Browsing: Preschool
Don't forget me at three—state pre-K provision for 3-year-olds lags far behind
Infants and toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary-aged children encompass the field of early childhood education, giving the impression that all children from birth through age 8, fit neatly into one of three categories. But state policies sugge
Seattle Preschool Program: Public Investment Paying Off for Quality
Milagros Nores, Ph.D.
As voters consider whether to continue investing public dollars in the Seattle Preschool Program, our multi-year evaluation indicates that, so far, it has been money well spent. Four years ago, Seattle voters approved a $58 million property tax levy t
Transforming the Early Childhood Education Workforce
The 2015 Institute of Medicine and National Research Council's (IOM & NRC) Transforming the Workforce report highlights the state's role in creating a pathway for early care and education (ECE) teachers to acquire education and professional develop
How much can high-quality Universal Pre-K reduce achievement gaps?
In a report published by the Center for American Progress, NIEER researchers find that providing high-quality prekindergarten to all children nationally would dramatically reduce inequality in academic preparedness at kindergarten entry. Here we provid
Creating Conditions for Increased Attendance
Creating conditions in which people are more likely to change. This phrase really stuck with me when I heard it recently at a session on systems thinking at the CEELO Leadership Academy, led by Tracy Benson from the Waters Foundation because it applied
Obstacles to Instilling an Education Ethic
A pediatrician friend speaking to me about a child's health was careful to point out the difference between a label and a diagnosis. "Labels are not helpful; diagnoses are." When asked for further explanation, she said four characteristics found in a d
Building the capacity of state early childhood administrators: CEELO FY2015
At CEELO we believe all organizations benefit from a continuous improvement process based on evaluation. That's why we're not only engaged in providing Technical Assistance (TA) to states across the country, but we also evaluate our own work and act up
Universal Pre-K: What does it mean and who provides it?
Inquiring minds often want to know which states offer "universal pre-K." As states vary in what they define as universal pre-K (UPK) and in how far they have progressed toward fully implementing a universal program as intended, the answer is somewhat c
Looking back over 2015, it's been a year packed with action around early childhood education at NIEER, in the states, and across the country. US News wrote here about their 5 biggest stories in early education, including the expansion of NYC UPK (we ad
Finishing the job we started: the next best step in early childhood education
By Valora Washington and Jeffrey Gross. Valora Washington is the Founder and Director of the CAYL Institute (www.cayl.org) and CEO of the Council for Professional Recognition (www.cdacouncil.org). Jeffrey Gross is Director of the New Americans Integrat
School Mobility: Implications for Children's Development
More than one-fifth of children in the United States are living in poverty. Children growing up in poverty face numerous adversities that can negatively affect their learning and development, starting at a very early age. For example, these children ar
Empty windows of opportunity?
John T. Bruer, Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Center on Children and Families, recently wrote about the seductive appeal of brain science in assuring optimal brain development and life-long wellbeing. He noted that "The advocacy
What the State of Preschool can tell us about Dual Language Learners in state programs
The NIEER State of Preschool Yearbook collects data on a variety of topics relating to early childhood, including how states are serving dual language learners. According to Child Trends, nearly 22 percent of U.S. children live in a household that spea
Early STEM – Fuel for Learning
José, a preschooler in Mrs. Hardy's classroom, had never talked in class. He was a dual language learner (DLL), and it was already December. His teacher was participating in our SciMath-DLL professional development project where she had been learning a
Lessons learned from Vanderbilt's study of Tennessee Pre-K
Newly released findings from Vanderbilt's rigorous study of Tennessee's state-funded pre-K program are a needed tonic for overly optimistic views. No study stands alone, but in the context of the larger literature the Tennessee study is a clear warning
Part II: Functions and Capacities of P-3 Governance
(Part II of II. For Part I click here.) Governance change has been a catalyst for broader system development in the states that have chosen to focus on this subsystem (Dichter, 2015; Gomez, 2014), though much more empirical work needs to occur in order
P-3 governance–What is it, and why is it important?
No time is more critical than the present to consider governance and how a state's approach to governance affects the development and implementation of P-3 systems. _____ Part I: Defining and Describing Governance Governance, as a term applied to the f