School-Readiness
Number of unique resources found: 91
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For Parents: Assessment Information for Parents of K-12 children
Description: The Parents page of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing provides articles and resources related to assessment, child success in school, and family involvement for parents of K-12 children.
Getting Ready: School Readiness Indicators Initiative
Description: The Getting Ready web site is an infomational site about the School Readiness Indicators Initiative. The School Readiness Indicators Initiative works with 17 states to develop a comprehensive set of school readiness indicators to inform public policy for young children and their families.
– Evaluation –
Effects of the Michigan School Readiness Program on Young Children's Abilities at Kindergarten Entry 
Author: Lamy, Cynthia; Barnett, Steven W.; Jung, Kwanghee
Description: This is research article evaluates the Michigan School Readiness Program, which is designed to help children at risk of school failure, start school ready to learn. They report that "the Michigan School Readiness Program has statistically significant and meaningful impacts on children's early literacy and mathematical development.."
Evaluation Made Easy: Examples of Practical Evaluations - School Readiness
Author: Killian, Eric (7 more by this author); Garcia, Aleta; Peterson, Donna J.; Bixler, Mikki
Description: This bulletin includes a brief introduction to a key indicator, a case example of a community-based program making a difference in the indicator highlighted, sample program goals and objectives, description of program intervention, a sample evaluation plan, key evaluation results, reporting hints and other resources.
Neither Art nor Accident: New Research Helps Define and Develop Quality PreK and Elementary Teaching
Author: Miller Wiltz, Sue
Description: In a recent Harvard Education Letter interview, Robert Pianta, Dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, discusses the value of the Classroom Assessing Scoring system, a classroom observation instrument known as CLASS. This article is part of an ongoing series of the importance of integrating high quality Pre-K with the early elementary education of children.
– General Information –
3rd Grade Reading – Success Matters
Author: Smith, Ralph
Description: This powerpoint presentation was part of a webinar on early childhood data systems and the relationship between birth to five policy agendas and early elementary reform efforts. Ralph Smith, Annie E. Casey Foundation, discussed the goals and progress of The Campaign for Grade Level Reading.
Beyond the Usual Suspects: Developing New Allies to Invest in School Readiness
Author: Bruner, Charles (13 more by this author)
Description: This monograph provides information on how advocates might work to build a broader set of allies to promote an early childhood agenda to improve school readiness. It stresses the importance of recognizing the cultures, or cognitive frames, of groups of allies and crafting outreach messages accordingly. Recommendations for advocacy groups is included.
Building 0-8 Information Systems: Strengthening the Focus on Early Childhood
Author: Bruner, Charles (13 more by this author)
Description: This webinar was on early childhood data systems and the relationship between birth to five policy agendas and early elementary reform efforts. Charles Bruner, Research and Evaluation Director for the BUILD Initiative, presented his analysis of the state of the field in developing birth-to-eight data systems to inform policy, and Ralph Smith, Executive Vice-President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation presented an overview of the national work on third-grade reading, its relationship to systems-building efforts and the critical role that information systems can play in fostering linkages.
This link will connect directly to the webinar.
Building Birth-Eight Information Systems: Strengthening the Focus on Early ChildhoodBirth
Author: Bruner, Charles (13 more by this author)
Description: This powerpoint presentation was part of a webinar on early childhood data systems and the relationship between birth to five policy agendas and early elementary reform efforts. Charles Bruner, Research and Evaluation Director for the BUILD Initiative, presented an overview of the issue and presented one approach for visioning and developing an ideal 0-8 child information system.
Climbing the Ladder of Reading Proficiency: Atlanta Civic Site
Description: This report tells how a group of parents, educators, community-based service providers, funders, and education experts created the Dunbar Learning Complex with the goal of permanently changing the path of children living in poverty. This unique educational model was
launched in January 2010. Since then, 374 children, ages six weeks to PreK, have enrolled at the ELLRC and 385 are currently enrolled at Dunbar Elementary School, an Atlanta public school serving children from kindergarten through fifth grade. The report shares the impact of those efforts on children and their parents, two years later.
Early Care and Education: Realizing a Collective Vision
Author: Traill, Saskia (1 more by this author)
Description: National Economic Development and Law Center worked in California, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, and Hawai’i and partnered with a number of national organizations to replicate the model originally developed in California. The
model educates policymakers, business and civic leaders and economic development
professionals about the importance of early care and education. By engaging these
stakeholders in an on-going, collaborative dialogue, the model serves as a catalyst for
systemic change in investment strategies and programs to grow and sustain the
formal early care and education industry
Author: Oesterreich, Lesia (35 more by this author)
Description: This four page brochure discusses six simple ways to help prepare your child for preschool and kindergarten. Discussion on skills that are needed and ways that you can support your child in developing those skills are provided.
Also available in Spanish (Antes de comenzar el preescolar y el jardín de infantes -- Aprendiza je Temprano) at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM2081A(S).pdf.
Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters
Author: Fiester, Leila
Description: The ability to read is central to a child’s success in school, life-long earning potential, and the ability to contribute to the nation’s economy and its security. The Foundation released its report to focus attention on the critical importance of achieving grade-level reading proficiency for all children by the end of third grade. The authors take the 2009 reading test results released in March from NAEP--considered to be the gold standard in K-12 standardized assessment--and break down the numbers to show how well different groups of disadvantaged students are doing.
Download the full report or executive summary, and visit the Data Center to create your own maps, graphs, and charts of data related to early reading indicators at the national and state level.
Get Off To a Good Start, Backpack Buddies Series
Author: Collins, Elaine (2 more by this author)
Description: Ohio State University's Extension Services has provided this short, informative piece with suggestions on how to get your kindergarten aged child into a routine that makes mornings and evenings easier on everyone.
Getting School Ready! Campaign
Description: The Foundation for Early Learning has a Getting School Ready campaign that focuses on what families, early childhood professionals, and schools can do to help children be ready for school and what schools can do to be ready for the incoming children. The suggestions attempt to close the "preparation gap" that too many of our children face. These resource booklets are available in the following languages: English, Spanish, Cambodian, Chinese, Russian, Somali, and Vietnamese. You may download copies or order free copies through this site.
Author: Byington, Teresa (9 more by this author); Jackie Reilly, Sally Martin, Jo Anne Kock, Vicki Agao
Description: This brochure is intended for use with parents and caregivers. It provides general information on Nevada's Pre-Kindergarten Standards for social and emotional development of young children . The specific standards are provided along with examples of what you would see in children's behaviors.
Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right
Author: Rothstein, Richard; Rebecca Jacobson; Tamara Wilder
Description: State and federal policies (like No Child Left Behind) - that attempt to close the achievement gap by holding schools accountable for improved math and reading test scores - have failed. This book demonstrates why such narrow test-based accountability plans cannot possibly accomplish their stated intent, which is to tell the states and nation whether schools and related public institutions are performing satisfactorily and to support interventions that ensure improvement. To hold schools and other institutions of youth development accountable, information from tests of basic skills must be combined with a wide array of information from other sources, including tests of reasoning and critical thinking and evaluations by experienced and qualified experts who observe schools, child care centers, health clinics, and after-school and summer programs, to determine if they are performing satisfactorily.
The full report is available as a pdf at this site.
The news release is available at http://www.epi.org/page/-/old/newsroom/releases/2008/10/081020-RR_ed_book_pr_final.pdf.
Description: This website provides access to written materials and media (DVDs) about children’s development and how families and communities can help support them.
In 1997, Rob and Michele Reiner joined forces with leading child development experts to help raise public awareness about the critical importance the prenatal period through the first early years plays in a child’s healthy brain development. Already a renowned film director, Reiner turned his talents to helping educate parents on this, and other topics of interest to the caregivers of our youngest children.
Investing Strategies to Serve Vulnerable Children
Description: This discussion guide series, produced by the Association of Small Foundations with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is designed to provide clear and concise information to small foundations on strategies for supporting nonprofits that serve vulnerable children and families.
Specific guides include; Ensuring Success for Children with Incarcerated Parents, Ensuring Success for Young Children: Early Childhood Literacy, Ensuring Success For Young Children: Transition to Kindergarten, and others.
Is My Child Ready for Kindergarten?
Author: Fishhaut, Erna (3 more by this author)
Description: The University of Minnesota's Extension Services has provided this piece for parents who are trying to determine whether or not their child is ready for kindergarten. There are a variety of different factors that should be examined before making the decision regarding whether or not your child is ready for school.
Kindergarten Entry Skills (Habilidades para entrar en el kindergarten)
Description: This publication discusses the skills that are necessary for children entering kindergarten. Information is included on cognitive and social skills. Resources are provided. This publication is also available in Spanish as "Habilidades para entrar en el kindergarten" at http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/poptopics/k-entry-sp.html.
Ladders of Learning: Fighting Fade-Out by Advancing PK-3 Alignment
Author: Kauerz, Kristie (3 more by this author)
Description: This Issue Brief published by the New America Foundation Education Policy Program, argues that alignment of standards, curriculum and assessment from Prekindergarten through Third Grade can reduce fade-out and improve academic achievement. The brief discusses three types of alignment: horizontal, vertical and temporal.
Ladders of Learning: Fighting Fade-Out by Advancing PK-3 Alignment
Author: Kauerz, Kristie (3 more by this author)
Description: In this paper, Kristie Kauerz outlines the importance of having strong, well-aligned programs beginning in Pre-K and extending through third grade (PK-3). It reviews the short-term impact of Pre-K and full day kindergarten programs, then summarizes the evidence that these impacts may "fade out" by the primary grades. To fight fade-out, PK-3 alignment is proffered as one means to enable children to maintain and expand upon the gains they make in early childhood education. PK-3 suggests that Pre-K experiences should be aligned with kindergarten and that kindergarten should be aligned with early elementary education. The paper closes with federal policy recommendations that provide both models and incentives for the nation, states, and local school districts to institute and strengthen PK-3 alignment.
