Initiatives

Early Childhood

Initiatives

Organization & Advocacy Groups

Docs For Tots - Doctors Advocating for Young Children

Every Child Matters Education Fund - A national nonprofit organization devoted to improving the lives of children and families by advocating for better public policy during federal and state campaigns.

National Infant and Toddler Childcare Initiative (at Zero to Three)

Trust for Early Education

These resources have been collected from a variety of on-line listings.

2006 Child Well-Being Index (CWI) Results: According to the 2006 Child Well-Being Index (CWI), one of the nation's most comprehensive measurements of trends in the quality of life of children and youth, America has made great strides since 1975 in the well-being of children in many important areas but one: Education.

A Parent's Guide to Preparing Your Child for School: Kirsten Haugen notes that the National Education Association has prepared a school readiness guide for parents, including simple pointers for academic readiness, social readiness, independence, and communication skills. The tips are not rocket science, but they are ready to use online or in a colorful brochure you can freely download, print, and distribute to prospective or enrolled families. The NEA's brochure encourages parents to read, sing, and play with their children. It offers simple ways to explore writing, language, and problem-solving. And it gives parents tips for encouraging empathy, and positive ways to express feelings. Ideas for encouraging independence include providing clothes and shoes that are easy to fasten, and giving children time to dress and undress themselves. Parents are also reminded to communicate often with their kids, including writing notes and letting young children dictate notes to family and friends. The brochure concludes with additional parenting resources for encouraging young children in reading, science, and math.

ALIGNMENT OF PRE-K & KINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS EMPHASIZED: In this paper, Kristie Kauerz outlines the importance of having strong, well-aligned programs beginning in PK and extending through third grade (PK-3). It reviews the short-term impact of PK and FDK programs, then summarizes the evidence that these impacts may "fade out" by the primary grades. To fight fade-out, PK-3 alignment is proffered as one means to enable children to maintain and expand upon the gains they make in early childhood education. PK-3 suggests that PK experiences should be aligned with kindergarten and that kindergarten should be aligned with early elementary education. The paper closes with federal policy recommendations that provide both models and incentives for the nation, states, and local school districts to institute and strengthen PK-3 alignment.

Autism and Hope Conference Proceedings Available
Source: Brookings Institution - Retrieved March 10, 2006
On December 16, 2005, the Brookings Institution and the Help Group convened leading experts for a conference entitled Autism and Hope. A proceedings document from this conference is now available online. It contains expert panel discussions about autism-related facts, the historical context for understanding autism, the broad consensus on the importance of early and intensive intervention, the debate over optimal treatment approaches, and public policy challenges that need to be overcome for these interventions to be made available to every child who needs them. A variety of policy initiatives are also discussed.

Basic Facts About Low-Income Children: The National Center for Children in Poverty has released a new series of fact sheets, Basic Facts About Low-Income Children. The fact sheets track children in the United States who live in low-income families by age: birth to age 18; birth to age 6; and birth to age 3; and highlights information about family structure and resources available to families.

Breaking the Piggy Bank: Parents and the High Price of Child Care: The nationwide survey of child care prices finds that parents across the United States are struggling to meet the high cost of child care. Many families face a Catch-22. They need to work to support their families. They rely on child care to go to work. But, the high price of child care - a staggering $3,016 to $13,480 a year for one child - strains family budgets and forces parents to make sacrifices in the quality of care their children receive. "The public hears a lot about rising health care costs. But, families are likely to spend more on child care then they do for health care and food combined," explained Linda Smith, Executive Director of the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, who published the report.

Child Care Center Operating Budget Basics: Defining Expenses and Revenues to Estimate the Cost of Child Care: CT Voices for Children is engaged in a project to help meet the need for sound child care center budgeting practices and reliable data on the cost of center based child care in Connecticut. Please review a new report, Child Care Center Operating Budget Basics: Defining Expenses and Revenues to Estimate the Cost of Child Care, describing this current project, and providing a user-friendly excel budget spreadsheet for any child care center looking for budgeting guidance or for an annual budgeting tool more useful than the one they currently use.

Child Care as Economic Development Database Resource: The early childhood care and education field is at an exciting moment. Across the US, there is increasing recognition of the economic importance of child care. Early care and education is being recognized as an important economic sector in its own right, and as a critical piece of social infrastructure that supports children's development and facilitates parents' employment. The Linking Economic Development and Child Care Research Project aims to better identify the economic linkages of child care from a regional economy perspective. We support states and localities interested in using an economic development framework to build coalitions with the economic development community, business interests and policy makers to help craft new approaches to child care finance. This site provides a quantitative database of economic demographic and policy data for all 50 states and a qualitative database of all state and local studies (completed and in-progress). The site also includes research reports, copies of state studies, advice on economic analysis, and profiles of new approaches to child care policy.

