Quality Rating Improvement Systems (QRISs) commonly offer on-site technical assistance (TA) and coaching to help early care and education settings achieve quality improvements and a higher QRIS rating. In surveys of administrators overseeing statewide QRISs, almost all states reported the use of on-site TA and coaching in both center-based and home-based settings.

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) Child Care and Early Education team regularly works with policymakers, advocates, and other key early childhood stakeholders, to plan, develop, and strengthen child care and early education policy at the state level. CLASP can provide technical assistance in a number of ways, from our offices in Washington, DC, or in your state.

Boston.com - January 17, 2012
The expansion in public prekindergarten programs has slowed and even been reversed in some states as school districts cope with shrinking budgets. As a result, many 3- and 4-year-olds aren’t going to preschool.

Bloomberg - February 22, 2011
With $10 million from hedge-fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin, List will track the results of more than 600 students-- including 150 at this school. His goal is to find out whether investing in teachers or, alternatively, in parents, leads to more gains in kids’ educational performance, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its April issue.

The Griffin experiment may show that the U.S. doesn’t spend enough on helping parents, List says. “We have too many eggs in the kid basket,” says List, himself a father of five. “We need to spend much more time and many more resources on helping parents.”
 

National Governors Association produced this recent issue brief on advisory council implementation.  Here you can obtain more information on what councils are doing across the states.

January 6, 2012 - The Bangor Daily News, ME
Investing in quality early learning simply makes sense.  It is estimated that every $1 invested in early learning will generate a total of $1.78 in sales for local businesses in Maine.

In this report prepared by the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative you can read profiles of the 2011 Early Learning Challenge Grant Applications.

CLASP has updated their Data Tool intended for state advocates and policymakers to use as they work to develop state early childhood agendas.

NAEYC's annual brief covers major state efforts on early care and education policies addressing issues such as governance, special education, health services, and education and care programs for infants through kindergarteners.

An article by ZERO TO THREE Policy Center highlighting the proposed activities of the Early Learning Challenge Fund grant recipients focused on infants and toddlers.

January 7, 2012 - New York Times
Perhaps the most widespread peril children face isn't guns, swimming pools or speeding cars.  Rather, scientists are suggesting that it may be "toxic stress" early in life, or even before birth.

This issue brief from the National Governors Association discusses the role of home-visiting programs in state-funded early childhood care and education systems.

According to the latest annual report released by the Data Quality Campaign, while states have made strong progress increasing their capacity to build and use data systems, they are not yet helping teachers, parents, and other education stakeholders use the data to inform decisions to improve student achievement.

Quality, stable child care arrangements support the healthy development of infants and toddlers. This presentation from the 2011 NAEYC Annual Conference describes how state subsidy policies can support retention of child care subsidies and continuous care for infants and toddlers.

This annual report from the National Women's Law Center reveals that families were worse off in 37 states than they were in 2010 under one or more child care assistance policies.  Families are not only worse off in 2011 than they were in 2010, but are also worse off than a decade ago.

December 16, 2011
Today, the White House announced that nine states—California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington—will receive grant awards from the $500 million Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge fund, a competitive grant program jointly administered by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services.

This third annual report of Head Start in Maine was written by the Maine Children's Alliance in cooperation with the Maine Head Start Directors Association and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Early Childhood Division. 

The newest report/guide by Kyle Snow, who heads the NAEYC Center for Applied Research, offering guidance to states on kindergarten readiness and other large scale assessments.  It seems particularly timely given the RTTT ELC and other state developments.

December 13, 2011 - The New York Times
With states under pressure to cut their budgets and federal stimulus money gone, low-income working parents are facing a paradox. Just when they have to work longer hours to make ends meet, they are losing access to the thing they need most to stay on the job: a government subsidy that helps pay for child care.

November 20, 2011 - The Atlantic
As reported in The Atlantic, small recent study found that preschool children with the poorest language skills improved their language skills when in average-ability classes, compared to peers who were in low-ability classrooms. These findings on peer effects are important evidence for the continued need for universal prekindergarten, rather than providing targeted services only to students with risk factors.

November 13, 2011 - The Star-Ledger
When done right, early childhood programs have shown promising success. They give poor kids a leg up, which helps them make better choices later in life.

November 7, 2011 - The Grand Rapids Press
The U.S. Department of Education has announced a proposal to create the first ever Office for Early Learning, tasked with overseeing the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Grants and coordinating early learning programs across the department.

The Fall 2011 issue published by Child Trends provides a roundup of recent updates to key national indicator publications and features several new resources.

October 19, 2011 - New York Times

The single step that would do the most to reduce inequality has nothing to do with finance at all. It’s an expansion of early childhood education.

October 18, 2011 - Kalamazoo, MI

Investing in quality early childhood education is an important but often overlooked economic strategy, one that could potentially generate billions of dollars for and create up to new jobs.

The National Council of La Raza's report highlights opportunities to improve educational outcomes for young Latino children, examing barriers to quality and access that limit participation and offering policy recommendations.

This report from the National Women's Law Center examines the impact of five key factors that determine the affordability, accessibility, and quality of assistance in each state, namely:  income eligibility, waiting lists for assistance, copayments required of parents receiving assistance, reimbursement rates for child care providers, eligibility for parents searching for a job.

National Center for Children in Poverty Early Childhood Profiles were produced as part of the Improving the Odds for Young Children project. These profiles highlight states’ policy choices that promote health, education, and strong families alongside other contextual data related to the well-being of young children.

On September 22, 2011 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced $224 million to help at-risk families voluntarily receive home visits from nurses and social workers to improve maternal and child health, child development, school readiness, economic self-sufficiency, and child abuse prevention.

This letter was sent to the Super Committee and the House and Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees on Wednesday, September 21.  Dr. Heckman clearly articulates thoughts on how to reduce the deficits and create lasting economic prosperity.

September 13, 2011 - New York Times
According to the Census 1 in 6 people are now living below the poverty line with children being the hardest hit.

This report from National Conference of State Legislatures, presents an analysis of overall trends in early care and education budget decisions and actions in child care, prekindergarten, home visiting and related early childhood investments.

An article from the August 19, 2011 issue of Science, by Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.  The article discusses new strategies to strengthen the impacts of early education through coordinated knowledge from science, policy and practice.

August 24, 2011 - Tulsa, OK
Despite Oklahoma's national reputation on early childhood education, top state officials made it clear Tuesday that entering the Obama administration's latest Race to the Top competition would not be a slam-dunk decision.

The Early Learning Challenge Collaborative has developed a summary including interpretation of the final requirements, priorities, and selection criteria to help with the RTT-ELC application process.  Additionally the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative has created this planning template to help with the Challenge application.

August 23, 2011

The final application for the RTT-ELC funds was just released.  The RTT-ELC will focus on building on states' existing strengths, developing common outcome standards and a tiered QRIS, supporting the early childhood workforce, and measuring outcomes and progress.

August 15, 2011 - Jackson, MS
The federally funded grant would last for four years for early childhood education.  Grant dollars would give better access to students in an effort to put MS's children on a better educational path.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) jointly developed this glossary of professional development, training, and technical assistance (TA) terms.

August 5, 2011 - Oklahoma City, OK

Early learning programs are key to developing a strong future workforce. ... Kids who don't have access to early education opportunities are 25 percent more likely to drop out of school and 60 percent more likely to never attend college.

This fact sheet from Child Trends summarizes what is known about the impact these programs and intervention strategies have on young children's development in language and literacy.

June 14, 2011 - Harrisburg, PA
Pennsylvania's budget deadline is inching closer and with it, questions about how the state will fund early childhood education.

June 15, 2011  - Education Week
Schools should pay more attention to the social and emotional development of African-American boys in the early grades—and focus less on their academic skills, a group of scholars says.

June 9, 2011 - Associated Press
Preschool has surprisingly enduring benefits lasting well into adulthood, according to one of the biggest, longest follow-up studies of its kind.

May 25, 2011
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced that the Administration plans to use approximately $500 million of the FY11 Race to the Top funding for a major competition in support of bold and comprehensive State plans for raising the quality of early learning programs.

June 3, 2011 - The Tennessean
Imagine a government program that guaranteed a $7 return on every dollar spent, led to more children graduating from high school and fewer being incarcerated as adults, and earned strong support from the business community because of the direct results it has on workforce development. Thankfully, one exists: Tennessee's high-quality voluntary pre-kindergarten program.

This planning tool from ZERO TO THREE guides communities through the process of creating new or expanding existing home visiting services that meet their unique needs.  The guide helps communities use data to identify thier strengths, needs, and gaps in current home visiting services.

Last week the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced the availability of $500 million for the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC).  CLASP has created a Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge resource page to help states during this planning period.

May 24, 2011 - The Detroit News
Governor Snyder's preschool proposals stress lifelong learning; consolidate overlapping programs.

United Way and the American Human Development Project have created a tool to forecast how things might change in your community if educational outcomes were better.  Click on your state, or any other state, to get started.

The 2011 report on state child and dependent care tax provisions, Making Care Less Taxing, and the accompanying state report card, Making the Grade for Care, which grades those state provisions, cover the 34 child and dependent care tax provisions in effect in 28 states in tax year 2010.

May 8, 2011 – Athens-Banner Herald
As parents across Georgia get caught up in the wave of unemployment that's swept the state, often one of the family's first cuts is child care.

The goal of The Child Indicator, produced and distributed by Child Trends,  is to communicate major developments and new resources within each sector of the child and youth indicators flied to the larger community of interested users, researchers, and data developers on a regular basis.

May 2, 2011 - The New York Times
Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman made a strong argument for good early childhood care.

This report from BUILD is a culmination of two years of research and exploration of policies in practice in states.  The report includes practical examples of successfully applied policies and is a rich resource for systems builders and members of state advisory councils.

State profiles created in partnership with the NGA Center and the Department of Health and Human Services.  Each profile provides an overview of a state council, including its administering agency, history, membership, activities, and priorities for the ARRA grant, and communication strategies.

State profiles created in partnership with the NGA Center and the Department of Health and Human Services.  Each profile provides an overview of a state council, including its administering agency, history, membership, activities, and priorities for the ARRA grant, and communication strategies.

This glossary by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) is intended to serve as a guide for states to adapt and adjust as needed.  The definitions are also designed to provide common understandings, or starting points, for research and national or cross-state discussions.  The definitions were developed for those who provide professional development, state policy makers, early education advocates, and program administrators working to connect professional development activities and initiatives into an integrated system.

April 21, 2011 — The Spokesman-Review
A child care center feels the pinch of state cuts, while subsidies end for some families.  The cuts are statewide, but hit low-income neighborhoods the hardest.

This paper provides an overview of the Wisconsin Early Learning Coalition's position on the Governor's 2011-13 budget.

A letter dated March 15, 2011 from the Washington State Senate regarding $1.87 million budget request for the Home Visiting Services Account.

A presentation about home visiting from March 23, 2011 by the Washington State Department of Early Learning and Thrive by Five Washington.

Letter dated February 24, 2011 from Deb Daro to Governor Cuomo urging him to restore home visiting funding (the advocates solicited similar letters from Pew, Prevent Child Abuse America, and local programs).

Letter dated February 15, 2011from the new York Home Visiting Coalition to Governor Cuomo urging him to restore home visiting funding.

"One-pager" on the costs/benefits of New York's home visiting programs.

Here is an example of a customized market analysis done for a specific area on how the cuts would impact it.

An op-ed published in the Wichita Eagle on February 18, 2011.

Combining knowledge from neuroscience, behavioral and developmental science, economics, and 40 years of early childhood program evaluation, they 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.

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.  This publication was co-authored by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs.

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.  Great gains are to be had by investing in early childhood development - from birth to age five.

Investing in early learning now is more cost-effective than playing catch-up later.  Research on comprehensive, high-quality early learning shows that they promote substantial economic and social benefits, while reducing the need for more expensive, less productive interventions for older children and adults.

From the National Conference of State Legislatures, this webpage provides background information on a variety of state policy options for legislators interested in early childhood.

NCSL's Early Childhood 101 webinar was recorded on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 2pm ET.  This is a briefing for new legislators and new chairs to help get up to speed on what states are doing to promote early childhood development and school readiness and what resources are available from NCSL for support.

The National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health profiles states' policy choices that promote health, education, and strong families alongside other contextual data related to the well-being of young children.

The National Women's Law Center compares state child care assistance policies from year to year in four policy areas:  income eligibility, waiting lists for assistance, copayment requirements and reimbursement rates for providers.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) developed A Policy Blueprint for State Early Childhood Professional Development Systems.  The searchable database links to current state laws and regulations, organized by the blueprint's six essential policy areas of:  professional standards, career pathways, articulation, advisory structure, data and financing.

ZERO TO THREE's Baby Matters:  A Gateway to State Policies and Initiatives is a web-based searchable database of more than 550 state policies and initiatives that impact infants, toddlers, and their families.  It can be searched by state, category, or keyword.

The Center for Law and Social Policy's Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project links research to policy ideas and state examples that support the healthy growth and development of infants and toddlers in child care settings.  The project provides resources to help states make the best decisions for infants and toddlers in child care.  The foundation of the project is a policy framework comprised of four key principles describing what babies and toddlers in child care need and 15 recommendations for states to move forward.

This annual report from the National Women's Law Center reveals that states largely held off major cuts to child care programs as of February 2010, with help from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.  Although most state policies are holding steady compared to a year ago, they have not improved or are behind where they were in 2001 and may face challenges in protecting their child care programs as ARRA funds are exhausted.

State-by-state fact sheets from The National Women's Law Center's report, Supporting Affordable, High-Quality Child Care with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds, provide information on how the economic recovery funds are being used by states for child care and early education efforts.

Promote stable, quality care for babies and toddlers through subsidy policy.  Use state child care subsidy policies to support stable, continuous access to the highest-quality providers and caregivers for infants and toddlers in low-income families.

Child care subsidies make quality child care more affordable, support the healthy development of children, and help low-income parents access the child care they need to go to work or to school to support their families.

This tool, created by CLASP's Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project, is designed to provide a policy framework that lays out ideas for increaseing access for low-income babies and toddlers to high quality child care settings through state child care subsidy systems.

This Urban Institute paper takes a look at what is and is not known about child care stability, then provides a framework to explore the implications of child care instability for children's development, parental employment, and the often dynamic lives of low-income families.  Is also discusses the policy implications of these findings, with a particular focus on the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).  Finally, it highlights areas where future research is needed.

Child care subsidies funded by the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) can play a critical role in supporting low-income families' efforts to become stably employed, and in helping parents access stable, safe child care settings for their children.  Yet research has found that some subsidy policies and practices can inadvertently make it challenging for families to receive and keep subsidies as they work toward self-sufficiency.

 In this video, ZERO TO THREE Policy Network Member Stephanie Byrd describes where things stand in the budget process, what comes next as Congress sets the 2012 budget resolution, and what advocates can do.

Webinar from February 23, 2011 3pm - 4pm EST.  Welcome and overview of the work to be covered in the Linkages to K-12 Issue Group.

A presentaiton about the goals, policy and systems related to the Linkages to K-12 Issues Group.  The webinar was held on April 5, 2011 from 3pm - 4pm EST.

A Birth to Five Policy Alliance webinar from Febrary 23, 2011 presented by Kristie Kauerz, Ed.D. Program Director at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

The National Center for Children in Poverty releases their latest Early Childhood State Policy Profiles a comprehensive view of state policies in the areas of health, early care and education, and parenting and economic supports, that affect the health and well-being of young children in low-income families.

The National Center for Children in Poverty is pleased to announce the release of a new online tool.  This interactive tool will show users how many children under age six in each state are experiencing serious risks to their development.

NAEYC's latest report provides a recap of state policy developments in a number of early childhood areas, including governance, professional development, quality rating and data systems, child care subsidies and home visiting.

There is emerging research linking poverty occuring as early as the prenatal year to adult outcomes as far as the fourth decade of life.  Based on this evidence, the article discusses how policy might better focus on deep and persistent poverty occurring  very early in the childhoods of the poor.

This report examines the early care and education workforce data landscape across the states, focusing on the three main workforce data systems.

March 10, 2011 — New York Times
US Senators are facing difficult funding decisions as they attempt to cut federal spending even popular programs such as Head Start, are not immune to funding cuts.

March 4, 2011 — MotherJones.com
Persistent, lifelong achievement gaps in children have proven difficult to close even with high-quality schooling. Could investing more in intensive early intervention services be the key?

The Missouri Infant/Toddler Responsive Caregiving Checklist is designed to measure caregiving practices for groups of children ages from birth up to age 3.

As Washington moves forward with implementing its Early Learning Plan (ELP) to address the needs of children prenatally to age 9, a focus on infants and toddlers is essential. During these earliest years, infants and toddlers are developing the foundations for growth and learning that will impact them throughout their lives.

The National Infant & Toddler Child Care Initiative reviewed 22 State Quality Rating and Improvement Systems to identify states that explicitly include infant and toddler quality indicators and summarizes the findings in the following table.

This fact sheet is intended to highlight QRIS that include specific I/T indicators to promote discussions as States, Territories and Tribes begin to develop, revise, and implement QRIS for quality I/T care.

Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) are being implemented in States to establish a means to both define and promote quality in child care settings. These rating systems include five common elements: 1) standards, 2) accountability measures, 3) program and practitioner outreach and support, 4) financial incentives, and 5) parent/consumer education.

This self-assessment checklist is based on research about effective policies and best practices in states. The following questions are intended to spark discussion about the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families and to lay the foundation for building an effective early childhood development system in your state.

This report draws upon nationally available data to expand the analysis on public investments for children from birth through 18 across the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Since the first child care Quality Rating System (QRS) was implemented in Oklahoma 11 years ago (in 1998), 16 additional statewide systems have been launched and numerous states are piloting or developing a QRS. As QRS stakeholders across the nation look ahead to the next decade, it is important to take stock of what has been learned and identify priorities for generating new research and information about QRS.

An effective early childhood system is multi-faceted, as are the needs of young children and their families. Such a system aims to promote healthy child development by advancing early learning, health, and family support, and embracing all children.

February 8, 2011 — New York Times
A recent review found that 10 major social programs had been rigorously evaluated over the past two decades, using the scientific gold standard of random assignment. Only one of the 10 — Early Head Start, for infants, toddlers pregnant women — was a clear success.

February 3, 2011 — USA Today
Investing in early childhood education can yield impressive economic benefits — both for children and taxpayers, according to a National Institutes of Health study that followed participants until age 26.

Although ECACs represent a common governance mechanism across states, they differ based on each state’s particular policy context. How are ECACs developing and operationalizing their work?

January 24, 2011 — USA Today
Sad, but true: Most young adults in the U.S. cannot qualify for military service, and one major reason lies with our troubled educational system.

From NCSL, this brief provides an overview of state early childhood advisory councils; including state examples and information on new federal investments.

January 24, 2011 — Santa Fe New Mexican
Dozens of New Mexicans braved a brief snow shower at the Capitol on Monday to rally support for a proposal they believe would help raise school test scores, lower the dropout rate and curb teen pregnancy.

January 12, 2011 — Des Moines Register
Legislation being discussed in Iowa would remove funding for the state’s universal preschool program to help close a large budget gap.

January 9, 2011 — Science Daily
Babies, even those too young to talk, can understand many of the words that adults are saying, and their brains process them in a grown-up way.

From the classroom to the legislature, stakeholders can use data about young children, early childhood programs and the workforce to improve the effectiveness of early care and education.

November 16, 2010 — South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Fresh off its “Milk Party Tour” the Florida Children’s Movement now has its eyes set on the state capital to encourage lawmakers to support the healthy development of children.

November 16, 2010 — Eye on Early Education
A letter by economist James Heckman that was recently sent to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Reform urges the commission and other leaders to invest in high-quality early education to protect our country’s future.

November 15 2010 — Chicago Tribune
Latino children in Illinois are half as likely as their white and African-American peers to be enrolled in a preschool program.

November 4, 2010 — The Connecticut Mirror

November 2, 2010 — nola.com
Geoff Nagle from the University of Tulane argues that the best way to improve our higher education system is by investing in our early childhood systems.

October 19, 2010 — LA Times
California Assembly Speaker John Perez is currently working on a plan that would fund the state’s child care assistance program through January 2011.

October 18, 2010 — Macon.com
As one of a handful of states that included early childhood in their Race to the Top application, Georgia will be using a portion of its $400 million grant to help the state’s youngest learners.

This report from NCCP presents findings from an interview study that investigated features of the professional development and on-site assistance available to center-based staff and home-based providers who participate in states’ Quality Rating Improvement Systems.

State-by-state fact sheets from NWLC’s report, Supporting Affordable, High-Quality Child Care with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds, provide information on how the economic recovery funds are being used by states for child care and early education efforts.

October 8, 2010 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
While learning shapes and letters is important to a child’s development, many educators say that playtime is equally essential for young children.

On November 2, 2010, voters across the country will cast ballots to select 37 governors and 6,115 legislators. Due to term limits, many winners of these races will be new to elected office. The time is ripe to get or keep early childhood on the agenda of elected leaders, and the resources highlighted on this page are a sample of what organizations funded by the Birth to Five Policy Alliance have produced to educate candidates.

This post from CLASP details information on how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds were used for child care purposes in 2009. 

This annual report from NWLC reveals that states largely held off major cuts to child care programs as of February 2010, with help from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. Although most state policies are holding steady compared to a year ago, they have not improved or are behind where they were in 2001 and may face challenges in protecting their child care programs as ARRA funds are exhausted.

October 1, 2010 — Associated Press
Last Thursday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation that would require a student to be age 5 by September 1. The earlier cutoff date will save the state $700 million which will be used to create a pre-k program for those born after September 1.

September 28, 2010 — Clarion Ledger
Investments in early childhood education could save the state of Mississippi $60 million according to a new report released by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.

September 23, 2010 — Catalyst Ohio
An article that looks at how states across the country fund early education.

September 23, 2010 — Palm Beach Post
A new movement in Florida, dubbed the “Milk Party”, is a non-partisan group trying to raise awareness on children’s issues and to make them a state priority.

This study from the Center for the Study Child Care Employment examines the career backgrounds and professional development needs of those working in child care resource and referral programs, local First 5 commissions, and child care coordinators across the state.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that 21 nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education will receive Promise Neighborhoods planning grants. With the one-year grants, the recipients will create plans to provide cradle-to-career services that improve the educational achievement and healthy development of children.

This brochure highlights the importance of coordinated and longitudinal data systems and what states can do to start building them to inform continuous improvement in early care and education. 

A new white paper from the Early Childhood Data Collaborative makes the case for why states should build longitudinal data systems for early care and education, describes the ten fundamentals of a coordinated system with state examples, and provides guidance on how to ensure appropriate access to data, which includes building the capacity for stakeholders to use the data for continuous improvement.

