Buffett Early Childhood Institute

09/06/2026

Headed to the Thriving Children, Families, and Communities Conference on Sept. 22? The Buffett Institute's Amy Schmidtke, Alyssa Anson, Kate Sutton, and Alexandra Daro, along with University of Nebraska at Kearney Community Chairs Philip Lai and Paula Thompson, will be leading breakout sessions on the School as Hub for Early Learning Approach and early childhood workforce solutions.

Learn more about the conference and register if you haven't yet: https://buff.ly/x5oZCf2

09/05/2026

New blog: At the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the Early Childhood Inclusive Professional (ECI PRO) Pathway allows working early educators to earn their degree while staying in the classroom.

"It's a way for working professionals to continue to build their confidence in this field, in a field that's not as valued," said Tiffani Holmes, the early childhood inclusive director at UNO College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. "It's really acknowledging the work that they're already doing."

Read more about how UNO is helping prepare—and retain—the next generation of early childhood teachers: https://buffettinstitute.nebraska.edu/blog/2026/09/at-uno-working-early-educators-build-careers-without-leaving-the-classroom

09/03/2026

As part of the Superintendents' Early Childhood Plan, school districts in the Omaha metro have strengthened early literacy and math instruction, expanded family engagement, improved transitions into school, developed stronger systems for collaboration, and increased opportunities to connect with families before children enter Kindergarten.

Our latest blog recaps points of pride and highlights from the 2025-26 school year. Read more: https://buffettinstitute.nebraska.edu/blog/2026/09/from-action-to-impact-highlights-from-the-202526-superintendents-early-childhood-plan

Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties

09/02/2026

Students who regularly attend school in the early grades experience greater academic outcomes throughout their school tenure. So how can schools and families partner together to support regular attendance?

The Buffett Institute's Dalhia Lloyd, director of digital education, co-wrote a new Center on Early Learning Success research brief on engaging with families to support attendance. Find research, strategies and more: https://www.celscenter.org/resources/partnerships-research-brief

09/01/2026

“Our military families make huge sacrifices for us,” Buffett Institute Executive Director Walter Gilliam said. “The very least that we could do as a nation is to make sure that when they are sacrificing to protect us, that we also protect their children. I think we owe that to them.”

Nebraska Public Media News covered new data from the Buffett Institute on military child care gaps. Read the full story.

Finding childcare is a challenge for military families, especially with relocating often. In Omaha, the largest childcare gap is near Offutt Air Force Base, according to the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.

08/31/2026

In Head Start classrooms across Nebraska, the Buffett Institute, University of Nebraska at Kearney, and LENA are using cutting-edge LENA Grow technology to measure the back-and-forth verbal interactions between early educators and infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

These “conversational turns” are key to children’s early language formation.

A nearly $100,000 University of Nebraska System Collaboration Initiative grant will allow researchers from the Institute, UNK, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln to conduct a deeper examination of data generated from the LENA Grow project.

Learn more: https://buffettinstitute.nebraska.edu/news-and-events/news/2026/08/buffett-early-childhood-institute-awarded-nu-research-grant-to-support-nebraska-early-literacy-work

08/28/2026

In her latest guest blog for the AASA, The School Superintendents Association, the Buffett Institute's Amy Schmidtke writes about the work it takes to incorporate early childhood programs and services into school systems that were designed to serve K-12 students.

"Most districts were never intentionally designed to function as birth-Grade 12 systems. Strengthening early childhood programming, we realized, required helping districts build the infrastructure that creates continuity across those earliest years."

A practical look at how districts fold early childhood goals into annual strategic planning to build systems that last.

08/27/2026

Explore our new Superintendents' Early Childhood Plan Annual Report, which shares the program’s impact from the 2025–26 academic year.

🔗 https://buff.ly/S5pyMfP

Highlights include:
— 10 participating districts
— More than 4,600 children and families supported
— 10 schools that have adopted the School as Hub approach, plus an additional six sites through the Omaha Public Schools Intensive Early Childhood partnership

Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties

08/26/2026

“The broader research community has a lot to learn from Indigenous research methodologies around relationships, respect, reciprocity, the knowledge that comes from being in place,” said Alexandra Gregory.

Gregory is an Australian Ph.D. student at the Menzies School of Health Research who worked with the University of Colorado Anschutz and the Buffett Institute's Michelle Sarche as part of The Fulbright Program.

Learn more about her research on Indigenous parenting and home visiting programs in our blog.

https://buffettinstitute.nebraska.edu/blog/2026/08/fulbright-scholar-studies-indigenous-parenting-across-countries

08/24/2026

Ready to elevate your early childhood education career? 🚀

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Don't miss out! Visit bit.ly/NECDAPathways for more info and start your application today!