Latest News

New research on youth employment highlights challenges for our future workforce

Research from Brookings found that employment prospects for teens and young adults in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas plummeted between 2000 and 2011. Work experience is a key indicator for finding and keeping future employment, and critical in forming foundational and occupational skills. The report includes recommendations and examples of promising programs across the country. For […]

Tell Your Story: ACS Leads National Communications Capacity Building Workshop for Early Childhood Organizations

At a time when breaking through all the noise is one of the biggest challenges facing communications and outreach professionals, creating a concise, impactful message has become a critical skill. VP Scarlett Bouder and Policy Associate Heather Lenz are gearing up to help early childhood professionals craft unique, distinct and compelling messages and share them […]

Sobering Look at Racial Disparities in Public Education

A new report released by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights provides new data from all 97,000 of the nation’s public schools and paints a disturbing picture: disparities in access and in discipline exist from pre-school to 12th grade for students of color. Across the board, students of color are less likely […]

Lori McClung Named St. Luke’s Foundation Trustee

ACS President Lori McClung has been named to the board of trustees of the St. Luke’s Foundation in Cleveland. This high-profile post is a perfect fit for Lori, since the St. Luke’s Foundation mission is focused on creating and sustaining healthy people, strong communities and resilient families — all values that drive ACS’s work and […]

New research on youth employment highlights challenges for our future workforce

Research from Brookings found that employment prospects for teens and young adults in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas plummeted between 2000 and 2011. Work experience is a key indicator for finding and keeping future employment, and critical in forming foundational and occupational skills. The report includes recommendations and examples of promising programs across the country. For […]

ACS Presents at National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Public Policy Conference

Earlier this month ACS’s Scarlett Bouder provided tips for “giving jargon the boot” to a group 150 early childcare providers at the annual NAEYC conference. In this message training, ACS presented their four point frame and how to apply it to media outreach, and helped NAEYC advocates create clear and concise messages for outreach to […]

ACS Helps Cleveland Develop Plan for Universal High-Quality Pre-K

On March 11, 2014, the Cleveland Pre-K Task Force announced an exciting new plan to ensure that every preschooler in the city will have access to high-quality pre-K experience that will leave them ready to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. The plan, PRE4CLE, was created by more than 60 task force members in a four-month process […]

When Even the Starting Line is Out of Reach

A recent New York Times opinion piece, When Even the Starting Line is Out of Reach, explains the compelling and very human reasons why early childhood development and education is critical to ending the cycle of poverty that too many American families face. While the challenges are enormous, we are – as always – encouraged by our many […]

Is Kindergarten Too Young to Test?

A thoughtful article from KQED Public Media in Northern California on the concerns related to testing for Kindergarteners that mentions ACS client the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Ohio 8 Superintendent Quoted in National Press Regarding Impact of “Zero Tolerance” Policy on Minority Students

ACS recently connected the Associated Press with Akron Public Schools Superintendent David W. James in an article that examined the prevalence of justice system involvement in school discipline policies – and the disproportionate number of minority students who are affected by such policies. James spoke honestly and directly about a recent analysis of student discipline […]