The book provides a comprehensive examination of how states can build high-quality early education systems: It discusses design and implementation, themes to guide program development, effective management and collaboration with state agencies, and the central role that teachers play in improving children’s lives. There is no single roadmap to excellence, but the varied experiences of states can provide important insights into the policies and practices that lead to quality early learning.
Early care and education (ECE) can have a positive effect on many aspects of children’s development, including the language, literacy, mathematics, executive functioning, and social-emotional competencies needed for a smooth transition into kindergarten and later life success. But for many families, high-quality ECE is out of reach. California has established a range of programs to support the development of children from birth to age 5, but these programs are uncoordinated, insufficient in scope, and of variable quality. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the state’s ECE system, describing its administration and funding, access to care, program quality, and data limitations.
There is broad agreement among researchers across a wide range of disciplines that early education can give children a powerful start on the path that leads to college and career success. Early learning professionals need what any savvy businessperson wants for his or her company—a motivated, skilled, quality workforce. While recent studies have highlighted several obstacles to building a high-quality early childhood workforce, another points to promising models in four states.
During the 2015–16 fiscal year, states invested nearly $7 billion in programs for our country’s youngest learners. This fact sheet summarizes the lessons learned by a review and analysis of how states can design, fund, and manage investments to assure high-quality preschool. The original report looked at how four states built quality early education systems with strong outcomes.
Considerable research exists on the elements of high-quality early childhood education and its many benefits, particularly for low-income children and English learners, but little information is available to policymakers about how to enact their visions of good pre-k programs. This report fills that gap by describing and analyzing how four states—Michigan, West Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina—have built high-quality early education systems.
Read a summary of case studies of high-quality early education programs in four states: Michigan, West Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina. This analysis is based on reviews of policy documents, studies, and data in each state, as well as observations of programs and interviews with policymakers, program administrators, providers, teachers, parents, advocates, and researchers.