Corporate America Is Fertile Ground for Pre-K Support, Says New Survey: Concerns about the supply of skilled workers and the United States' global competitiveness are driving support for pre-k among American business executives, according to a survey conducted for the Committee for Economic Development and released with The Pew Charitable Trusts and PNC Financial Services Group in January. The survey shows that pre-k programs command wide support from management personnel at U.S. companies, with 81% saying that public funding of voluntary pre-kindergarten for all children would improve America's workforce. The survey results suggest that many executives, particularly those involved in recruitment and hiring, are aware of the benefits of high-quality pre-k and believe that those benefits will favorably affect their businesses.

Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems that Spend Smarter Maximizing Resources to Serve Vulnerable Children: The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) also released its first Project THRIVE Issue Brief, Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems that Spend Smarter Maximizing Resources to Serve Vulnerable Children. The brief looks at state Early Childhood Care Systems (ECCS) grant projects to identify ways in which they can promote smarter spending for vulnerable young children as they plan for and implement new, more integrated systems. It has a special focus on promoting social and emotional health and well-being as the foundation for health and school readiness.

Early Childhood Investment Yields Big Payoff: An article in WestEd's Policy Perspectives publication makes a compelling case for a nationwide investment in a high-quality, publicly funded early childhood development program. The article provides an overview of the characteristics of an early childhood development program and the benefits of investing in it on a large scale. It also looks 50 years into the future, calculating the impact of implementing such a program on federal, state and local government budgets, the economy and crime. The paper was authored by Robert G. Lynch, Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at Washington College.

Early Head Start: How Effective Was the Program for 3-Year-Old Children and Their Parents?
Source: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. - Retrieved December 2, 2005
This article, published in the November 2005 issue of Developmental Psychology, describes the results of a study showing that 3-year-old Early Head Start program children performed better than control children in cognitive and language development, displayed higher emotional engagement of the parent and more sustained attention with play objects, and demonstrated less aggressive behavior. Compared with the control group, Early Head Start parents were more emotionally supportive, provided more language and learning stimulation, read to their children more, and spanked them less. The strongest impacts were for programs that offered a mix of both home-visiting and center-based services and that fully implemented the performance standards early.

Exploring Various Areas of Infant and Toddler Development: WestEd recently released a new collection of essays, Concepts for Care: 20 Essays on Infant/Toddler Development and Learning, focused on current thinking in the field of infant toddler development and care. This compilation highlights research and practice that can help to inform dialogue with practitioners and policymakers on quality care of infants and toddlers. The publication is for purchase only.

Getting It Right: Strategies for After-School Success: This report synthesizes the last 10 years of findings from P/PV's and other researchers' work to address one of the most demanding challenges facing today's after-school programs-how to create and manage programs that stand the best chance producing specific, policy-relevant outcomes. It examines recruitment strategies that attract young people to activities, the qualities that make activities engaging and motivate participants to attend regularly, and the infrastructure-staffing, management and monitoring-needed to support such activities. The report's final chapter explores the fiscal realities of after-school programming, considering how administrators might stretch existing dollars to enhance services.

Guides to Developing Pre-k - 12 Standards: This new web site from McREL examines issues surrounding PreK-12 standards, answers common questions through research and case studies, and provides strategies and resources for aligning curriculum and instruction with standards.

Harvard University Study Results - Early Education Boosts Prospects of Premature Children
The results of a Harvard University study of children born prematurely demonstrates that those who received intensive early care and education in the first three years of life showed higher math and reading scores and fewer behavioral problems at 18 years of age than similar children who received follow-up care only. This large, multi-site, randomized trial provides important new evidence of the sustained, positive effects of early intervention on children's long-term outcomes. A related audio report is available on National Public Radio (Audio player required).

Launching Literacy in After-School Programs: Early Lessons from the CORAL Initiative: Funded by the James Irvine Foundation, CORAL (Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning) is a five-city, $60-million effort to improve educational achievement through after-school programming. This first report on CORAL from Pubic/Private Ventures presents early findings from the initiative in terms of literacy gains and explores the program components likely to have contributed to these gains.

NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development: This newly published 62-page booklet describes the findings among children up to age 4? from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). Started in 1991, the study has collected information about non-maternal child care arrangements, the children and families who use them, those who do not and child outcomes. Among the findings: family characteristics have more influence on child development than does experience in child care. One of their major findings: Children who were cared for exclusively by their mothers did not develop differently than those who were also cared for by others.

Opening Doors: Lesbian and Gay Parents and Schools: discusses how lesbian and gay parents can help their children in school, how educators can help children in lesbian and gay families, and what these children need for a supportive learning environment.

Power to the People: New Report on Ballot Measures for Early Childhood/After-school: In the face of state and federal cuts in funding for child care and early education programs, many advocates for children have taken their case directly to voters, in the form of ballot initiatives and referendums. A new study by the National Women's Law Center finds that, not only have these ballot campaigns enjoyed a fairly high rate of success on election day, but when they win, they can be a cost-effective strategy to substantially increase and preserve public investment in early care and education and after-school (ECE/AS) programs. This report is a systematic examination of most of the state and local ballot measures that have appeared on the ballot through 2003 where ECE/AS was the central or a significant objective of the measure: 13 separate measures in seven states (Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Tennessee, Oregon, Washington) and 18 very similar measures in several Florida counties.

PREDICTORS OF CHILD CARE SUBSIDY USE: This December 2005 paper from the National Center for Children in Poverty by Sharmila Lawrence and J. Lee Kreader, states that what we know is: 1) Families with children ages birth through 5 are more likely to use subsidies than families with children ages 6 and over; 2) Families who currently receive or are transitioning from cash assistance are more likely to use child care subsidies than those with no recent history of cash assistance: 3) Single-parent families are more likely than two-parent families to use subsidies; 4) African-American mothers appear more likely to apply for and use child care subsidies than mothers from other racial/ethnic backgrounds: 5) Families using center-based care appear more likely to use child care subsidies than families using other forms of care; 6) Parents with higher tolerance for the hassles that families may encounter in applying for and maintaining child care subsidies appear more likely to use subsidies.

Preschool Assessment: A Guide to Developing a Balanced Approach, the latest in the Preschool Policy Facts series is now available from NIEER.

Revised Diagnostic Tool for Infancy and Early Childhood: Introducing DC:0-3R: DC:0-3R is the 2005 revision of ZERO TO THREE's Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC:0-3). ZERO TO THREE published DC:0-3 in 1994 to address the need for a systematic, developmentally based approach to the classification of mental health and developmental disorders in the first 4 years of life. It was the first-ever attempt by a group of experienced clinicians to formulate a useful scheme that would complement, but not replace, existing medical and developmental frameworks. In the 10 years since its publication, DC:0-3 has become increasingly valued as a complement to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III-R) and the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization (ICD 9). DC:0-3 has been published in 8 additional languages, increasing its accessibility to clinicians around the world. "Introducing DC:0-3R," an article from the September 2005 ZERO TO THREE Journal, provides an overview of the 2005 revision.

Spending Smarter: A Funding Guide for Policymakers and Advocates to Promote Social and Emotional Health and School Readiness
Source: National Center for Children in Poverty - Retrieved December 2, 2005
Child care providers, teachers, and home visitors struggle with the issue of how to help young children who face risks to early school success due to social and emotional challenges. This guide is designed to help policymakers, agency officials, families, and other advocates maximize the impact of existing funding streams to support positive social and emotional development, early intervention, and treatment strategies that can improve school readiness.

State Approaches to Promoting Young Children's Healthy Mental Development
Source: The Commonwealth Fund - December 2, 2005
A new report from the National Academy of State Healthy Policy (NASHP) examines how states are promoting the healthy mental development of children age 3 and under. Based on a survey of Medicaid and maternal, child health, and children's mental health agencies across the nation, State Approaches to Promoting Young Children's Healthy Mental Development looks at critical issues confronting states, from program funding concerns to the availability of qualified mental health providers. The authors also highlight common approaches to addressing these issues, as well as promising new initiatives under way to improve service delivery and financing.

Family-Strengthening Interventions: Learning from Evidence-Based Practice
A new brief from the Harvard Family Research Project, entitled Lessons From Family Strengthening Interventions: Learning from Evidence-Based Practice, examines how effective family-strengthening interventions can positively impact families and children. The brief is based on a review of interventions that have been rigorously evaluated through experimental studies. It provides recommendations for creating successful programs and evaluations to educators, service providers, and evaluators. PDF available online at FINE: The Family Involvement Network of Educators

Studying and Tracking Early Child Development from a Health Perspective: A Review of Available Data Sources presents an analysis of 26 national data sources for their capacity to inform child health policy and practice in their efforts to promote healthy early childhood development. The report, produced by Child Trends with support from the Commonwealth Fund, provides an overview of existing areas of strength, identifies gaps, and makes recommendations for future data development. An appendix summarizing the content of some 26 surveys and administrative databases that can be used to support social indicator data and research on early development is provided. The report is intended for use by federal data-collection staff; health policy planners and practitioners at the national, state, and local levels; and child health researchers.

