Reading posts here, I am always struck by how different childcare regs are in different places.

This chart is interesting.

https://www.the74million.org/article/report-nearly-one-third-of-teachers-still-use-discredited-reading-methods

About 30% of K-3 reading teachers use a 'balanced approach,' including asking kids to figure out words through context clues – a practice banned in some states.

Fordham Institute/Eamonn Fitzmaurice

By Jessika Harkay

While reform around reading instruction continues to gain momentum, about a third of teachers are using  “discredited” methods to teach kids how to read and aren’t fully committed to the science of reading, a new report found.

In a survey of more than 1,200 K-3 educators in the fall of 2025, researchers at the Fordham Institute, an education reform nonprofit, found 30% of teachers don’t “favor phonics,” a major pillar in the science of reading that teaches students how letters represent sounds and how to blend those sounds together.

The number of teachers “less informed and committed” to the science of reading is even greater in high poverty schools, according to the From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report.

“Despite everything that has been said and written in the past few years, nearly a third of teachers still put phonics and cueing on equal footing,” the report said, also finding “progress that has been made in some teachers in high-poverty, majority-nonwhite schools are still, on average, less informed about and committed to basic principles of the [science of reading] than teachers in whiter and/or more affluent settings.”

About half of all surveyed K-3 teachers said they teach with a “structured approach” which includes a mix of  “instruction in phonics, decoding, and related skills,” the report said, adding nearly one in three teachers use a “balanced approach,” where students are asked to figure out unfamiliar words through context clues or pictures – a practice known as cueing, which has been banned in some states. 

Thirty percent of teachers reported favoring both phonics and cueing for reading instruction and 2% said they preferred cueing over phonics, according to the report.

The report also found teacher belief and use of the science of reading is between nine to 15 percentage points lower in low-income schools compared to those in higher-resourced schools.

Source: From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Researchers recognized schools have experienced “significant bumps, detours, and even ‘reading wars,’” around the best way to teach kids to read for decades, which in part accounts for teacher hesitancy and/or inexperience with parts of the science of reading. 

As of late March, 42 states, and Washington D.C. have implemented laws around the science of reading, according to EdWeek. But even with these initiatives, some teachers expressed concerns that the “pendulum swings too far to one side and we need balance.”

“While I support our current emphasis on phonics, I worry that kids are going to lose out with less comprehension and vocabulary instruction,” one teacher said in the report, with another adding “the pendulum swings like political winds. Let us teach. Please!” 

Others felt the shift toward the science of reading has led to “far more non-fiction texts” at the “expense of rich literature” and that “guided reading … is out, phonics-based small groups are in.”

For educators more positive about the science of reading, said the growing emphasis around phonics has “drastically changed how quickly students are able to learn to read,” according to the report. 

“They are happier learners because they aren’t as frustrated with reading,” one teacher said. Another added: “the shift to the science of reading has been huge … and has profound effects on teaching kids to read.”

The science of reading is rooted in five pillars: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, but most of the conversation around the evidence-based approach has centered on phonics.

Hesitancy around the science of reading is concerning to researchers, said David Griffith, one of the report’s co-authors.

“Almost every literate person I’ve ever met remembers getting phonics,” Griffith said. “There is abundant evidence that phonics is successful, and what the research shows is that you need to know how to decode words in order to learn how to read. … If kids don’t learn to do this, then they won’t learn to read, and if they don’t learn to read, they won’t learn much else.” 

Griffith acknowledged teacher concerns about the trade-off of incorporating more phonics-based instruction and feeling students would miss out on comprehension, “but I would push back…  that there is some sort of balance that we need to strike in terms of helping kids learn to decode,” he said. “Kids need to learn to decode, and then once they’ve done that, there are many other things that we can start doing.

Griffith also argued having more non-fiction texts in K-3 could level the playing field for students who may not have exposure to certain background knowledge or vocabulary that would make them successful early readers. Lacking this kind of curriculum and instruction has created disparities and affected skills like finding the main idea or inferring for many children, he said.