Learning to Read: A GUIDE to Federal Funding for Grade-Level Reading Proficiency
Author: Hayes, Cheryl; Laura Martinez; Lori Connors-Tadros; Soumya Bhat
Description: This guide is intended to help state and local officials, leaders of community based and national organizations, school leaders, and private investors identify, access, and make the best use of available federal funding to meet their policy and program goals. Funding alone cannot make children proficient readers by the end of third grade. Yet it is a necessary resource, along with vision, leadership, and strong public will.
Linking Social Development and School Readiness to Behavior
Description: Social competence is critically important for a child's readiness for school. This fact sheet discusses the importance of school readiness and provides guidance on how to ensure that policy, programs, and educators can promote readiness.
Author: Lawrence, Schweinhart; Kimberly Browning; Marijata Daniel-Echols; Zongping Xiang; Tomoko Wakabayashi
Description: This report includes information on the findings of evaluations of early childhood
education programs. It looks at the methods and previous findings of the Great
Start Readiness Program Evaluation. It then presents the analysis of the high school
graduation, the analysis of grade retention, and the analysis of how they relate to
each other, and the analysis of Michigan Merit Examination scores. It ends with
summary, consideration of the study limitations, and conclusions.
Planning for Pre-kindergarten: A Toolkit for School Boards
Description: This tool kit is designed to lay the groundwork for school board members to think through the issues involved in establishing a
high-quality pre-k program. Where appropriate, it includes resources and tools to help you establish policies, implement effective
programs, and ultimately become advocates for good pre-k programs in your communities.
Pre-Kindergarten Math Concepts
Author: Bixler, Mikki (3 more by this author)
Description: This fact sheet provides information on pre-kindergarten math concepts. It explains why you would teach math to young children and gives examples of how parents can help their children learn math skills.
Pre-Kindergarten Standards: Building the Framework for Learning
Author: Bixler, Mikki (3 more by this author)
Description: This fact sheet provides information on pre-kindergarten standards for the state of Nevada. A definition is included as well as the subject areas and examples of standards. Where to go for more information is also provided.
Ready for School: The Case for Including Babies and Toddlers As We Expand Preschool Opportunities
Author: Rubins Wilen, Julie
Description: How do we ensure that children enter school eager to learn and ready to succeed? This report from the Ounce of Prevention Fund argues that if policymakers fail to include babies and toddlers as plans are made for universal preschool, in five years our conversations about "school readiness" will instead be about "preschool readiness."
Description: ReadyWeb is an electronic collection of resources on school readiness sponsored by the Early Childhood Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative, College of Education, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. ReadyWeb provides a Virtual Library of the full text of documents and articles, and hyperlinks to documents and articles, on various topics related to school readiness. ReadyWeb also provides bibliographies of documents and journal articles from the ERIC database. These bibliographies are updated quarterly
Recommended Transition Practices for Young Children and Families
Author: Rous, Beth
Description: The report provides information on 21 transition practices validated across early childhood and early childhood special education professionals.
Schools' Use of Assessments for Kindergarten Entrance and Placement: 1998-99
Author: Prakash, Naomi; Kristin Denton; Jerry West
Description: This report uses data from the base-year (kindergarten) of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 to describe the use of entrance or placement test prior to kindergarten by schools in the U.S. It examines the different ways that schools use the information from these tests. It describes schools use of entrance and placement tests by public and private schools, and by schools with different concentrations of low-income children, different grade levels taught, and differnt numbers of children enrolled.
Author: Rogers, Fred (20 more by this author)
Description: This article is excerpted from “The Mister Rogers Parenting Book” the last book Fred Rogers worked on before his death in 2003. In this book he wanted to support parents in their most important work of parenting and to help them better understand their young children.
The information focuses on starting kindergarten. It includes information on children's fears, letting go (for parents), and helpful hints.
State Innovations: Iowa’s Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children
Description: This fact sheet provides an overview of the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children (SWVPP) in Iowa. The purpose of the preschool program is to provide an opportunity for all 4-year-old children in the state of Iowa to enter school ready to learn by expanding access to research-based preschool curricula and licensed
teaching staff. Requirements of the program and the impact of the first year are included.
Description: There is a great deal of information indicating that a child's success in school can be linked, at least in part, to effective transition practices and activities. This website provides parents and educators with information on transitioning to Kindergarten. It provides a wide variety of transition information and resources for families, professionals, and community partnerships to use as they address children's transitions into kindergarten.
Description: North Carolina’s Partnership for Children has launched a website designed to generate support for early learning by highlighting that there are only 2,000 days from a child’s birth to the first day of kindergarten. The site provides basic information about the value of early education in easy-to-understand messages. It’s a useful model of how to reach people outside of the early child-hood field to gain support for early learning. While the website does feature North Carolina- specific information, organizations and people from around the country are sharing it because it makes the case for early learning in a straightforward manner.
Transforming Public Education: Pathway to a Pre-K-12 Future
Description: This report challenges our nation’s policy makers to transform public education by moving from a K-12 to a Pre-K-12 system. This vision is grounded in rigorous research and informed by interviews with experts, as well as lessons from Pew’s decade-long initiative to advance
high-quality pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds.
