For the latest information on Early Childhood issues in Georgia, visit the Department of Early Care and Learning - Bright From the Start web site.

The Science of Early Childhood Development: Closing the Gap Between What We Know and What We Do

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child - Center on the Developing Child - Harvard University (April 2008 - Public Education Network/PEN)

The qualities of families from which children come matter much more than money as predictors of schools’ effectiveness. This means that in order to improve education, the crucial problems of race and class (including fractured families) will have to be faced. Yet this problem has rarely been addressed and in the intervening years has simply given way to larger teacher salaries, smaller class sizes and other panaceas. Meanwhile colleges continue to offer more and more freshmen more and more remediation. 
 

Child Poverty in North Carolina:  A Preventable Epidemic

Action for Children - North Carolina (April 2008 - PEN)

Poverty can have negative effects on child and adolescent brain development which can lead to learning disabilities, behavior problems and other psychological and emotional problems which find their way into the schools, this report says.

The State of Preschool 2007

National Institute for Early Education Research (March 2008)

This is the fifth in a series of annual reports profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the U.S.  This report presents data on state-funded prekindergarten during the 2006-07 school year.

A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy - Using Evidence to Improve Outcomes in Learning, Behavior, and Health for Vulnerable Children

Center on the Devloping Child - Harvard University (February 2008)

This paper builds on a process of systematic analysis that began with the publication in 2000 of a landmark report by the National Academy of Sciences entitled From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, followed by the ongoing work of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Program Evaluation, both of which are based at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.

Dollars & Sense: A Review of Economic Analyses of Pre-K

Pre-K Now Research Series (Released in 2007, posted February 2008)

The 10 studies compiled in this report capture the strength and breadth of the currently available research to offer material that is relevant and accessible to the states and communities across the country.  These studies are part of a growing body of research regarding the economics of early childhood education and range from benefit cost-analyses of well-known experimental pre-k programs to projections of the potential returns on expanded state and federal pre-k investments.

Getting from Here to There:  To an Ideal Early Preschool System

Frank Potter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Released in 2004, posted February 2008)

(Scroll down to link) - The purpose of this paper is to suggest some ways of moving toward a seamless system of providing needed services for preschool children at risk for academic and social failure.  It focuses primarily on 3- and 4-year-olds because these children were the primary focus of policy makers when this was written.

Implementing Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion

Foundation for Child Development (January 2008)

This report  says reducing preschool class sizes, giving pre-K teachers access to mental-health consultants in working with children, and making sure teachers take breaks throughout the day are a few ways early childhood programs can reduce the expulsion of children with behavior problems.

Life Chances - The Case for Early Investment In Our Kids - Special Report

The American Prospect (January 2008)

This report, looking at various subject areas, makes the point that social outlay for early childhood education is the best investment we can make in America's future.  It makes for interesting reading.

Pre-Kindergarten in the South

Southern Education Foundation (May 2007)

This report says the South, long lagging in most areas of education, is now a leader when it comes to childhood education enrollment and quality.  The report analyzed several independent studies done in the South over the past decade of state-supported pre-K programs shown to be critical in shaping a child's future.  Here's the report.

Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (March 2007)

This much anticipated report from the largest and longest-running study of American child care has found that keeping a preschooler in a day care center for a year or more increased the likelihood that the child would become disruptive in class - and that the effect persisted through the sixth grade.

Para Nuestros Nino - For Our Children 

National Task Force on Early-Childhood Education for Hispanics (March 2007)

This report recommends states increase their emphasis on early-childhood education programs that have the potential to serve large numbers of Hispanic infants and toddlers.  The report also says states should work to increase the numbers of pre-K and primary-grade teachers who are proficient in both English and Spanish as well as the number of "second-language-acquisition specialists." 

The State of Preschool 2006 

National Institute for Early Education Research (March 2007)

The 2006 State Preschool Yearbook is the fourth in a series of annual reports profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States.  The 2006 Yearbook presents data on state-funded prekindergarten during the 2005-2006 school year.

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