The Benefits of High-Quality Early Childhood Education Programs: What Makes the Difference?, focuses on the factors associated with high-quality early education programs. The author examined three well-known, high-quality early education programs - the High/Scope Perry Preschool project, the Carolina Abcedarian Project, and Chicago's Child-Parent Centers (CPC) - and looked at what exactly about these programs made them so successful, relying, in part, on interviews with the principal investigators of the programs.

The Early Childhood Education Career and Wage Ladder: A Model for Improving Quality in Early Learning and Care Programs: A growing number of studies support the value of quality child care in promoting economic growth. The Economic Opportunity Institute in Seattle Washington, has published a number of excellent reports that add to the case for quality early care and education. For example, their policy brief, "How does high quality child care benefit business and the local economy?," the Institute reports�Employees with inadequate child care are more likely to be late for work, absent, or distracted on the job than parents who are confident about their child's child care arrangements. Employees may be forced to spend time at work or take time off to handle child care concerns. A 1992 survey found that nearly 30 percent of workers knew employees who quit their jobs because of inadequate child care. Productive and valued employees who leave their jobs because of child care problems increase hiring and training costs. High rates of turnover, absenteeism, and low productivity cost employers money. It is estimated that absenteeism caused by poor quality child care costs American business more than $3 billion a year. Working parents lose the equivalent of six days of work annually due to child care issues or problems, costing Seattle businesses approximately $112 million a year.

The Effects of State Prekindergarten Programs on Young Children's School Readiness in Five States: A just-released NIEER study of pre-K programs in Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia shows gains in vocabulary, early math skills and print awareness comparable to those seen in an earlier study conducted in Oklahoma by William Gormley of Georgetown University. As with the Georgetown work, the researchers used regression discontinuity design, testing children at preschool entry and at kindergarten entry. NIEER director Steve Barnett says the study is significant because it shows large gains occurring in a number of well-established state-funded preschool programs of good quality.

The School Readiness Gap: An examination by Michael Sadowski on why prekindergarten, not just preschool, may be the key to narrowing disparities in achievement by race, ethnicity, and income. This document can be found in the most recent issue of the Harvard Education Letter.

Toward a National Strategy to Improve Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care: This commonwealth report examines the effects of new legislation on early childhood services. The National Center for Children in Poverty recently released the report, Toward a National Strategy to Improve Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care, which highlights findings from a national symposium that the Center organized in November 2005. This report outlines current research and assesses policies and practices that are in place to support an infrastructure for family, friend, and neighbor care. It concludes with a set of recommendations in the areas of practice, policy, and research.

Using NCLB Funds to Support Extended Learning Time: This strategy brief from the Finance Project and the Council of Chief State School Officers describes how six major funding streams included in NCLB can support extended learning opportunities. This brief provides important context for those seeking to access these funding streams, and includes a discussion of strategies, considerations and tips for accessing each source. Download the strategy brief.

WestEd Research and Development Bulletin focuses on Early Childhood Education: Children are born ready to learn, but not ready for school. Infants' earliest relationships with their caregivers are closely linked to their success in the classroom later in life. These early interactions form the basis of children's social and emotional well-being, which in turn impacts their ability to attend to the important tasks associated with learning language and growing intellectual competency. "Social and emotional development is the foundation for school readiness, and this development begins in infancy," says Virginia Reynolds, director of WestEd's Center for Prevention and Early Intervention (CPEI), which focuses on young children with disabilities and their families in a variety of settings. Yet, many caregivers who work with infants and toddlers aren't putting research findings to good use, adds J. Ronald Lally, "Unfortunately, despite the recommendations from the scientists, most school readiness initiatives persist in relating to infants and toddlers as though they were older. But because of their unique style of learning, which is a blend of great vulnerability and incredible learning competence, they need to be treated differently from how you treat first graders." In effective early learning settings, children learn they have someone to rely upon, so they feel secure, and thus become more eager to try new things. With guidance, they learn to persist and experience mastery. The lessons learned from these early interactions and relationships form the basic building blocks for later learning. One goal of early childhood education is to help children become self-confident enough to explore and self-regulated enough to function in a classroom.

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