Buffett Early Childhood Fund

Founded in 2005, the Buffett Early Childhood Fund (BECF) is a non-profit organization that works with issues of early childhood education in Nebraska and across the nation.
With its partners, BECF works through three main tenants:
*Practice, through Educare schools in the nationwide Educare Learning Network
*Policy, through the Alliance for Early Success and the First Five Years Fund
*Knowledge, through the Harvard Center on the Developing Child (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Program Evaluation) and the work of Nobel Laureate in Economics James Heckman
BECF does not accept solicitations for funding at this time.
Practice
Educare Learning Network
The Educare Learning Network (ELN) consists of 18 Educare schools, with 2 more currently under construction, across the nation. The first school was opened by The Ounce of Prevention Fund in spring 2000 in Chicago's south side, and acted as one model of a high-quality, state-of-the-art, full-day, year-round early childhood school designed to serve at-risk children from birth to 5 years. The current president is Diana Mendley Rauner, Ph.D. Using research-based practices in early childhood learning in actual classrooms and then collecting data on the results, Educare evaluates effectiveness and adapts their model. These findings are then shared with policy makers to help provide encouragement for legislative decisions impacting early childhood.
The "Core Features" of an Educare school are:
*Provide full-day, full year services
*Implement reflective supervision and practice
*Provide continuity of care
*Implement an interdisciplinary approach
*Provide enhanced focus on language and literacy
*Provide enhanced focus on problem-solving and numeracy
*Use research-based strategies
*Maintain small class size and high staff/child ratios
*Offer on-site family support
*Maintain high staff qualifications
*Provide strong emphasis on social-emotional development
*Integrate the arts
Educare
Four main components comprise Educare's work. These are:
*Partnership: Local philanthropy, Head Start and Early Head Start, schools, parents, and families work together to ensure high quality programing.
*Program: The "Core Features" of high quality standards for staff qualifications, class size, student-teacher ratios, continuity of care, parent engagement, professional development, and evidence based curriculums are applied at each school. According to the Educare Implementation Study Findings-August 2012:
:"Data from 12 Educare Schools (Central Maine, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Omaha at Indian Hill, Omaha at Kellom, Seattle, Tulsa at Hawthorne, and Tulsa at Kendall-Whittier) are demonstrating results in preparing at-risk children from birth to five for later academic achievement. Evaluation data show that more years of Educare attendance are associated with better school readiness and vocabulary skills."
A number of organizations and institutions are involved in the research that takes places at the Educare schools. These include: University of Chicago, Munroe-Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Arizona State University, University of Southern Maine, University of Miami, University of Oklahoma, Anselm Center for Consultation and Evaluation, George Mason University, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Juniper Gardens Children’s Project at University of Kansas, and the University of Washington.
Policy
Alliance for Early Success
The Alliance for Early Success, previously known as the Birth to Five Policy Alliance, is directed by Dr. Lisa Klein and is headquartered in Kansas City. The stated mission of the organization is:
:"The Alliance for Early Success is a catalyst for bringing state, national, and funding partners together to improve state policies for children, starting at birth and continuing through age eight."
The Alliance provides resources in the form of grants, policy framework, technical assistance and rapid response, and convening to help early childhood initiatives on the state level. Generally, grantees pursue change through three major avenues: "building capacity in states for policy innovation and investment; supporting policymakers; and analyzing and tracking policies."
Policy Foundations
Standards-
:Set high standards for programs and practice as an example for the field.
Screening & Assessment-
:Use screening to inform educators and families of children's health or developmental status and their progress.
Accountability-
:Providing outcomes for children, families, and program effectiveness to inform policy decisions and resource allocation.
The stated mission of the First Five Years Fund is:
:"The First Five Years Fund helps America achieve better results in education, health, and economic productivity through investments in quality early childhood education for disadvantaged children from birth to age five. We provide knowledge, data, and advocacy, helping federal policymakers make investments in the first five years of a child’s life that create greater returns for all. Start building with early childhood education and you’ll finish with a better US."
Currently, the organization is focusing on three main areas of advocacy:
*Funding for federal early education programs (Head Start, Early Head Start, Childcare Development Block Grant)
*Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge
*Early Learning and Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Communication Campaigns
First Five Years Fund utilizes two major communication campaigns.
*Invest in US:
::"Invest in US is an interactive, multimedia exhibit designed to bring together policymakers, journalists, business leaders, philanthropists, and the general public to learn the wisdom of investing in high-quality early learning programs."
*Our Head Start:
::"Our Head Start is for the hundreds of thousands of adults whose success in life started with Head Start. Today, they are entrepreneurs, doctors, authors, military officers, graduate students and the pillars of their families and communities. If you're an adult who attended Head Start as a child, share your story here"
Knowledge
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D. directs the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is the Julius B. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development at the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is also a Professor of Pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston.
Topics of interest of the Center on the Developing Child are: The goal of the Center on the Developing Child is to have scientific research inform the policies that affect children. There are 6 main "Activities" that are the focus for transmitting the research into practice. These are:
*National Scientific Council on the Developing Child: This body combines information from different fields to inform policy makers on early childhood education research.
*National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs: The Forum handles program evaluations to measure effectiveness.
*Global Children's Initiative: This initiative works on international projects focused on childhood health and development.
*Frontiers of Innovation (FOI): FOI works to include new collaborations in early childhood development policy and practice.
*Science of Health and Development Initiative: This program focuses on the role of genetics, experience, and environment in human development and lifelong health outcomes.
*Students, Education, and Leadership Development: This branch provides learning opportunities for others in the field of early childhood development.
James Heckman
James Heckman, PhD, is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at University of Chicago. His research in recent years has focused on the rate of return of quality early childhood education programs.
In an effort to allow the public to better understand the economic theories of Professor Heckman, a website was created in 2008. This website makes available the academic writings of Heckman, as well as multimedia presentations and advocacy tools.
Work in Nebraska
Because Nebraska is home to the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, special attention has been paid to programs and policys there. Within the state, groups such as First Five Nebraska, Nebraska's Children's and Families Foundation, and Nebraska's Early Childhood Business Roundtable have worked to increase attention to the issues related to early childhood education.
Some accomplishments in recent years include:) to create, support, and enhance birth-to-three services for children at risk
*Protect existing early childhood funding during state funding cuts
*Pass legislation to expand the Sixpence endowment cash fund
*Initiate a QRIS (quality rating and improvement system) for child care providers receiving subsidy reimbursement
*Raise the eligibility standard for the child care subsidy

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu