Get to Know Your Reporter: Jackie Mader, Senior Reporter at The Hechinger Report

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ā€œGet to Know Your Reporterā€ is a series of interviews weā€™re having with journalists covering topics that are both timely and relevant to our audiences. Our aim is to advocate for and highlight the issues & policies that affect the children and families we serve, and one way is by providing information directly from experts in the field.

In continuing this series, we had the opportunity to sit down with Jackie Mader, an award-winning reporter from The Hechinger Report.

Thank you, Jackie, for taking time to meet with us. We are honored to have this time with you. Could you please start off by telling us about yourself?

Iā€™m Jackie Mader, Senior Reporter for Early Childhood at The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news organization dedicated exclusively to reporting on education. Based out of Columbia Universityā€™s Teachers College, we collaborate with both local and national news outlets to publish in-depth stories on critical education issues, including early childhood, which I define as spanning from prenatal family support programs and infancy through third grade, covering the developmental period up to eight years of age.

What motivates you to cover early childhood education and development?

I am deeply passionate about early childhood education. My journey into covering this critical age group began about nine years ago, while I was living and reporting in Mississippi for The Hechinger Report. I was on assignment, visiting childcare centers as the state debated funding preschool programs. That was my first introduction to early learning and it sparked my interest in this field. Prior to journalism, I worked as a middle school teacher, where I saw firsthand the lack of foundational skills many students had. It became clear to me how vital those early years are, as I witnessed the long-term effects of missed opportunities for quality early learning.

When I first began reporting on early childhood, I was astonished by how essential those first few years are to a person’s development and yet, how little attention they received in media coverage. While education reporting largely focuses on K-12 and higher education, early childhood is often overlooked.

Around the same time, I became pregnant with my first child, who is now eight and a half. Reporting on early childhood issues while pregnant brought a new depth to my work. As I visited childcare programs, I imagined leaving my own child in those settings, knowing I would soon rely on these services. This personal connection strengthened my desire to cover early childhood and deepened my understanding of the issues. It also made me more aware of how policy decisions affect parents on the ground, myself included.

Iā€™m so passionate about this subject because of the general lack of public understanding about the first few years of life and how profoundly they impact a child’s brain development. I strive to highlight this in my reporting because those early interactions ā€“ between caregivers and children and within home and childcare environments, have lasting consequences on a childā€™s development. This period shapes the rest of their lives and itā€™s a critical time that is too often overlooked. I feel a sense of urgency to raise awareness because many people donā€™t yet grasp the importance of early childhood. Thatā€™s what drives me ā€“ to educate the public on these crucial early years and bring them into public discourse.

Can you tell us about your career in journalism? What advice would you give young people interested in pursuing a career in journalism?

My path to journalism was a bit unconventional. My undergraduate degrees were in screenwriting and elementary education, and I spent several years teaching. It was during my time as a teacher that I realized I wanted to write about education, which ultimately led me to graduate school for journalism. From there, I transitioned into education reporting.

For those interested in journalism, my biggest advice is to start writing as much as possible. Take every opportunity you can to write, whether it’s for school publications, blogs or even internships. The more you write, the better you’ll become. I also recommend studying the work of great writers and journalists, paying close attention to their techniques, storytelling and how they structure their pieces. While there’s a lot you can learn on the job, taking journalism classes is also valuable if they’re available to you. Those classes can provide you with useful tools and foundational skills for the field.

Are there any upcoming projects that youā€™re excited about?

Yes, Iā€™m really excited about a few things Iā€™ve been working on. Last year, I took a fellowship leave and traveled to Norway, where I studied their early childhood education system. I’ll soon be publishing stories from that experience. Itā€™s been fascinating to explore what the U.S. can learn from countries that have heavily invested in their childcare systems and in creating a high-quality childhood for children. I plan to continue pursuing international comparisons in my reporting, looking at how different countries approach early childhood education.

Another project Iā€™m working on focuses on the quality of childcare in the U.S. In the aftermath of the pandemic, thereā€™s been a push for deregulation to fix the childcare system, but some of these proposed solutions, such as increasing child-to-staff ratios or reducing staff training requirements, could harm the quality of care. Iā€™m investigating these issues to better understand their potential impact.

