1.      The Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University published two documents on the science of early childhood development. “A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy” (2007) combines knowledge from neuroscience, behavioral and developmental science, economics, and 40 years of early childhood program evaluation. The authors provide an informed, nonpartisan, pragmatic framework to guide policymakers toward science-based policies that improve the lives of young children and benefit society as a whole. “The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early Childhood” (2010) argues that a vital and productive society with a prosperous and sustainable future is built on a foundation of healthy child development. Health in the earliest years—beginning with the future mother’s well-being before she becomes pregnant—lays the groundwork for a lifetime of vitality. When developing biological systems are strengthened by positive early experiences, children are more likely to thrive and grow up to be healthy adults. Sound health also provides a foundation for the construction of sturdy brain architecture and the achievement of a broad range of skills and learning capacities.

 

2.      Anyone looking for upstream solutions to the biggest problems facing America should look to Nobel Prize winning University of Chicago Economics Professor James Heckman’s work. The Heckman Equation shows that great gains are to be had by investing in early childhood development — from birth to age five.

 

3.   Preschool California’s webpage for policymakers includes useful fact sheets making the research case and the business case. These fact sheets reference both national and state research.

Taking candidates to see high quality early childhood programs is an effective way to educate them about the issues. 

 

1.   Michigan’s Early Childhood Investment Council developed guidance to help their local coalitions organize early childhood system bus tours.  

 

2.   The Kansas Promise Tour, which visited seven cities during the April legislative break, invited policymakers to join the bus ride for the stop in their district. Those who did received recognition and a full page newspaper ad in their local paper showing them with kids, and commending them for their work.

 

1.      Preschool California’s Early Learning and Latino Children Fact Sheet highlights the importance of Latino children in California, and addresses why high-quality early learning is particularly important for this population. The Latino Voter Poll: Early Learning is a Winning Issue fact sheet includes the results of a recently released statewide, bipartisan poll of 895 registered Latino voters in California. The poll assessed their attitudes toward early learning and preschool, and discusses high-quality early learning as a critical campaign issue.

 

2.      The Illinois Ounce of Prevention Fund produces fact sheets for legislators and candidates to help them understand the state’s existing early childhood landscape and opportunities for enhancements to the current system. 

 

    - Closing the Achievement Gap: Getting Illinois’s Children Ready for School describes four priority areas for public investment in order to close the achievement gap and ensure that every child enters kindergarten ready for success.
 

    - Illinois’s Current Early Childhood Policy Landscape outlines the state’s present early childhood investments and points to areas of potential improvement. 

 

3.      Michigan’s Children produced fact sheets, research briefs, and a white paper focused both on the research case and the budget case for better birth to five policies.

 

    - The Youngest Victims: Why Young Children Are Hardest Hit by State Budget Cuts (September 2010)gives a snapshot of the status of young children in the recession, and presents the data on how children birth to age five are disproportionately represented in public assistance programs
 

    - VOTE for Michigan’s children: Access to Early Childhood Services (July 2010) is the early childhood issue of Michigan’s Children’s election advocacy series to inform candidates for public office and give communities the tools to educate their candidates.

 

    - Investing in Young Children: The First Step on the Path to Economic Prosperity in Michigan (January 2010) was co-authored with the Early Childhood Investment Corporation. This white paper explains how Michigan’s next governor and legislature can rebuild Michigan’s economy by investing in young children.

 

4.      The Nebraska Children and Families Foundation regularly updates data, by legislative district, on “The Need” for early care and education.

 

5.      Rhode Island KIDS COUNT produced briefing papers for candidates that contain background information and policy recommendations in the areas of children’s health, education, early childhood, poverty, child abuse and neglect, and juvenile justice.

 

6.      The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families’ Great Start Series makes the case for Wisconsin with a set of research-based policy papers. Great Investment: The Economic Benefits of Investing in Early Learning explores the importance of early brain development, the research on the positive effects of high-quality early childhood programs, the strong return on investment from early childhood interventions, and implications for public policy in Wisconsin (July 2009).