Village Building and School Readiness: Closing Opportunity Gaps in a Diverse Society
Author: Bruner, Charles (13 more by this author); Stover Wright, Michelle; Noor Tirmizi, Syed
Description: This collection of articles begins to tackle community impact on child development, focusing upon the special issues and opportunities for building early learning systems in what have variously been described as vulnerable neighborhoods, disinvested neighborhoods, or poor, immigrant, and minority communities.
Description: This brochure is designed to help homeless parents get the most out of education for their children. It includes questions for parents to ask at school, the child's educational rights, and what should be done if you move. Also available in Spanish as "Lo que necesita saber para que sus ninos tengan exito en la escuela" at http://www.serve.org/nche/downloads/parentbrochure_sp.pdf.
– Professional Development –
Cost, Quality and Outcomes Study
Author: Peisner-Feinberg, Ellen ; Richard M. Clifford
Description: The National Center for Early Development & Learning and the FPG Child Development Institute have been working together on a study with pre-kindergarten aged children to determine how cost and quality of child care effects young children. Results of the study can be viewed online or purchased.
School Readiness: A Position Statement of the NAEYC
Description: NAEYC believes that school readiness requires addressing three major issues: children's inequities in early life experiences, recognition and support for individual difference in regards to linguistics and culture, and establishing appropriate and reasonable expectations of children's abilities upon school entry.
A summary of "Where we stand" is available at http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf 2009.
Author: Pianta, Robert (2 more by this author); Cox, Martha
Description: This policy brief outlines key issues in the transition to formal schooling, examines current practices and makes policy recommendations.
Transition to Kindergarten - Fact Sheet
Author: Pianta, Robert (2 more by this author); Cox, Martha
Description: This fact sheet discusses needed policy changes and how U.S. schools support the transition to kindergarten.
– Programming Resource –
Access to Pre-K Education Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
Author: Boylan, Ellen (2 more by this author); Deborah Splansky
Description: Provides an overview of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and discusses policies that can help to increase the number of homeless children in pre-k programs.
This policy brief provides an overview of the law and its limitations and describes policies that can help increase the number of homeless children included in pre-k programs. It is intended to serve as a resource for state policy makers and advocates seeking to maximize participation.
All Together Now: State Experiences in Using Community-Based Child Care to Provide Pre-Kindergarten
Author: Schumacher, Rachel (10 more by this author); Joan Lombardi; Katherine Hart; Danielle Ewen
Description: This paper, commissioned by the Brooklyn Institution, studies the emergence of the mixeddelivery model, in which pre-kindergarten is delivered in community-based settings and schools. It describes findings of CLASP survey of states that was undertaken to understand the policy choices, opportunities, and challenges of including community-based child care providers in their pre-kindergarten programs.
An Evidence-Based Approach to Estimating the National and State Costs of PreK-3rd
Author: Picus, Lawerence; Odden, Allan; Goetz, Michael
Description: This policy brief from the Foundation for Child Development, the third in a new series of Policy to Action Briefs, series editor Rima Shore offers a framework for estimating the costs of doing PreK-3rd.Education finance policy researchers, Lawrence O. Picus, Allan Odden, and Michael Goetz, apply their evidence-based approach to estimate the national and state-by-state costs of PreK-3rd approaches.
Building Brighter Futures for Our Children: A National Summit for State Policymakers
Description: The NGA Center hosted Building Brighter Futures for Our Children, a national children's summit that brought together 39 state teams to develop a coordinated policy agenda among state health, early education and human service systems to ensure better outcomes for our nation's children.
This website provides links to videos and powerpoints of presentations from Jack Shonkoff, MD,Harry Holtzer, Secretary Reggie Bicha, Angie Logan, Dan Wuori, Rolf Grafwallner, Valerie Minor, Julie Willems Van Dijk, Janice Gruendel, Robin Arnold-Williams, Danna Fabella, Shane McNeil,. and others.
Author: Rice, Cynthia
Description: This policy brief provides an overview of the impact of New Jersey's preK programs. During the last ten years, New Jersey's commitment to pre-school has grown dramatically both in scope and quality. In the 2006-2007 school year in over 150 school districts, the NJ Department of Education (DOE) has projected that in the three state supported preschool programs, nearly 33,609 four year olds and 20,254 three year olds are being exposed to experiences that support child development and are being prepared for kindergarten and beyond.
Information includes the test scores of the first cohort and also some lessons learned.
Cost, Quality and Outcomes Study
Author: Peisner-Feinberg, Ellen ; Richard M. Clifford
Description: The National Center for Early Development & Learning and the FPG Child Development Institute have been working together on a study with pre-kindergarten aged children to determine how cost and quality of child care effects young children. Results of the study can be viewed online or purchased.
Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Intervention
Author: Greenwood, Peter
Description: This article discusses the importance of early childhood intervention for many reasons: health and development, educational attainment, and economic well-being. This article provides evaluations of nine different programs.