Iā€™m also delving into classroom management, which is a topic I’ve been interested in since my own days as a teacher. Iā€™m currently working on a story inspired by my children’s experiences in school and what Iā€™ve observed as a parent. Classroom management is a major challenge for teachers, and itā€™s often cited as one of the main reasons educators leave the profession. My goal is to explore both personal experiences and research to understand the best practices and ongoing challenges in this area.

Jackie Mader can be reached at mader@hechingerreport.org

 

See below for recent articles by Jackie:

For Norwegian children, access to child care that supports a joyful childhood is a right

My year researching child care policy

Study finds ā€˜opportunity gapā€™ can come down to just six missed chances

Head Start funding formula needs fixing, advocates say

 

The Hechinger ReportĀ is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based atĀ Teachers College,Ā Columbia University, covering issues of inequality and innovation in education, from the earliest years through college and careers. We tell stories that will have an impact on the future of American schooling.Ā The news industry faces collapse in many parts of the country. Thorough, reliable news is needed more than ever. As the corporate journalism industry struggles, The Hechinger Report fills the gaps and elevates the quality of coverage about education.

Finding Strength Through Community: A Client’s Journey from Fear to Hope

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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In order to remove the shame, stigma and silence often associated with domestic violence, we opted to share a client’s story of strength & survival. As this client mustered up the courage to share her story, her hope is that in doing so, it gives others the courage to share their stories and heal in the process.

When I look back on my life, it’s hard to believe how much has changed in such a short time. Not long ago, I was trapped in a cycle of fear and abuse, unable to see a way out ā€“ not even really understanding what I was experiencing was abuse. Today, I stand with a renewed sense of hope, strength and a determination to help others find their own path to freedom & safety.

My story began, like many others, one of excitement. I was in a relationship with someone I loved and when we found out we were expecting a child, we took the next step and moved in together. But it was then that the cracks started to show. My partnerā€™s behavior became increasingly aggressive, something I initially blamed on the daily stresses of life, especially after our child was born. My partner struggled with addiction and while there were moments of peace, they were momentary.

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the situation. The isolation, job loss and the impacts on mental health associated with the pandemic took a toll on both of us which caused him to spiral and quickly. His habit of drinking returned aggressively, strangers from the street would frequently show up at our doorstep and the environment became dangerously unpredictable. On top of it all, his abusive behavior had intensified.

Despite my best efforts to keep my child safe and hold our young family together, the situation reached a breaking point. One night, after a particularly violent outburst from my partner where he threw me against a wall, my partner unexpectedly kicked us out of the home.

Thankfully, my parents took me and my child in but the cycle of abuse from my partner continued for another two years. There were periods where he seemed to get better, only for his abusive behavior to intensify. It wasnā€™t until one night, after finding him passed out and covered in blood in the kitchen, that I finally saw the reality of the situation. I tried to handle the situation myself but as usual, I was met with his aggression ā€“ to the point that my partner nearly ended my life in that moment. He wasnā€™t just hurting himself; he was endangering my life and my childā€™s life. When he woke up and tried to end my life, I knew we had to escape for good.

Filing a police report brought Child Protective Services (CPS) into my life and through them, I was connected to Children’s Institute. My goal was to find counseling for my child, who had witnessed far more than any three-year-old should ever have to see but what I found at Children’s Institute was more than just help for him ā€“ it was a lifeline for the both of us.

At first, I was hesitant to accept the help offered. I had always been the kind of person who believed I could handle things on my own, but this time was different. I was exhausted, scared and felt utterly defeated. I took a leap of faith and enrolled in the domestic violence and parenting classes, not knowing just how transformative this decision would be.

During the group session at Childrenā€™s Institute, I was connected to other people who understood my pain in a way I had never experienced. For the first time, I learned that the things I had been through werenā€™t just part of life ā€“ they were signs of abuse. This realization was both shocking and liberating. And what was key for me was that I wasnā€™t alone and that this wasnā€™t my fault. Prior to this, I blamed myself for the abuse I experienced. Somehow, I told myself that I put myself in these situations.

The support I received at Children’s Institute allowed me to start rebuilding my life. I learned about self-care ā€“ something I had never considered important before ā€“ and the importance of setting boundaries. These werenā€™t just abstract concepts; they were tools that helped me protect myself and my child from ever falling back into the cycle of abuse.