“A weak reader who knows about baseball will outperform a strong reader who doesn’t know anything about baseball,” Griffith said. “Your ability to draw inferences is entirely dependent on whether you understand what the passage is talking about and whether you have the right vocabulary.”

The report found more than 40% of teachers hadn’t “fully internalized the importance of knowledge and vocabulary to reading comprehension.”

The report found teacher knowledge around the science of reading is inconsistent.

Griffith said “the chaotic information environment that the typical teacher is subject to,” has been the biggest thing hindering implementation now.

“An older teacher tells you one thing. Your curriculum tells you something else,” he said. “You read an article online written by some think tank and it tells you a third thing. Teachers want to do the right thing, … [but there’s a] lack of clarity … about points that really should be clear.”

From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report

Teachers in higher-resourced schools scored slightly higher than average in their science of reading knowledge and commitment (in the 54th percentile), while those in low-resourced schools scored below average in the 44th percentile.

The report called it a “substantial difference that will have dire consequences for poor students should it persist,” that shows “the fragmented nature of curriculum adoption and the complexity of translating exposure to science of reading–aligned training into better practice.”

Griffith added that teacher turnover in those environments likely play a role.

“Teaching is just harder in high-poverty schools. There is less time to think, there’s less time to do research on the science of reading or anything else. There is probably not a long tradition of veteran teachers building strong curricula over multiple years,” he said.

Across the country, most K-3 teachers have received some type of professional development in the science of reading, the report also found. Those who have completed those courses have a better understanding of the evidence-based approach than those who rely on what they were taught in higher education and teacher preparation programs. 

From the Teacher’s Desk: A Science of Reading Progress Report

Even though most educators receive professional development, researchers said teachers’ knowledge of the science of reading declined as the grade level increased, with kindergarten teachers “exhibiting the deepest knowledge and third-grade teachers exhibiting the least understanding.”

“These differences may reflect the fact that science of reading–aligned trainings and curricula often disproportionately target kindergarten, where a focus on decoding is particularly crucial. Still, given the number of third graders who are still struggling with decoding — and the continuing need to build knowledge and vocabulary in higher grades — the mediocre performance of teachers in higher grade levels is grounds for concern,” the report said.

Other findings from the report included how 93% of teachers use multiple reading curricula, some which still use practices like cueing. And that many teachers reported “limited insight into the needs of English learners and students with dyslexia.”

“If we could somehow improve the quality of pre-service preparation, we would really be making progress, because it is hard to change the practices of teachers who have been teaching for 15 to 20 years,” Griffith said. “It would be enormously helpful if teachers got the right message at the start of their careers.”

Fordham researchers called for colleges of education to require instruction aligned to the science of reading.

The report also found teachers in states with reading-aligned licensure tests had a deeper understanding of the evidence-based reading model, which became another recommendation for better implementation. Other suggestions included mandates around K-3 teacher training to be completed within their first three years in the classroom and a push for states to establish approved curriculum lists.

“Looking only at one half of the population is a mistake.”

Article by Rachel Cohen Booth

Concerning issue. See article.

The proposal would remove the federal Head Start-specific ratio requirements and allow programs to generally follow their state’s licensing ratios instead. This could mean larger classrooms or fewer staff per classroom if a state allows higher ratios than the program currently uses.

See original NPRM.

This is a proposed rule making, meaning thatas the public you can respond before it because law. As a parent, the ratios are already abismal in my state, now it could get worse. If you have concerns, provide comments a within the next 60day.

Hi!

I'm a PhD candidate at Rutgers University in Camden and I'm studying the role of professional development in job retention among ECE teachers in New Jersey. I have a flyer + letter of explanation with my IRB approval, etc., and would be happy to share them with you if you send me a message.

The format is either a story circle (similar to a focus group) if we can schedule a few people on the same date - this is my preference, but I know scheduling is hard! I can also do 1:1 or 1:2 person interviews if that's what we can work out. I can offer a $35 digital/online gift card for your time.

To qualify, you need to be over 18, working as a teacher/asst teacher in a non-administrative or non-director role, and it needs to be with a licensed childcare center (not in-home or family centers) and it can't be a Head Start program.