Developing Kindergarten Readiness and Other Large-Scale Assessment Systems
Author: Snow, Kyle
Description: The Center for Applied Research at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has developed this guidance to support states’ development and implementation of kindergarten readiness assessment systems. It is available as an interactive or standard PDF.
Doing the Critical Things First: An Aligned Approach to Prek and Early Elementary Math
Author: Griffin, Sharon
Description: In this interview with the Harvard Education Letter, Griffin discusses what cognitive science can teach us about aligning preK and early elementary curriculum and teaching methods with the natural development of children's mathematical thinking.
Effects of the Michigan School Readiness Program on Young Children's Abilities at Kindergarten Entry
Author: Lamy, Cynthia; Barnett, Steven W.; Jung, Kwanghee
Description: This is research article evaluates the Michigan School Readiness Program, which is designed to help children at risk of school failure, start school ready to learn. They report that "the Michigan School Readiness Program has statistically significant and meaningful impacts on children's early literacy and mathematical development.."
Fighting Fade-Out Through PreK-3rd Reform
Description: The New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative released a seven-minute video, "Fighting Fade-Out Through PreK-3rd Reform." It makes the case for PreK-3rd reforms beginning with high-quality early childhood education programs and building on the benefits of those programs through the elementary school years and beyond.
The video features Jerry Weast, Superintendent of Montgomery County School District (Maryland), whohas successfully used PreK-3rd reform as a way to close achievement gaps and raise the academic performance of all students in the district.
Christina Satkowski of the Early Education Initiative interviewed Dr. Weast for an in-depth discussion in a second 30 minute video found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNrFCCZMnGc.
Findings from the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative A 17 State Partnership
Description: The National School Readiness Indicators Initiatives' goal was for states to use the school readiness indicators to inform public policy decisions and track progress in meeting key goals for young children. Research shows that children not performing proficiently in reading by the end of third grade are at very high risk for poor long-term outcomes.
Meeting Great Expectations: Integrating Early Education Program Standards in Child Care
Author: Schumacher, Rachel (10 more by this author); Joan Lombardi; Kate Irish
Description: This report, part of the Foundation for Child Developments Working Paper Series, examines three strategies in seven states that have integrated program standards into child care by directly tying standards to funding: the delivery of state pre-kindergarten and Head Start in child care settings and the use of contracts including required standards with child care providers.
- More about "Meeting Great Expectations: Integrating Early Education Program Standards in Child Care"
Neither Art nor Accident: New Research Helps Define and Develop Quality PreK and Elementary Teaching
Author: Miller Wiltz, Sue
Description: In a recent Harvard Education Letter interview, Robert Pianta, Dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, discusses the value of the Classroom Assessing Scoring system, a classroom observation instrument known as CLASS. This article is part of an ongoing series of the importance of integrating high quality Pre-K with the early elementary education of children.
Description: This Web site tells all about the program No Child Left Behind, which is an act that will determine if children are learning in the public schools. You can also find links to news and policy related to student achievement on this Web site.
Description: This framework is a vital tool for early childhood education and care providers seeking to build effective engagement strategies. While the framework is intended for Head Start and Early Head Start programs, its lessons are useful and applicable to a much broader audience of early childhood programs.
This framework outlines an approach to building solid foundations for successful parent and family engagement in three areas: Program Leadership, Continuous Improvement, and Professional Development. The framework also outlines the need to develop solid engagement strategies in four “Impact Areas”: Program Environment, Teaching and Learning, Family Partnerships, and Community Partnerships.
Description: This is the Web site of The Pathways Mapping Initiative (PMI). PMI was developed to increase access to reliable information about improving outcomes for children, families, and neighborhoods. PMI responds to communities, funders, and policy-makers who want to know "what works."
PreK-3rd: Teacher Quality Matters
Author: Shore, Rima (3 more by this author)
Description: In PreK-3rd: Teacher Quality Matters, the third in the FCD series of Policy to Action Briefs, series editor Rima Shore describes 1) Why effective teaching matters for student outcomes; 2) How schools can organize to sustain effective teaching in every classroom; and 3) What high-quality instruction looks like in PreK-3rd classrooms.
Download a copy of the policy brief (PDF) at http://www.fcd-us.org/usr_doc/PreK-3rd_Teacher_Quality_Matters.pdf.
PreK-3rd: What is the Price Tag?
Author: Shore, Rima (3 more by this author)
Description: In PreK-3rd: What is the Price Tag?, the second in a new series of Policy to Action Briefs, series editor Rima Shore offers a framework for estimating the costs of doing PreK-3rd. She describes the core elements, and the steps to cost out each element based on district needs.
School Readiness: A Position Statement of the NAEYC
Description: NAEYC believes that school readiness requires addressing three major issues: children's inequities in early life experiences, recognition and support for individual difference in regards to linguistics and culture, and establishing appropriate and reasonable expectations of children's abilities upon school entry.
A summary of "Where we stand" is available at http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf 2009.
The Case for Investing in PreK-3rd Education: Challenging Myths about School Reform
Author: Shore, Rima (3 more by this author)
Description: This policy brief from the Foundation for Child Development (FCD), overturns three widely held assumptions about school reform. Foremost among these is the belief, despite powerful evidence to the contrary, elementary schools are doing just fine, and learning problems begin later.