Additionally, it was through my therapy sessions that I was encouraged to find a community of friends outside of therapy. So, with some courage, I started getting involved in a church. Thatā€™s where, for the first time, I found a community of people & friends who embraced and understood me. The love and acceptance that my child and I felt were incredible. Before getting therapy and becoming involved in my church, I was never able to connect with others and form friendships. I even got to throw a friend their baby shower ā€“ and for me, I felt like that was a huge success.

Today, I am a different person. Iā€™ve built a strong support system that I can rely on. I have the support system through my church and through it, I have friends who accept and love me and my child unconditionally. Iā€™ve learned how to find joy in lifeā€™s little things. The constant state of fear has been lifted off my shoulders and replaced by a newfound sense of peace and purpose.

But my journey isnā€™t just about surviving ā€“ itā€™s about thriving. I want to share my story because I know there are others out there who are afraid and feel trapped. I want them to know that there is hope for them and that there are people and organizations like Children’s Institute who can help them find their way out of the darkness.

I am forever grateful for the support I received, and I wish I could give back more. I know that one way of giving back is through sharing my story. I hope that my story can be a light for someone else.

*Clientā€™s name has been omitted for anonymity.

 

For more information & resources on domestic violence, please see below:

Community Spotlight: Twinspire

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We recently opened the doors of our Otis Booth campus, in the heart of Historic Filipinotown, to welcome our community partner organizations for a much-anticipated roundtable discussion. Hosted by our Community Relations team, this marked the first community roundtable at Otis Booth since the onset of the pandemic, with partners eager to come together and engage in person.

ā€œThereā€™s been a hunger to reimagine the collaborative spaces we enjoyed pre-pandemicā€”to welcome back community partners, old and new. It reminded us that there is so much power in simply sharing space, breaking bread, in discussing common experiences and opportunities for partnership in service to families. This was an exciting first step,ā€ says Deborah Riddle, the Senior Community Relations Specialist at Childrenā€™s Institute.

The gathering reflected our North Star, which centers on four pillars: educational success, emotional well-being, economic mobility and lifelong health. These pillars ground us as we work in underserved communities and guide us in the relationships we build. And we know that our work cannot be done alone. True impact is achieved through collaboration, which is why weā€™re so proud of the strategic partnerships weā€™ve developed with organizations like Wesley Health, Saban Clinic, P.S. Arts and Twinspire.

As we sat down to discuss current challenges, opportunities and to better understand community needs, one thing was clear: while our missions aligned, each of the organizations brought a unique set of strengths and areas for growth to the table. This diversity in experience reinforced our belief that we are better together.

Among the voices at the table was Twinspire, an organization that has become near and dear to us. Not only are they our new partners, but theyā€™ve also recently moved into our campus. Twinspireā€™s work is transformative, as they advocate for marginalized young adults and foster youth, equipping them with financial literacy and life skills. By empowering their youth to open doors to educational and career opportunities, they break down barriers and elevate voices that often go unheard.

What stands out most about Twinspireā€™s approach is their intentionality behind the relationships they build with their youth. Not an easy task. The leaders of the organization, often take the first step to connect with the youth on a deeper level by sharing in their own personal experiences as Black men who have navigated similar struggles. Angelo Agunae, Twinspire’s Program Director, shared, ā€œI love the youth we serve, and I relate to them. I relate to their struggles, and I believe it is our duty to invest in youth and kids because when we do that, they become the people theyā€™re supposed to be.ā€

Their shared experiences form the foundation of trust, allowing vulnerable stories to be told, real emotions to be felt and healing to begin. This relationship-building is just the first step to making their programs so successful and resonant, in topics including financial literacy, career development, social-emotional learning and social justice.

Tae Thompson, Twinspire’s co-founder and Executive Director, eloquently framed it during our discussion. He says, ā€œItā€™s not about seeing individuals as independently sufficient but rather, as community sufficient.ā€ This powerful mindset highlights the interconnectedness of our work, emphasizing that we all play a vital role in the development of the whole person within the larger community ecosystem.

Weā€™re thrilled to continue our collaboration with Twinspire and as we embark on our new joint initiative supporting foster youth, LAUNCH, aimed at supporting system-involved youth, we canā€™t wait to share more about the impact weā€™ll create together. Stay tuned for exciting updates on this partnership!