asians over the past year. It’s worth noting that the number of reported attacks is much lower than the actual number of incidents.

These incidents have been fueled by hateful anti-Asian rhetoric in the time of COVID-19, but are also rooted in longstanding anti-Asian history in the U.S. Understanding that history, and the impact of hateful rhetoric, is essential for anyone interested in shaping a society where all children are valued, and where all children can thrive.

That includes a commitment to understanding racism, how it operates, and how it impacts children and families. Dr. Sally Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), said it plainly in 2019: “Racism harms children’s health, starting from before they are born.” That year, the AAP released a report that cited 180 studies and papers and named racism as a core social determinant of health for children and families.

A research review by the National Association for the Education of Young Children shows that children develop an awareness of racial differences at a very young age, and the impact of racism begins early. Studies also show how young children notice racial differences as early as preschool, and that children may exclude peers based on race from shared activities.

Because racism is an ordinary feature of American society, and racial inequities pervade every aspect of American society, we must oppose racism in all of its forms. Because young children in Oregon remain more racially and ethnically diverse than adults, we must actively shape a future for them grounded in justice and equality. Because we serve as advocates for children and families, we must oppose racist ideas and policy in our systems.

AAPI leaders Janet Hamada and Kathleen Holt wrote in the Oregonian last week, “Building a more inclusive and equitable region requires that we also work in solidarity with Black, Indigenous and people of color communities. We call upon all Oregonians to actively participate with us, so that people from all races, cultures and communities are safe, respected and protected.”

We stand with community leaders expressing this sentiment, and seek to build alliances to help transform our state. We commit to examining our role in the systems that perpetuate racism and hate, and will work to disrupt these cycles so that all children and families can truly thrive.

Recommended Resources

Stop AAPI Hate

APANO Condemns Pandemic-Linked Anti-Asian Hate and Bias Incidents

Asian Americans Advancing Justice

The Impact of Racism on Child and Adolescent Health

Curbing Anti-Asian and Pacific Islander Hate

Organizations to Support in the Fight Against Asian Hate

A Call to Community Amid Uptick in Anti-Asian Crime and Harassment

Foregrounding Racial Equity in Early Childhood

by Rafael Otto | Mar 8, 2021 | Podcast, Preschool, Equity

In this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with Elena Rivera and Soobin Oh from Children’s Institute about the importance of racial equity in early childhood spaces and how the Children’s Institute is working to center racial equity in its own work.

Guests:

Elena Rivera is the the senior health policy and program advisor at Children’s Institute. She is responsible for establishing strong linkages between health and early learning in policy and advocacy efforts, including identifying opportunities to leverage Oregon’s health system transformation to improve outcomes for young children.

Soobin Oh is Children’s Institute’s senior early education advisor. He is a committed social justice educator and is well-versed in Anti-Bias education, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and critical pedagogy.

Summary:

Elena and Soobin explain how racism impacts learning experiences for young children, share their own personal stories related to racial bias in early childhood, and provide data on the number of children of color living in poverty in Oregon. Finally, they break down the concepts of diversity, equity, and antiracism while looking at the work that Children’s Institute is doing and how the organization is holding itself accountable to these terms.

Transcript

Rafael: [00:00:00] Welcome everyone. This is The Early Link Podcast. I’m your host, Rafael Otto. I want to thank all of our listeners for tuning in and as usual you can catch us on the airwaves on 99.1 FM on Sundays at 4:30 PM, or subscribe and listen wherever you find your podcasts. Today, I’m talking with two of my colleagues at Children’s Institute.

Elena Rivera is our senior health policy and program advisor, and Soobin Oh is our senior early education advisor. We’ll talk about why a focus on racial equity is essential when thinking about the needs and hopes for kids, for all children, but particularly for young children in the early childhood space.

And we’ll talk about how Children’s Institute is working on centering racial equity in its work. Elena and Soobin, how are you both doing today?

Soobin Oh: [00:00:46] Really great, Rafael. It’s great to be with you and Elena today.

Elena Rivera: [00:00:50] Yeah, I’m doing well, too. Excited for this conversation.

Rafael: [00:00:54] Glad to have you both. I know we’ve had some opportunities to talk about this in person, of course. And I’m glad to have you both on the podcast and to get this conversation out to a broader audience. When we’re talking about racial equity, it means that we’re also talking about racism and its impact on young children.

Soobin I thought we could start with you, if you could describe some of the ways you’re thinking about how racism impacts the learning experiences for young children and then, Elena, I’ll give you an opportunity to talk about this as well.

Soobin Oh: [00:01:27] Yeah, you’re not starting with the easy questions are you Rafael?

Rafael: [00:01:32] We’re going to go right into the big picture.

Soobin Oh: [00:01:34] I love it. I love it. I mean, where do we even start in terms of how racism impacts the learning experiences of young children? I think we could think about it in different levels. What I mean by that is, on some level, we can look at data and outcomes and understand that people’s life trajectories are being impacted by racist systems or racist policy decisions or different races. Different people are having different experiences just based on the categories that they’re being put into.

And then I think you can also describe how racism impacts learning experiences for young children on a more intimate level in terms of the classroom experience of a child. For example, just receiving a lot of negative attention from a teacher, more than usual, and that could perhaps be impacted by the teacher’s uninterrogated biases.

We know that can be the case based off of new research on how implicit bias works. So, I think it could be anywhere from there to there in terms of intimate experiences all the way to broad trend data across populations. We can see a variety of ways that racism is having an impact on people.

Rafael: [00:02:51] Thanks Soobin! Elena, What are your thoughts on that?

Elena Rivera: [00:02:53] Yeah, I really appreciate that framework Soobin offers, kind of the data approach and then the experiential approach. I just want to interject another potential setting. You know, children are in classrooms and even before they’re in classrooms, children are interacting with these other systems and services be it healthcare – starting even with the prenatal care that their mothers receive when they’re pregnant – and including family support services as well. And in these kinds of programs and settings, kids and families are experiencing everything from bias at an individual level to the kind of systemic impacts like neighborhood poverty, crime rates, poor housing conditions and so on, you know, lack of access to food as well.

These are conditions that are created by structural racism that we have built into our institutions and our policies. And so this all adds up. You can think of the kind of compounding nature of racism. Such that by the time a child enters a classroom, they already have a host of experiences that have shaped the kinds of opportunities they’ve been exposed to, how their families are doing and how those children perceive both their own skills and identity, as well as how they fit into the picture of their community.

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