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Restorative justice models are gradually replacing zero-tolerances discipline models in schools across the country as awareness of the school-to-prison pipeline increases. Zero-tolerance policies remove students from the classroom based on mandated predetermined minimum penalties (such as suspension and expulsion) for a wide degree of rule violations, and place them in the hands of the justice […]

The Gates Foundation released an extensive report in September 2014 titled Lessons from Research and the Classroom: Implementing High-Quality Pre-K that Makes a Difference for Young Children. This report explores what makes programs successful and how best to spend early education dollars. Most importantly, this report narrows in on the most effective way to invest […]

PRE4CLE released its first annual report yesterday showing that Cleveland has made major strides toward expanding access to high-quality preschool for all of its children after just one year of implementation. ACS’ deep knowledge in early childhood issues across the country, as well as expertise in facilitation, communication, advocacy, and strategy development, helped guide Cleveland, […]

Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC (ACS), was named a Weatherhead 100 Upstart winner as one of the fastest-growing companies in Northeast Ohio. ACS is an all-female, minority-owned firm that has provided communication, advocacy, and strategy development services to early childhood education, K-12 education, Medicaid, health and human services, and workforce development organizations across the country […]

Recent research from Vanderbilt University regarding an evaluation of Tennessee’s voluntary preschool programs has prompted commentary from both early childhood champions and critics across the nation. This unique national attention presents an opportunity to set the record straight regarding what the results of the Tennessee study really mean. In response to this commentary, Advocacy & […]

Increasingly, individual stories have come to light about punitive and subjective zero tolerance policies that contribute to the school to prison pipeline. As we outlined in our recent Better than Zero report and through our work with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Forward Promise grantees we know how powerful stories can be to highlight an issue. […]

This November, ACS president Lori McClung and policy associate Cassie Gaffney, attended the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida to provide technical assistance to 14 state affiliates around NAEYC’s Early Ed for President campaign. NAEYC’s goal is to make sure that early learning and the early childhood […]

We are pleased to announce that ACS policy associate Cassie Gaffney received the 2015 Excellence in Advocacy by an Up and Coming Practitioner Award at the Professional Women in Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C., for her work as an early childhood education and K-12 policy advocate. This year’s competition had more than 100 nominees. We […]

We are pleased to announce that Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC (ACS), was honored with a Platinum Award in the Communication Plan category of the MarCom Awards for its two-year strategic communication plan for PRE4CLE, Cleveland’s plan to expand high-quality preschool to all children in the city of Cleveland. An international creative competition that recognizes outstanding […]

ACS client, The Ohio 8 Coalition, released their 2015 Year-at-a-Glance Infographic that highlights the accomplishments and activity of Ohio’s eight city school districts. This year-at-a-glance document reflects The Ohio 8 Coalition’s commitment to support the unique educational needs of every student in each of their districts, no matter where they came from, the amount of […]