Longfellow Lecture

This lecture series, inaugurated in 1987, honors the memory of Cynthia Longfellow, SLC '72, Harvard Ed.D. '79, who devoted her professional life to bettering the lives of young children. The lecture is funded by an endowment established by family and friends.

2012 Longfellow Lecture

Early Childhood Development in the US: Looking Back and Moving Forward
Joan Lombardi, PhD

Wednesday April 4, 2012

Over 200 students, faculty, staff, community members, and  visitors from as far away as Hawaii filled Reisinger Auditorium on the Sarah Lawrence College campus on April 4th to hear Dr. Joan Lombardi present the Child Development Institute’s 2012 Longfellow Lecture "Early Childhood Development in the US: Looking Back and Moving Forward."

Dr. Lombardi, a leading expert on child development and social policy, drew upon her vast knowledge and experiences serving under all three Democratic presidents since Lyndon Johnson (whose domestic policy agenda laid the groundwork for some of the programs she has overseen including Head Start) to describe the state of early childhood education and care available across the country and in the context of the rest of the world.

Child development research and practice has led to significant policy shifts in the U.S. such as the integration of early learning, health, nutrition, and mental health, and family support and child protection in early childhood programs as well as the creation of program frameworks built on the understanding that learning begins at birth rather than when children start school. However, there continues to a disconnect between scientific research and the realities children in the U.S. face on a regular basis.

Although US public spending on children and average incomes rank among the highest in the world, second only to Luxembourg, the US ranks among the poorest in the world when it comes to the care of the very young ¹.  While in most industrialized countries access to early childcare is a right from age three, the US has no consistent approach to childcare for pre-school children. One in five US children lives in poverty ². Child poverty rates in the US among preschool children are more than double the international average ³. As Dr. Lombardi pointed out to more gasps from the audience, the United States and Somalia are the only two countries that have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the child, the international treaty that recognizes the human rights of children.

Dr. Lombardi remains hopeful charging members of the audience to not be complacent, "Change comes when a room full of people such as this discovers the facts and demands more for our children and it all starts with the very young."

Among her many positions, Dr. Lombardi has served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and External Affairs in Administration for Children and Families and as the first Commissioner of the Child Care Bureau. Her publications include Beacon of Hope: The Promise of Early Head Start for the Nation’s Youngest Children and Time to Care: Redesigning Child Care to Promote Education, Support Families and Build Communities.

Previous Longfellow Lectures

• 2011: Rethinking Common Assumptions about Children (and Parenting)
  Alfie Kohn
• 2010: The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger's
  Temple Grandin, PhD
  Read a feature story on Grandin's visit and watch the video»
• 2009: Nature Deficit Disorder: The Movement to Connect Our Children, Ourselves, and Future Generations to the Natural World
  Richard Louv
• 2008:The Impact of Abuse and Neglect on the Developing Child: Relationships, Resilience, and Vulnerability
  Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D.
• 2007: Cultural Aspects of Learning: Observation, Collaboration, and Multimodal Conversation
  Barbara Rogoff, Ph.D.
• 2006: Teaching as Political Work: Courageous and Caring Teachers
  Sonia Nieto, Ph.D.
• 2005: America's Move to Universal Preschool Education
  Edward Zigler, Ph.D.
• 2004: Violence and Education: The Twin Crises Facing America’s Children
  Geoffrey Canada, M.Ed.
• 2002: In Schools We Trust: What Kind of Schooling Nourishes Democracy?
  Deborah W. Meier, M.A.
• 2001: Children on the Cultural Front Line
  Roger A. Hart, Ph.D.
• 2001: Eager To Learn: Educating our Youngest Children
  Barbara T. Bowman, M.A., D.H.L.
• 1999: Standards and Assessment vs. The Magic of Childhood
  Herbert Kohl, M.A.
• 1998: World View and Education Change in School
  Asa G. Hilliard, III, Ed.D.
• 1997: Leveling with Children in a Complex World: A View from a Feminist Scholar
  Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D.
• 1996: The Science and Politics of Child Poverty
  J. Lawrence Aber, Ph.D.
• 1995: Community and Kinship in the Classroom
  Vivian Paley, M.A.
• 1994: The Strains on American Families
  Benjamin Spock, M.D.
• 1992: The Unschooled Mind
  Howard Gardner, Ph.D.
• 1991: Educating for Humanity
  Kenneth B. Clark, Ph.D.
• 1990: Child Abuse and Truth Telling
  Albert J. Solnit, M.D.
• 1989: The Changing Faces of Fatherhood
  Ross Parke, Ph.D.
• 1988: "Food & Vitamins": Providing Language Environments for Children
  Courtney Cazden, Ph.D.
• 1987: Fifty Years of Seeing Children Around the World
   Lois B. Murphy, Ph.D.