The evidence is clear: Children are more likely to grow into independent, able learners, and to succeed in school and beyond, if they have a strong, solid PreK-3rd base that integrates planning, curricula, professional development, and assessment across these six years.
Transition to Kindergarten - Fact Sheet
Author: Pianta, Robert (2 more by this author); Cox, Martha
Description: This fact sheet discusses needed policy changes and how U.S. schools support the transition to kindergarten.
Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines: Birth through 3rd Grade
Description: This pdf document is a set of generally agreed-upon guidelines that helps parents, caregivers, child care professionals and teachers all work together to support children as they grow and learn.
The guidelines are considered a resource for practitioners and professionals in the field of early childhood because they contain information on development and suggestions for how to support development. It can be used to design interactions and curriculum for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
When the Children Start School
Description: This brief fact sheet gives parents suggestions of activities that they can do with their children to help prepare them for kindergarten. Also available in PDF in English and Spanish
– Research –
A Diverse System Delivers for Pre-K: Lessons Learned in New York State
Author: Holcomb, Betty
Description: This report examines the experience of one state – New York – using a diverse system to deliver pre-k services and provides lessons for other states as they build and expand their pre-k programs.
A Matter of Degrees Preparing Teachers for the Pre-K Classroom
Author: Bueno, Marisa; Linda Darling-Hammond; Danielle Gonzales
Description: This 2010 report reviewed research on training for pre-k teachers and concluded that educators with at least a bachelor’s degree coupled with specialized training in early childhood are best able to foster development of the cognitive, social and emotional skills children need to be ready for kindergarten.
Research indicates that state pre-k programs with higher teacher qualification requirements improve children’s school readiness so states get the most out of their investment in early education.
Description: This report from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child integrates the scientific knowledge base of how brain architecture is formed in very young children with those factors from the program evaluation literature that appear to offer the best course toward positive outcomes for children. It builds on the work that began with the 2000 landmark report by the National Academy of Sciences, From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, followed by the work of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Program Evaluation.
Author: West, Jerry (2 more by this author); Elvira Germino-Hausken; Kristin Denton
Description: This report provides national data on children’s skills, knowledge and experiences upon entering kindergarten. The data are the first findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99. The data for this report was collected in the fall of 1998 from approximately 22,000 kindergarten children attending about 1,000 public and private schools. It provides estimates concerning childrenÂ’s cognitive skills and knowledge, their social skills, their physical well-being, their approaches to learning and their family environments and experiences.
An Economic Analysis of Pre-K in Arkansas
Author: Belfield, Clive (2 more by this author)
Description: This 2006 report found that each dollar invested to date in the high-quality Arkansas Better Chance Pre-K program will yield $2.32 in future savings to the state and that offering Pre-K to all children would return savings of more than $100 million.
Better Outcomes for All: Promoting Partnerships Between Head Start and State Pre-K
Author: Stebbins, Helene (2 more by this author); L. Carol Scott, Ph.D.
Description: How can Head Start and state Pre-kindergarten programs work together to better serve young children and their families? This 2007 report examined the answers, drawing on research and in-depth interviews with state Pre-k program directors, Head Start collaboration coordinators, and providers of both Head Start and state Pre-k programs.
Children's Reading and Mathematics Achievement in Kindergarten and First Grade
Author: Denton, Kristin; Jerry West
Description: "This report examines the relationship of children's early literacy skills and resources at the start of kindergarten to their reading and mathematics achievement at the end of kindergarten and first grade. It describes these relationships for children from different race/ethnic backgrounds and for boys and girls. It is the third in a series of reports from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99. "
Cost, Quality and Outcomes Study
Author: Peisner-Feinberg, Ellen ; Richard M. Clifford
Description: The National Center for Early Development & Learning and the FPG Child Development Institute have been working together on a study with pre-kindergarten aged children to determine how cost and quality of child care effects young children. Results of the study can be viewed online or purchased.
Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Intervention
Author: Greenwood, Peter
Description: This article discusses the importance of early childhood intervention for many reasons: health and development, educational attainment, and economic well-being. This article provides evaluations of nine different programs.
Effects of the Michigan School Readiness Program on Young Children's Abilities at Kindergarten Entry
Author: Lamy, Cynthia; Barnett, Steven W.; Jung, Kwanghee
Description: This is research article evaluates the Michigan School Readiness Program, which is designed to help children at risk of school failure, start school ready to learn. They report that "the Michigan School Readiness Program has statistically significant and meaningful impacts on children's early literacy and mathematical development.."
Findings from the Condition of Education 2000: Entering Kindergarten
Author: Zill, Nicholas (1 more by this author); Jerry West
Description: "This essay from the Condition of Education summarizes information from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 on the reading and mathematics skills and knowledge children possess when they enter school, and their social skills and interest in learning."