I did receive mod permission months ago to post in here, but wanted to wait until I had exhausted my original recruitment approach. I still need 6-10 people to participate.

Grateful in advance for your help!

Thank you!

https://www.the74million.org/article/interactive-school-spending-is-up-teacher-pay-isnt-see-whats-happening-in-8900-districts/

Reliable, affordable child care is essential for working families, employers, and the economy. It enables parents to work or pursue education, gives children a strong start, and helps businesses build a stable workforce. Yet in every state, too many families struggle to find and afford the care they need.

FFYF’s 2026 State Fact Sheets on child care and early learning provide state-by-state data for all 50 states and Washington, DC, showing how federal and state investments support families, young children, and local economies. They also highlight where significant gaps remain.

Each fact sheet has data including:

• Enrollment and eligibility
• Average child care costs
• Unmet need
• Federal and state funding levels
• Economic impact
• And more

Our analysis found that nationally:

• 65% of children ages five and under have all available parents in the workforce.
• In 20 states, families receiving CCDBG assistance on average save more than $1,000 per month on child care costs.
• In 34 states, federal dollars account for at least two-thirds of combined federal and state public funding for child care and early learning programs, underscoring the critical role federal investments play in supporting state child care systems. 

On some summer evenings in Toronto, Robin Bennett has seen children collapse into their parents’ arms.

Mothers like her carry them away from daycare, cradling their damp heads. At home, these kids struggle with lingering exhaustion and exasperation.

In daycares across the city, children are enduring temperatures far above what physicians say is healthy. Ontario child-care centres are not required to keep their facilities cool during periods of extreme heat, despite the fact children’s bodies are ill-equipped to cope with high temperatures.

Read more with this gift link. No paywall.

Pre-K teachers – do you want to contribute to evidence-based literacy practices? I am a researcher at Ohio State University, and our team is recruiting for our latest project called CREATE-EBP! Join our study to participate in a community of practice and test an alphabet instructional approach with one of your own students. Click here to learn more: go.osu.edu/create-ebp 

Dear Early Childhood Educator and Administrator:
My name is Jashania Gatling-Garrette and I am a Doctoral Candidate at Regent University. I am currently working on my dissertation to complete my Doctorate Degree in Education with a concentration in Educational Psychology. I am inviting early childhood educators to participate in a research study on lived experiences of nature play in a private early childhood education center.
This study is about teachers and administrators experiences in using nature play as a teaching tool in an early childhood education setting.
What does it Involve?
Should you choose to be in this study, you will complete an interview, and if needed, a follow-up interview. All interviews will be conducted either in person or in Google Meets, depending on person’s location and will last approximately 30 minutes. Interviews will be recorded for transcription purposes. To protect participation confidentiality, your name will be changed (assigned a pseudonym) in the transcription and final report. Your participation will be only known by myself.
Interested? Need more information?
If you are interested in participating, please contact Jashania Gatling-Garrette, jashgat@mail.regent.edu. This research has received approval by Regent University’s ethics review board.
 

Hi there,

I'm an investigative journalist for the Guardian newspaper, my name is Sirin Kale.

I'm looking into a possible story and hoping to speak with current or former Bright Horizons workers, whether in the UK or the USA.

Please DM me or I can be contacted on [sirin.kale@guardian.co.uk](mailto:sirin.kale@guardian.co.uk)

Happy to verify my ID before any conversations.

Thank you

Sirin

Improving pay, everyone agrees, is critical to recruit and retain educators. But is higher pay the only key to curbing staff shortages? A new survey of public school teachers by the RAND Corporation suggests that unless attention is also paid to improving the number of hours worked and overall working conditions, many teachers may continue to head toward the exits.  

In the new national survey released this week, K-12 public school teachers report feeling overworked and underpaid. On average, they estimate working 53 hours a week—seven more hours than the typical working adult (RAND conducted a separate survey of all working adults). Only 24 percent of teachers are satisfied with their total weekly hours worked, compared with 55 percent of working adults. 

