Screenshot of “Ideas and Innovations in Early Childhood Education” website

There’s a new early education organization in town called, “Ideas and Innovations In Early Childhood Education.”

Founded by early educator Theodore Kokoros, it’s a local think tank that’s funneling the voices of early educators and parents of young children into the public debate.

“While early childhood education and care is getting more attention from politicians and the media,” the organization’s website explains, “too often those shaping policy and discussions related to early childhood education and care are not the people who are more directly involved with the work. This think tank’s goal is to share the research and perspectives of people who work directly with young children.”

The think tank’s website features articles on a range of topics, including teaching practices, proposed legislation, research trends, literature reviews, brain science, and other early education-related news.

One article — “Improving Professional Development In Early Childhood Education Using A Coaching Model” — looks at current professional development (PD) practices in Massachusetts and finds that they can be confusing and costly, noting:

“We must create a system of PD which is easy for educators to access, is not overly costly, and will pertain to their actual specific needs in the classroom; the last point is critical as often times depending on the makeup of the class and various other factors, the type of support and PD that an educator needs might vary greatly from year to year or even on a day to day basis.”

Another article — “Mass Media and Its Effect on Language Maintenance and Acquisition” –takes a multi-national and multicultural look at how language skills are affected by media — everything from television and music videos to Twitter and Facebook.

All of the organization’s researchers and contributors are “either teachers or parents of young children.” This includes Raseel Alahmed, the organization’s vice president, who has worked in early childhood classrooms in both Boston and Saudi Arabia.

Be sure to check out the website and follow along on Facebook. If you’d like to learn more about submitting an article, email Teddy Kokoros at tck311@mail.harvard.edu.