Formula for Success: Adding High-Quality Pre-K to State School Funding Formulas
Author: Boylan, Ellen (2 more by this author)
Description: Families, teachers and policy makers increasingly understand that high-quality pre-kindergarten is a critical part of children's educational experience. In 13 states and the District of Columbia, Pre-K programs are financed through the school funding formula.
This report, co-written with the Education Law Center, discusses the benefits and challenges of integrating early education into states’ general education funding structures and explored the different models for employing such a strategy.
Home Visitation and Young Children: An Approach Worth Investing In?
Author: Astuto, Jennifer; LaRue Allen
Description: The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) has published a new Social Policy Report. The report reviews studies of large, established home visitation program in the U.S. and discusses major concerns and current developments in the field of home visitation.
Meaningful Investments in Pre-K: Estimating the Per-Child Costs of Quality Programs
Author: Gault, Barbara; Judy Dey ; Erica Williams; Anne W. Mitchell; Olga Sorokina
Description: This 2008 brief, written jointly with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, provides national estimates of the per-child costs – in adjusted 2007 dollars – of pre-k in diverse settings and at varying levels of teacher quality, class size, and hours per day. The estimates give a general
picture of the expected costs of quality improvements, though actual costs will differ from state to state. It examines the costs associated with quality in pre-kindergarten programs.
Meeting the Challenge of Rural Pre‐K
Author: Smith , Matthew; Kathy Patterson; Libby Doggett
Description: This 2008 brief summarizes the challenges in providing pre-k in rural areas and proposes a
new federal investment to improve the availability of high-quality, voluntary pre-k for children living in rural America.
Neither Art nor Accident: New Research Helps Define and Develop Quality PreK and Elementary Teaching
Author: Miller Wiltz, Sue
Description: In a recent Harvard Education Letter interview, Robert Pianta, Dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, discusses the value of the Classroom Assessing Scoring system, a classroom observation instrument known as CLASS. This article is part of an ongoing series of the importance of integrating high quality Pre-K with the early elementary education of children.
New Beginnings: Using Federal Title I Funds to Support Local Pre-K Efforts
Author: Gayl, Chrisanne (3 more by this author); Marci Young; Kathy Patterson
Description: This brief focuses on the use of federal Title I funds by LEAs to support pre-k programs. It summarizes the benefits of employing Title I dollars for this purpose, existing guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and examples of districts that are doing so successfully. In addition, the brief outlines issues for education leaders to consider in their planning and suggests ways to coordinate local initiatives with state pre-k programs.
PK-3: An Aligned and Coordinated Approach to Education for Children 3 to 8 Years Old
Author: Bogard, Kimber; Ruby Takanish
Description: The Social Policy Report discusses the need for alignment between and within pre-K and K-3 programs. Preschool is too often disconnected from the beginning of school, especially in regard to standards, curriculum, and developmentally informed and responsive instruction. We also need clearer criteria for success at each level. This article effectively reviews the literature documenting the important and often long-term effects of good preschool and uses that literature to discuss what a coordinated, aligned PK-3 curriculum should look like.
Author: Gayl, Chrisanne (3 more by this author)
Description: This brief informs education advocates and stakeholders about the innovative strategies that states used to include pre-k in their Phase 1 proposals. Pre-K Now reviewed all 41 applications, but this brief focuses on those of the finalists describing the role that pre-k played in each of the policy areas targeted by Race to the Top and highlighting particularly innovative examples. The brief also highlights avenues advocates and stakeholders can use to make pre-k part of their states’ Race to the Top Phase 2 applications.
Pre-K and Latinos: The Foundation for America's Future
Author: Garcia, Eugene; Danielle M. Gonzales
Description: This 2006 report showed that, by providing Latino children with culturally and linguistically appropriate services in high-quality, pre-k-for-all programs, educators and policymakers can help close the achievement gap and make a major contribution to realizing this growing population's remarkable potential.
Also available in Spanish at http://www.pewstates.org/uploadedFiles/PCS_Assets/2004-2006/PEW_PkN_exec_Pre-KandLatinos_July2006_sp.pdf.
Pre-K as School Turnaround Strategy
Author: Buenafe, Anthony
Description: This issue brief from Pre-K Now highlights how investing limited funds in proven early education programs can raise student achievement and improve school performance.
Pre-K for Military Families: Honoring Service, Educating Children
Author: Surles, Stephanie; Amanda Akers; Jennifer Rosenbaum; Trista S. Kendall
Description: This 2007 report recommended that state policymakers should help the children of our nation's military personnel meet the unique challenges of the military lifestyle by providing them with high-quality Pre-K. High-quality pre-k is an important strategy for addressing the unique challenges faced by military families, and by expanding pre-k eligibility to include military children, policymakers can support the work of our dedicated service men and women.
Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for Early Care and Education
Description: This Child Trends research brief provides information on Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS). Research suggests that high quality early care and education programs can have a significant impact on improving the cognitive, academic and social skills for all children, especially those most at risk for later school failure. A number of states are developing QRIS to assess and improve the quality of early care and education programs for children ages birth to five and older. Information includes what are essential elements of QRIS, evaluation of systems, connection to child outcomes, etc.
