In the 2022-2023 school year, 446,696 children aged 3 and under were identified as experiencing homelessness. This is an increase of over 82,000 from the 2021-2022 school year, illustrating that homelessness during early childhood is a growing crisis. Early childhood homelessness can significantly impact a child’s health, development, and long-term well-being, emphasizing this as a critical priority of focus for policymakers and community members. This webinar will explore the initiatives, policies, and solutions to early childhood homelessness, particularly exploring how organizations are working to address this crisis. This webinar will also explore how early childhood homelessness affects child growth and development, and how addressing homelessness in early childhood is part of addressing early care and learning holistically.

Hosted by The Hunt Institute, this discussion will explore how school boards are advancing practical, community-driven strategies to strengthen the educator workforce—particularly by supporting the recruitment and retention of teachers who reflect the students they serve. It will also highlight how representative leadership at the board level can foster trust, support inclusive decision-making, and help expand educational opportunity in ways that resonate across political lines.

This webinar will examine how integrating data across education sectors can drive smarter policy decisions and strengthen student success. Participants will gain insights into effective strategies for building cross-system data connections and using evidence to guide resource allocation and improve student outcomes.

In today’s rapidly evolving workforce, experiential learning is emerging as a key factor in enhancing student success both during and after college. This webinar will explore how experiential learning—through internships, apprenticeships, service learning, and hands-on projects—equips students with the skills and real-world experience necessary to transition seamlessly from the classroom to meaningful careers. We will delve into how higher education institutions can integrate these opportunities into curricula to increase postsecondary attainment, career readiness, and successful job placement. Participants will gain insights on how to foster collaboration between academia and industry, and leave equipped with actionable steps to expand experiential learning at their institutions.

As literacy research continues to advance, ensuring that all students receive high-quality, evidence-based literacy instruction is critical. According to The Hunt Institute’s Across the Aisle data, parents and voters overwhelmingly support reading instruction that equips teachers with the tools they need to help every child become a confident reader. Join The Hunt Institute for a conversation with leading experts on how states, districts, and educator preparation programs can bridge the gap between research and practice. Panelists will discuss how teacher preparation and professional development can better integrate the science of reading, identify policy levers that can drive systemic change, and explore how these shifts can translate into stronger reading outcomes for students.

Child care plays a key role in children’s early development, parental workforce participation, and the state’s economic productivity. Today’s webinar will focus on Family Child Care (FCC) or home-based child care, which takes place in homes with one or more early educators supporting a small group of mixed-age children. Home-based child care is preferred by many families because it often supports flexible arrangements, is generally more affordable, and may align with families’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Child Care Aware of America estimated in 2024 that 52 percent of all child care settings in the country were home-based. These programs serve almost half of the children aged five and under who need care and are particularly important for infants and toddlers, low-income children, and children living in rural areas. However, there has been a decline in home-based providers over the last 5 years, even with a positive trendline in 2024. Expanding and supporting home-based child care will help to alleviate access issues families face and is a necessary component of solving the child care crisis. This webinar will include a discussion of the issues home-based family child care face and innovative solutions states and organizations are taking to help stabilize, expand, and support the sector.

Strategic efforts to advance research and development in emerging technologies require a skilled technical workforce equipped to contribute to the innovation ecosystem. Recognizing the interdisciplinary nature of these emerging fields, multiple federal agencies and departments, private donors, and industry leaders have invested in talent initiatives and programs to build pathways to careers in quantum information science and engineering. These efforts encompass the talent ecosystem, starting with K-12 through graduate education, faculty development, and workforce professionals. These talent initiatives and programs include summer camps, courses, workshops, professional development for K-12 teachers, undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, entrepreneurial fellowships, and research opportunities in national labs, research centers, institutes, and alliances. Despite substantial investment in these efforts, an imbalance remains between the demand for talent and access to talent. It points to a need to better understand the impact and scale of the promising practices of these education and training opportunities while also being mindful that a one size fits all approach may not be appropriate. Additionally, while the federal government has made significant investments, the role of state contributions in building emerging technology talent trails behind, with a few notable exceptions in artificial intelligence (AI). As emerging technologies like quantum computing and AI continue to transform education and economic landscapes rapidly, states must act now to ensure students are equipped with the skills and experiences needed to thrive in a future STEM-driven workforce. From state-level investments to K-12 and higher education partnerships, there are promising models for how policy can support interdisciplinary learning, workforce alignment, and equitable access to high-demand careers.

As the job market continues to evolve, preparing students for the workforce is essential, alongside their academic development. More than 50% of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed, often working in roles that do not require a degree, highlighting a critical gap between academic preparation and career readiness. This session will explore innovative strategies and best practices colleges and universities can implement to enhance employability outcomes. Participants will hear from resource experts about aligning curricula with industry needs, the significance of internships and experiential learning, and the vital role of career services in supporting student success. Don’t miss this opportunity to discover actionable insights for fostering a more employable graduate.