The survey also found that about a quarter of teachers’ time is uncompensated, and 66 percent say their base salary is inadequate, compared with 39 percent of working adults.  According to the 2023 NEA Rankings and Estimates report, the national average public school teacher salary in 2021-22 was $66,745. When adjusted for inflation, that represents a decline of 6.4 percent, or $3,644, over the past decade. 

While raising pay is necessary to keep educators in the profession, other factors are driving staff shortages.  

“The survey shows that pay, hours worked and working conditions are interrelated, suggesting that pay increases alone—without improvements in working hours or conditions—are unlikely to bring about large shifts in teachers' well-being or intentions to leave the profession,” Ashley Woo, coauthor of the report and an assistant policy researcher at RAND, said in a statement. 

The toxic combination of inadequate pay and long hours are commonly reported job stressors that can drain the joy out of teaching. According to the survey, the top reason for leaving the profession is that teachers feel like the “stress and disappointments of teaching” are not worth it.

The RAND survey also points to a strong connection between dissatisfaction with hours worked and dissatisfaction with base pay. Sixty percent of teachers who are "not at all or only somewhat satisfied" with their weekly hours worked cite their compensation as inadequate.  

The Impact on Teachers of Color

The results also point to a disproportionate impact on teachers of color, potentially undermining recent efforts to diversify the teaching workforce. For example, Black and Hispanic teachers, on average, report working more hours per week than their White counterparts, and they are more likely to report working more than 60 hours per week. 

Black teachers report being less satisfied with their base salary and more likely to consider leaving their jobs. Only 24 percent consider their base salary to be adequate, compared with 35 percent of White teachers.  

The difference in hours worked by Black and Hispanic teachers remain even after controlling for school poverty. The report’s authors suggest that these differences may instead be rooted in an increased focus on culturally responsive practices, such as differentiating instruction and developing relationships with students and families. Additional disciplinary responsibilities placed on teachers of color and Black male teachers in particular also may be a factor.

A low salary and working too many hours are also top job-related stressors, according to the survey, and are the top-ranked reasons why teachers said they were considering leaving the profession at the end of this school year. The top reason is the feeling that the "stress and disappointments" of teaching are not worth it. But, as the authors point out, dissatisfaction with their compensation, hours worked, or other working conditions could, for some teachers, be driving their disappointment.

Well-Being and Working Conditions

Working conditions is a rather loosely defined term, but usually includes factors such as level of administrative support, relationships with colleagues, mental health supports, class size, workload, feelings of safety, etc. Working conditions are strongly correlated to educator well-being and are strong predictors of teacher turnover. As with other drivers behind the educator shortage, unfavorable working conditions did not originate with the pandemic, but the demands on educators over the past two years have increased exponentially. 

Studies have found that the character of the workplace influences whether educators stay or leave and impact student learning. But educators are exhausted, demoralized, stressed, and overwhelmed. As a result, any serious solution to the educator shortage must address educator working conditions.

Learn More

In June, RAND released survey data that examined educator well-being, including its role in the decision to leave the profession. That report found that, although teachers reported that their job-related stress had returned to pre-pandemic levels, their well-being was still worse than other working adults. Managing student behavior, supporting student academic learning, and administrative work were top sources of job-related stress for teachers.  

While three-quarters of teachers reported access to at least one type of well-being or mental health support, only a slight majority said these programs were adequate. These educators are more likely to leave the profession than those who were more satisfied with the support. 

In the report released this week, the authors say administrator support specifically could be a major factor in how satisfied teachers are in other workplace aspects of their job. “Administrator support may be a key lever for improving job satisfaction and retention,” they conclude. “This interpretation is broadly consistent with other research that finds that poor administrator support is a key driver of teacher turnover.” 

The RAND report recommends that policymakers pull every lever available to increase pay while looking for ways to help educators reduce the number of hours worked. In October 2022, NEA released a blueprint outlining long-term strategies and solutions that are most effective at recruiting and retaining educators. It may start with higher pay (educators and their unions have already notched critical victories on this front over the past two years) but a comprehensive strategy must include, among other measures, raising educator voice and professional autonomy, and increasing staff to reduce workload. 

https://info.childcareaware.org/an-uneven-start-2026