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By Javacia Harris Bowser | The Birmingham Times
Birmingham’s investment in the city’s youngest learners has captured national attention. The early childhood development program Birmingham Talks by Small Magic is featured in a newly released book highlighting leaders across the nation who are implementing bold solutions.
“Do What Works: Smarter Government, Better Results” is a collection of essays by governors, mayors, legislators, and other leaders using data-driven strategies to deliver better outcomes for the people they serve. Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin penned chapter 7 of the collection, an essay titled “Good Ideas Travel,” that details the creation of Birmingham Talks and the program’s expansion into Small Magic, an umbrella organization dedicated to helping young children maximize their school readiness.
Woodfin joined Ruth Ann Moss of Small Magic and Christian Motley of Results for America, the organization that curated the book, for a panel discussion and luncheon last Wednesday hosted by the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, Rotary Club of Birmingham and the Rotaract Club of Birmingham.
Results for America is a national nonprofit that helps government leaders find, fund, and implement solutions that work to accelerate upward economic mobility and improve lives.
“Part of what we try to do at Results for America…is lift up good ideas, not just to instill hope, though a lot of us need that right now, but to also create a roadmap and identify strategies,” Motley said, “particularly for evidence-based practices.”
Motley kicked off the talk underscoring Woodfin’s Cradle to Career initiative, a citywide strategy designed to connect the systems, resources, and people that shape a child’s life, from birth through education, career, and adulthood. Motley asked Woodfin why he feels the early years of a child’s life are the business of City Hall.
“I represent every single person in the city, not just some, not just the adults, not just those who vote, not just those who are employed,” Woodfin said. “I represent the unemployed. I represent every zip code. I represent every neighborhood. I represent every family, and you better believe I represent every child.”
Investing in Birmingham youth has been a cornerstone of Woodfin’s third term, including a $3.5 million investment in the Cradle to Career initiative.
Research shows that every dollar spent on high-quality early education yields a 13x return.
“I dare say, for any American mayor, for whatever future you want for your city, if you don’t have the next generation in mind every single day, every single decision and every single tax bill, you’re missing the boat,” Woodfin said at the luncheon.
Birmingham Talks
Before her role at Small Magic, Ruth Ann Moss taught in Birmingham City Schools and later served as a teacher coach with Teach For America. This role let her see many of the same students year after year, and she started to notice something.
“What I saw, over and over and over, was that children who had struggled to read with me in fourth grade were still struggling to read in sixth grade, and they were still struggling to read in ninth grade,” Moss shared.
The students all had great potential, she added, and many of them also had strong support at home and at school.
“I knew their teachers, and I knew their parents, and I knew that every single one of those groups of people was working as hard as they could and desperately wanted something different for that child, and yet this was where we were,” Moss said. “And so, I started getting really obsessed with this idea of what would happen if we started even earlier.”
That’s where Birmingham Talks comes in.
“Birmingham Talks is all about increasing interactive talk between kids and the adults in their life,” Moss explained. “And you may wonder, why does that matter?”
It matters because research shows 90 percent of a baby’s brain forms before the child turns five, and children need to hear 21,000 words a day for optimal brain development.
Through the support of a coach and a device that Moss describes as a “FitBit for words,” Birmingham Talks helps families and teachers increase conversation with their children to enhance early childhood development.
Birmingham Talks is on track to serve more than 1,600 kids a year and, since its creation in 2019, has expanded into the umbrella organization Small Magic, which has launched additional initiatives.
Woodfin’s chapter in “Do What Works” outlines the success of the program: 58 percent of childcare providers and 75 percent of families who participate in the program are reading to kids more, 91 percent of childcare providers who participated in the program noted a positive impact in the classroom, and 84 percent of the families said they enjoy spending time with their kids more as a result of participating.
In the 2027-2028 school year, the first generation of kids to benefit from the program will be taking their third-grade literacy tests.
At the end of the discussion, Woodfin called on civic, corporate, and philanthropic leaders in the room to step up and support initiatives like Small Magic.
“This is where you can put your investment in for Cradle to Career because it’s not just feel good,” Woodfin said. “It’s not just charity. This is the full blueprint and strategic plan and investment for economic mobility for the heartbeat of the city, and there is a win, a tangible win, where every single child in the city of Birmingham can finish high school, college and be career ready. That’s the investment, and that’s why it’s a no-brainer for us.”