Readiness for School: A Survey of State Policies and Definit
Author: Saluja, Gitanjali; Richard M. Clifford; Catherine Scott-Little
Description: This research study reports on current school readiness assessment efforts in all 50 states.
Ready to learn? Children's pre-academic achievement in pre-Kindergarten programs
Author: Howes, Carollee (1 more by this author); Bryant, Donna; Early, Diane; ; Burchinal, Margaret; Pianta, Robert; Clifford, Richard; Barbarin, Oscar
Description: This study examined children’s growth in school-related learning and social skills over the pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) year in state-funded programs designed to prepare children for kindergarten. Children showed larger gains in academic outcomes when they experienced higher-quality instruction or closer teacher–child relationships. Gains were not related to characteristics of the child or program (i.e., ratio, teacher qualifications and program location and length).
School Readiness, Full-Day Kindergarten, and Student Achievement: An Empirical Investigation
Author: Le, Vi-Nhuan; Daniel Gershwin; Claude Messan Setodji; Heather Barney; Sheila Nataraj Kirby
Description: This chapter presents a literature review of previous work on non-academic school readiness indicators and their relationship to student outcomes and the impact of full-day versus half-day kindergarten on student achievement and readiness skills.
Schools' Use of Assessments for Kindergarten Entrance and Placement: 1998-99
Author: Prakash, Naomi; Kristin Denton; Jerry West
Description: This report uses data from the base-year (kindergarten) of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 to describe the use of entrance or placement test prior to kindergarten by schools in the U.S. It examines the different ways that schools use the information from these tests. It describes schools use of entrance and placement tests by public and private schools, and by schools with different concentrations of low-income children, different grade levels taught, and differnt numbers of children enrolled.
Starting Out Right: Pre-K and Kindergarten: Full Report
Author: Hull, Jim
Description: A study from the Center for Public Education looks at the effect of combinations of pre-k and kindergarten on third-grade reading skills. The study focused on two combinations -- no pre-k and full-day kindergarten vs. pre-k and half-day kindergarten -- and found that a combination of pre-k and half-day kindergarten was significantly better. Students attending pre-k and half-day kindergarten are more likely to have higher reading skills by the third grade than those attending full-day kindergarten alone. The impact of pre-k and half-day kindergarten was greatest for Hispanic children, black children, English Language Learners (ELL), and children from low-income families. The chances of Hispanic children and those below the poverty line reaching a higher reading level ranged anywhere from seven percent (for the basic third-grade reading level, "comprehension of words in context,") to over 20 percent (for the higher "extrapolation" level). The authors note that the findings do not take program quality into consideration, and that one could reasonably infer the impact of high-quality pre-k would be even greater. Findings also don't take into account how much time students spent in pre-k.
Tapping Title I: What Every School Administrator Should Know about Title I, Pre-K and School Reform
Author: Gayl, Chrisanne (3 more by this author); Marci Young; Kathy Patterson
Description: This 2010 news brief provides basic information that superintendents, school board members and other district officials need to make informed choices about using Title I resources to support quality Pre-K programs.
The Case for Pre-K in Education Reform: A Summary of Program Evaluation Findings
Author: Wat, Albert (2 more by this author)
Description: This brief from highlights findings from evaluations of state-funded Pre-K programs that continue to document gains in key measures of student learning, including early literacy, math and vocabulary; reduced need for special and remedial education; and significantly lower incidences of grade retention. This and other ongoing research once again demonstrates that high-quality early education is the natural first step in effective school reform.
Description: This paper explores the scientific knowledge base concerning the remarkable developmental tasks that occur in the first 5 years of life. They identify the capacities that equip children with the skills they need to negotiate the relationships, responsibilities, and challenges they will face throughout their lives. It also illustrates how early childhood programs, beginning with support to expectant families during the prenatal period and through the first 5 years of life, can play a pivotal role in this process. In this paper, they explore school readiness to illustrate how early development influences later learning.
The Pre-K Pinch: Early Education and the Middle Class
Author: Wat, Albert (2 more by this author)
Description: For far too many middle-class families, the very program proven to help all young children enter school ready to learn and succeed is beyond their reach. This report revealed that eligibility requirements and prohibitively high costs lead such families to sacrifice basic household needs to pay for early education and care for their children, or to settle for low-quality options with unproven benefits.
It then offers recommendations for policymakers to aid them in providing financial relief to middle-class families, stimulating our sputtering economy, ensuring the school readiness of the next generation, and building our nation’s human capital.
Author: Pianta, Robert (2 more by this author); Cox, Martha
Description: This policy brief outlines key issues in the transition to formal schooling, examines current practices and makes policy recommendations.
Transition to Kindergarten - Fact Sheet
Author: Pianta, Robert (2 more by this author); Cox, Martha
Description: This fact sheet discusses needed policy changes and how U.S. schools support the transition to kindergarten.
Using Pre-K to Advance Education Reform: Opportunities for State Advisory Councils
Author: Goffin, Stacie
Description: This brief identifies specific steps councils can take to maximize their states’ investments in early education including aligning policy prior to and following Pre-K.