September 10, 2010 — The Portland Press Herald
A new report from the business group, America’s Edge, shows that most employers do not believe their entry level employees are ready for the workplace. To combat this problem, many business leaders support investing in early childhood education.

September 9, 2010 — The Coloradoan
Even though Colorado state preschool programs have grown in recent years, some localities are seeing their waiting lists growing faster than their enrollment.

September 8, 2010 — The Arizona Republic
In November, a ballot initiative put forth by the state legislature will decide the future of the state’s early child development program and whether its funds should be appropriated differently.

This new report from NCSL focuses on how states currently assess school readiness, as indicated by the use of assessment at kindergarten. Also detailed is information on how readiness information is used and reported within the states. Included in this scan are states that have universal or near-universal kindergarten assessment on an ongoing basis, as indicated through state statute, administrative code, or the state department of education's website.

August 27, 2010 — Washington Post

August 26, 2010 — Washington Post
Head Start Founder, Ed Zigler, discusses the evolution and the future of child care policy.

August 25, 2010 — Washington Post
James Heckman talks about the economic impacts of investing in early childhood education.

August 24, 2010 — Department of Education
The Department of Education recently released the second round of Race to the Top grant funds, rewarding nine and states and the District of Columbia for their education reforms.

July 3, 2010 — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new assessment of the child care quality in Georgia indicates that most young children are attending centers that don’t offer the environment they need to develop.

July 2, 2010 — Lansing State Journal

A group of lawmakers, early childhood professionals and parents have teamed up to increase funding for high quality early childhood programs in Michigan.

A new guide is available from Child Trends to help states apply for federal home visiting grants. The guide outlines key steps for completing the grant application process and provides national and state-level data useful to applicants conducting needs assessments, identifying high-risk populations, and selecting and measuring benchmarks.

A new Child Trends brief provides an overview of state Early Learning Guidelines and efforts to monitor statewide school readiness across multiple domains of development and outlines key policy considerations for supporting and tracking school readiness at the state level.

This report is the first product of the QRS Assessment project and provides detailed information on 26 QRS nationwide and comparison tables to facilitate review across states and individual profiles on the 26 state systems reviewed.

Research on the importance of the early childhood years has compelled states to support children’s school readiness. This brief provides an overview of states’ Early Learning Guidelines (ELGs) for children age birth to five and current statewide school readiness assessment practices.

On June 10, 2010 the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Administration on Children and Families (ACF) released the first Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the new Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, created as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Affordable Care Act or ACA). Click the link above for more information or use CFDA # 93.505 on the Grants.gov website.

June 14, 2010 — San Francisco Chronicle
A bill currently working its way through the California state Legislature would move the current school cutoff date from December 2 to September 1 over a three year period resulting in a smaller age gap within grade levels and saving an estimated $700 million to the state over a year for thirteen year period.

June 10, 2010 — Bangor Daily News
Low high school graduation rates and criminal convictions for young people have had a negative impact on the militaries recruitment numbers in recent years. , High ranking retired military officials believe that high quality early education programs can help reverse this trend.

June 9, 2010 — Gazetteonline
Governor Chet Culver of Iowa recently announced that an additional 4,500 children will be able to participate in the state’s preschool program thanks to legislative support of funding the last installment of the four-year, $60 million commitment to preschool.

This report from NCSL, presents an analysis of overall trends in early care and education budget decisions and actions in child care, prekindergarten, home visiting and related early childhood investments.

As states continue to struggle with budget issues, more and more families are having difficulty receiving child care assistance leading many to lose their jobs and financial independence.

May 17, 2010 — The Virginian-Pilot
With demanding hours and varying schedules, military parents often turn to non-traditional options for their child care needs.

May 14, 2010 — Washington Post
A study, which has been ongoing since 1991, shows a small but significant difference between teenagers who had high-quality child care and those who did not.

May 7, 2010 — Tulsa World
In a continued effort to improve and reform Tulsa’s educational system, The George Kaiser Family Foundation recently announce plans to open a third Educare center in the area.

NBA star Steve Nash, of the Phoenix Suns, is supporting Educare in the NBA's new Charity Challenge on Facebook. We're encouraging people to vote for Steve and Educare -- and to help us to spread the word as widely as possible!

April 26, 2010 — Connecticut Mirror

Parents and advocates in Connecticut are concerned that enrollment in the state’s child care subsidy program will be cut due to funding, as the legislature works to close budget gap of over $700 million.

April 25, 2010 — San Gabriel Valley Tribune
A quality rating and improvement system currently in use in some parts of California may soon be implemented statewide.

