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Although young children are more resilient to the health effects of COVID, the global pandemic hit them with stunning force. In the face of this historic challenge, how did we do? According to a recently published synthesis of national, state and local research鈥�not great. The changes in learning location probably interfered with development, and the time and quality of instruction dropped, despite efforts to plug the holes with remote learning. The big question now is what we do about the early childhood education (ECE) landscape that has emerged.

Christina Weiland, a professor at the University of Michigan鈥檚 is the lead author of , a joint effort with researchers from the Urban Institute, MDRC, RAND, the National Institute for Early Education Research and several universities. The researchers also collaborated with 10 policy leaders from across the country. The paper supports both immediate policy changes and structural fixes for the 鈥渟ystem鈥� (or lack thereof) to make it more equitable.

The Heising-Simons Foundation funded the analysis, and Weiland and her co-authors worked quickly, given the dynamic nature of the crisis and the need for feasible policy recommendations. Weiland, a mother of two鈥攈er second was born just months before the pandemic struck鈥攕ays her team reviewed 300 different studies, ultimately selecting 76 high-quality studies for in-depth review.

鈥淎lthough the pandemic hit different regions differently,鈥� Weiland says, 鈥渢he survey findings were generally consistent.鈥� Among the paper鈥檚 notable findings:

• ECE enrollment plummeted. Early in the crisis, just 10% of 3- to 5-year-old children were continuing in the same program on the same schedule they had before the pandemic. Even as life crept back to normal, learning time dropped dramatically.
• Educators innovated. Now they鈥檙e exhausted. When face-to-face interactions were untenable, teachers went outside and talked to parents from a safe distance or contacted them by phone, text or email.

Some providers gave out diapers, food and learning materials. Nobody thought remote learning was ideal for toddlers, but the workforce showed flexibility and determination. More than a year later, the pandemic has left our child care workforce financially and emotionally scarred, with programs struggling to find and hire qualified teachers. Federal interventions so far have been appreciated, but many experts find them insufficient.

• Families stepped up. Many of us who weren鈥檛 frontline workers had to do our jobs remotely, but we nonetheless made time to help our children learn. For example, 95% of Massachusetts parents reported doing science, language and literacy activities with their children鈥攁 level of commitment that was consistent across income groups.

• Dual-language learners (DLLs) and students of color suffered most. 鈥淐OVID magnified pre-existing inequities,鈥� Weiland explains. 鈥淓verybody lost ground, but especially kids of color.鈥� Remote-only learning was more common for these children and in districts with the highest share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

A Virginia study found the increase in kindergarteners and first graders classified as at-risk for reading failure was 1.2-2.5 times as high for children who are Black and Hispanic and for children from families with low incomes.

• What we don鈥檛 know could be even worse than what we do. By definition, most research studies include families and teachers who are still attached to their early learning settings. The authors make a chilling point when they write, 鈥淟earning setbacks may be more profound and consequential for children whose data we currently lack.鈥�

Historic Crisis, Historic Opportunity lives up to the second part of its name by spelling out policy solutions to repair the damage, stabilize the sector and build equity:

• Prioritizing the need for infant and toddler care
• Act on the best science of ECE in curriculum choice, structuring of summer programs and supports for teachers
• Increasing public and private teacher pay to stabilize the workforce, as well as making health care subsidies and other supports available
• Paying child care providers based on enrollment rather than attendance (at least until early 2022)
• Investing in data systems and analytic capacity to verify that funding reaches the places where it can be most effective

鈥淚n order to thrive,鈥� says Weiland, 鈥測oung children need high-quality learning opportunities.鈥� While she says that it鈥檚 not realistic or even desirable to build a one-size-fits-all ECE system, we shouldn鈥檛 be stuck in the mindset that the patchwork of existing programs is all we can hope for.

鈥淭his crisis is a potential launch pad for a more coherent system,鈥� she argues. 鈥淎nd this is the time to change how we administer ECE today and imagine it for tomorrow.鈥�

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 91涩漫. Learn more here.