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Following the Early Education Initiative’s “” policy forum on March 2, we launched an  to continue the conversations that began that day. This week we posted a short video clip from the face-to-face forum that encapsulates many of the tough issues that early education providers grapple with on a regular basis.

The video clip features Steven Dow, executive director of the  of Tulsa County, saying that “it doesn’t ever feel that any of the funders actually insist that braiding or better coordination of funds happen.”

Do you agree? Is this a role that state and federal agencies should play? What about private foundations? And how would policies need to be changed for state and federal agencies to do this effectively?

Some people are already offering  funding streams could lead to easier enrollment for families and to more integrated and inclusive classrooms. But the question remains: Is there an operational cost to doing all this braiding and blending? Is it worth the contortions that some providers must go through to make it possible?

We invite and encourage you to share your experiences, insight, and questions. In addition, we’ve added some  and are  about thoughtful reports on assessment. We know this is a controversial and fraught area, but we also know that a lot of smart and thoughtful people have written reports that can help community providers and school districts as they figure out when, if, how and why they should evaluate young children’s progress. We want to make sure we’re capturing the latest info. Please .

 to the online forum to join this discussion or to start another. 

The online forum is organized around topics like , , ,and more. Early Ed Watch hopes it can become a useful resource and gathering spot for interested parties at the local, state and federal level. We invite you to join the discussion. You can do so by creating a login at .

Hope to see you !