Your state has goals for performance in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math. Do you know what they are? As an early childhood advocate you may well not, as all of the goals are based on standardized assessments given to children in third grade and up. But you should, because chances are those state goals are out of reach for your state unless it puts more focus on early learning.
The midterm elections of 2018 is ushering in a group of new state superintendents who will put their stamp on states’ education systems and reforms. Though most of them probably will not have much early education background, many of them will also lead state pre-k programs and in some cases, even child care systems and other early childhood programs.
Over the past 10 months, seven Alliance state partners embarked on a mission to increase public support for infants and toddlers by creating coalitions, identifying infant/toddler specific policy priorities, and developing advocacy strategies and communication plans. Each state approached its efforts in a slightly different way, but with the same goal in mind: to advance the well-being and school readiness of infants and toddlers in their state.
In a year of bipartisan rancor, early childhood emerged as a rare issue of consensus. Providing confirmation to a decade of polling finding broad support for early childhood, candidates of both parties eagerly embraced agendas focused on young children. According to an analysis conduct by the First Five Years Fund, over 75 percent of governors elected in 2018 are on the record supporting early childhood education.
In 2016 and 2017, more than 30 individuals from top-level research organizations, early learning programs, and advocacy organizations came together at New America to distill years of research on what it takes to provide a quality pre-K experience for 3- and 5-year-old children. The results are in.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Happy New Year! Happy New Grant Year, that is.
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