You Make Us Better

10/04/2021

There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.
Margaret J. Wheatley, writer

Dear Exchange Community,

We love the way readers of ExchangeEveryDay and contributors to Exchange magazine make our work better. As our name implies, we work hard to share helpful ideas about the early care and education field. Sometimes that information is straightforward, but sometimes it is open to interpretation and opinion. Sometimes it even needs to be updated as new data becomes available. We are grateful to readers who provide updated information, like Sarah Becker of Cambridge, NY did after a recent ExchangeEveryDay when she shared this note:

"The study on the 30 million word deficit is now called into question because of the very limited number of children and families in the study as well as questions of bias that may have influenced assumptions. It’s time to stop referring to this study while still deeply valuing the place of early conversation and language in children’s reading and writing development.

Please refer to this article from NPR:
https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/06/01/615188051/lets-stop-talking-about-the-30-million-word-gap"

And we are grateful when readers engage in robust debate and look at issues from multiple perspectives. When we shared a Head Start administrator’s opinion piece a couple of weeks ago that urged using Head Start as a model for universal preschool, some readers were in complete agreement, while others urged caution about using a one-size-fits-all approach. Each person’s comments were offered in a thoughtful and respectful way.

In the recent Exchange magazine edition on Joy, we marveled at the dedication, resiliency, courage and delightful creativity of the contributors. It confirmed our belief that the early care and education field attracts amazing people.

Thank you for helping us create a community full of competence, generosity, intelligence and heart. We salute you!

The Exchange Team

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.