April 23, 2010 — Education Week

Proposed early childhood regulations in Illinois would require that preschools adhere to the same requirements for English language learners used in K-12 schools.

from NGA

April 12, 2010 — Education Week

Despite recent setbacks early childhood advocates are hopeful that the 2011 budget will provide support for early childhood programs.

April 7, 2010 — Military.com

The U.S. Military is planning an expansion of its child care program to provide services to more children and families.

April 6, 2010 — Catalyst Chicago

Children attending public preschool in Chicago will soon participate in a program that will measure a student’s readiness for kindergarten.

April 4, 2010 — The Portland Press Herald

A new Educare center opening in Waterville Maine will provide high quality child care and early education to low-income children and families.

March 26, 2010 — The Dispatch
A group of Mississippi business leaders are touring the state to promote the economic benefits of early education.

March 25, 2010 — Washington Examiner
A recent look around the D.C. area shows a significantly higher portion of funds are being used on incarceration rather than on education.

March 24, 2010 — The Sun Herald
A new Educare center funded by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund along with a number of other national and local partners is scheduled to break ground this summer in Washington, D.C.

March 15, 2010 — Politico
George Kaiser writes on how reforming the federal student loan program can benefit young, at risk children.

March 15, 2010 — L.A. Times
Evidence indicates that a parent’s mental wellbeing can have significant affects on their children’s future mental health.

March 11, 2010 — the Tennessean

A recent study released in Tennessee finds that the state’s pre-K programs are most effective for children from poorer families.

This white paper, from the National Council of La Raza, examines how states are working to build comprehensive early learning standards and to address issues of professional development to ensure the success of Latino and English language learner children and families.

March 9, 2010 — the Des Moines
A new law in Iowa consolidates and makes changes to the state’s many early childhood programs in an effort to make them more efficient.
 

March 4, 2010 — Argus Leader
For the fourth consecutive year a bill that would lay the ground work for voluntary state-supported prekindergarten was killed in the South Dakota legislature.

March 4, 2010 — US Department of Education
Today the Department of Education announce 15 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in the department’s $4.35 billion grant program to reform the educational system.

March 2, 2010 — The Daily Reflector
North Carolina Lt. Governor Walter Dalton spoke this week at an early childhood conference on the benefits of early childhood education to the state.

President Obama, on February 1, presented his FY 2011 budget proposal to Congress. This document from CLASP, offers a blueprint of the president's early childhood education spending priorities for the coming year.

February 23, 2010 — AlterNet
Recent studies have found that children with one or more undocumented parent who are arrested in immigration raids have increased levels of social hardship and stability.

February 23, 2010 — The Topeka Capital-Journal
An amendment being introduced in the Kansas Senate on Senate Bill 447 would increase the number of licensed child care operators and inspections in the state, according to its sponsor.

An interview with Marcy Whitebook with the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment on the low wages of child care professionals.

February 22, 2010 — AFP
Recent studies have shown that children who are born into poverty are likely to live in poverty as adults as well.

February 22, 2010 — Health Day News

Researchers at the University of Arizona have found that daytime naps can be important to learning in babies.

February 17, 2010 — Early Ed Watch Blog
In a recent interview, Marcy Whitebook of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment discussed the major differences in pay between 0-5 professionals and k-12 educators.

February 15, 2010 — KOB.com (NBC Affiliate)
Local law enforcement officials are encouraging New Mexico lawmakers to protect investments in early education in order to save money later on high school dropout and incarceration costs.

February 12, 2010 — Change.org
A recent study has found that gaps in child development are measurable in children as young as nine months old, and that the gap is even larger by 24 months.

February 11, 2010 — wtsp.com
U.S. General Perugino recently spoke to Florida lawmakers on the importance of early childhood education and its impact on military and private enterprises.
 

February 11, 2010 — KSDK.com (NBC Affiliate)

A new report from Voices for Illinois’ Children indicates that the economic recession has had a severe impact on the state’s children.

February 4, 2010 — Catalyst Chicago
Three Chicago area neighborhoods are working to get a piece of $210 million the President has pledged to support “Promise Neighborhoods” in the 2011 budget.

February 3, 2010 — NorthJersey.com
With child care costs rising, many parents are faced with tough decisions in finding a solution to pay for the care.

February 1, 2010 — The Topeka Capital-Journal
If passed Kansas Senate bill 447 will tighten licensing and requirements to help increase the safety of children in child care.

A policy framework from CLASP, comprised of key principles describing what babies and toddlers in child care need and 15 recommendations for states to move forward.

A new technical assistance opportunity from ZERO TO THREE to support states in the integration of Early Head Start and existing early childhood systems to expand high-quality services for infants and toddlers. 

Learn more about how the Access to Nutritious Meals for Young Children Act of 2009 will impact children and their families in this fact sheet from the National Women’s Law Center.

January 10, 2010 — Chillicothe Gazette

Initiatives such as Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids, (SPARK) help children transition from child care and pre-k into elementary school.

January 9, 2010 — Journal Sentinel

A Quality Rating and Improvement system could help improve Wisconsin’s early learning system and the Department of Children and Families is expected to release its plan sometime this year.

January 6, 2010 — Time
Learn more about the new science called epigenetics.

January 5, 2010 — Center for American Progress
In the complex effort to support stable, healthy families, home visiting programs have proven to be an important piece of the puzzle.

January 5, 2010 — Time
Recent studies have shown that strong negative experiences early in life have a profound effect on a child’s future physical and mental health.

January 5, 2010 — Science Daily
Young women whose parents participated in home visiting programs were far less likely to be convicted of a crime than their peers who did not receive the services according to a recent study.

January 4, 2010 — PRNewswire
According to a recent study from Children Now, improvements to California’s child health and education policies are necessary to the state’s long term economic future.

December 30, 2009 — Providence Journal

A premature birth can have lifelong affects on a child, but recent data indicates that home visiting and a prenatal support programs may have a significant impact in reducing early births.

This fact sheet from the Center on Law and Social Policy, provides a snapshot of CCDBG program participation 2008.

December 9, 2009 — Georgetown University News
The US Secretaries of Health and Human Services, and Education recently agreed that more collaboration was needed between the two departments on early childhood education.
 

December 2009 — The Atlantic
Recent genetic research theorizes that given the right environment, at risk children can be some of society’s most creative and productive individuals.

November 12, 2009 — U.S. Department of Education

The final application for the federal Race to the Top Fund grants has been released by the Department of Education. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently announced the Department’s priorities for grants under the $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund (i3). For more information visit the Department of Education’s website.

Learn more about 11 federal initiatives that affect children and their families the current status of the policy in congress from the First Five Years Fund. 

The National Governors Association and ZERO TO THREE are offering technical assistance that will support governors in developing and implementing ECACs

November 9, 2009 — Missoulian

The state of Montana is preparing to implement their new quality rating and improvement system, STARS, which will help parents pick high quality child care programs for their children.

November 12, 2009 — Huffington Post
James Mejia, of the Denver Preschool Program, claims that affordable pre-k is necessary for children from all socio-economic classes.
 

 An article from the New York Times provides several different perspectives on improving our educational system, including advice from Alliance supporter Susie Buffett. 

November 19, 2009 — Christian Science Monitor

Race to the Top funds now working through Congress could increase federal investments in early childhood education by $1 billion.
 

November 7, 2009 — Cape Cod Times

According to Massachusetts’ early education commissioner, over 20,000 children are on the waiting list to receive financial help for pre-k and other educational programs.

Use the Demographics Wizard to create custom tables of national- and state-level statistics about low-income or poor children, from the National Center for Children in Poverty.

September 15, 2009 —
 Science Daily

A new study shows that children 1-year-old and younger who were spanked, exhibit more aggressive behavior and have slower cognitive development than their peers.

September 21, 2009
 — Science Daily

Young children may be learning less from education television programs than we think.

From NACCRRA

From NAEYC

From Fight Crime: Invest in Kids

The Policy Wizard from NCCP creates custom tables with information about state and federal policies that assist low-income families and children.

This database from NAEYC presents state policies organized into six different topic areas: professional standards, career pathways, articulation, advisory structure, data and financing.

A searchable database of state child care and early education legislation from 2008 to 2011 from NCSL. Search by year, topic, state, keyword, status and more.

A searchable database on state policies and initiatives that impact infants and toddlers.  This database is based on ZERO TO THREE’s Infant Toddler Policy Framework and focuses on four main areas: good health, strong families, positive early learning experiences,  and systems.

September 19, 2009 — New York Times

A new initiative, proposed by the President and passed by the House, would send $8 billion to early learning programs over the next 2 years.

September 21, 2009 — Early Ed Watch Blog
The last in a seven part series, this piece look at the future of Head Start programs in the states.

Coming soon! From the Center on the Developing Child, this database compiles four decades of program evaluation research relevant to children from the prenatal period to age 5.

July 23, 2009 — Western Star

Many families in Ohio may soon find themselves ineligible for pre-k assistance due to state budget cuts.

July 22, 2009 — Early Ed Watch Blog
Recently the House Appropriations Committee passed an appropriations bill that funds early education programs within the Health and Human Services and Education departments.

In most states, early childhood coordinating entities have been created to advise governors, legislators, and/or
agency administrators on how to best meet the needs of young children and their families. While these
entities vary in size, scope, and authority, they all have a similar mission to improve the coordination of
programs and services for young children and their families.