Our Mission: Inform and influence Georgia leaders through research and non-partisan advocacy to impact education policies and practices for the improvement of student achievement.
What's Georgia Doing?For the latest information on Early Childhood issues in Georgia, visit the Department of Early Care and Learning - Bright from the Start web site. Happy Birthday to the Department. They are celebrating 20 years of leading the way! Check out the birthday page! Children's Growth and Classroom Experiences in Georgia's Pre-K Program - Findings from the 2011- 2012 Evaluation Study Here is a video produced by the Junior League of Atlanta featuring several Georgia advocates for early childhood education. Early Childhood Education: Making the Investment Compounding Interest: Why Zero to Five is an Investment Worth Making Georgia Birth to Five Coalition Alliance for Early Success - "Advancing State Policies for Young Children" National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) - Conducts and communicates research to support high-quality, effective early childhood education for all young children.
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Early Childhood EducationThere's a wealth of information on the early childhood years where the graduation pipeline begins. Here you will find some representative reports, research and articles. Posting here does not indicate Georgia Partnership endorsement. The United States is Far Behind Other Countries in Pre-K Early childhood education and school readiness is essential to preparing our children to succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy. Compared to other countries, however, the United States lags far behind. Introduction. (May 2013) The State of Preschool 2012 (State Preschool Yearbook) Spending on state-funded preschool dropped by more than half a billion dollars in the 2011-12 school year compared to the year before, creating a hole that some states are only now attempting to fill, according to this report. Related story. (April 2013) Blueprint This is a map of Georgia’s school readiness indicators and community assets. This is a one-of-a-kind statewide map of indicators of school readiness. Users of the Blueprint are able to review data for each of Georgia’s 159 counties, and are able to make direct connections to the community assets that exist (or do not exist) to meet the needs of children in each county. (April 2013) College and Career Readiness: The Importance of Early Learning Advocating for a rich curriculum from Day One of early learning, even if that richness doesn't produce a quick pay off in test scores, this report points out that early learning allows student interests to develop at an early age, to grow over time, and provides a basis for learning in the later grades (ECS Connection). (April 2013) Federal Investment Can Help Close the Preschool-Access Gap States are leading the charge to expand access to preschool, but a significant federal investment will radically increase the reach and quality of these programs. Related story. (April 2013) Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effects Study: Fifth Grade Follow-Up One of the common questions raised about preschool is, “Do the benefits really last?” According to this report, the answer is in the affirmative for New Jersey’s state-funded program. Related story. (March 2013) Fact Sheet President Obama’s Plan for Early Education for All Americans Te president unveiled more details for providing high-quality preschool programs for "every child in America." The proposal includes a federal-state partnership to provide preschool funding for any 4-year-old whose family income is 200% or less of the federal poverty level. Related story. (February 2013) Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Lives of American Children While children from different backgrounds typically develop language skills around the same age, the subsequent rate of vocabulary growth is strongly influenced by how much parents talk to their children. Related story. (February 2013) Investing in Our Children - A Plan to Expand Access to PreSchool and Child Care This issue brief presents a plan to expand educational opportunities and care for children ages 0-5 years old by investing significant federal dollars to:
Advisory Committee on Headstart Research and Evaluation America's Report Card 2012: Children in the US This report provides a holistic picture of unmet needs in five areas of a child’s life: economic security, early childhood education, K-12 education, permanence and stability, and health and safety. Governor's Role in Aligning Early Childhood Education and K-12 Reforms; Challenges, Opportunities and benefits for Children As more and more states pursue reforms in both early childcare (ECE) and the K–12 education system, governors are uniquely placed to bring together state agencies to coordinate ECE and K–12 systems to better serve all children, starting at birth. This paper outlines steps governors can take to bring the two systems into alignment. Related article. (October 2012) Double Jeopardy - How Third Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation Educators and researchers have long recognized the importance of mastering reading by the end of third grade. Students who fail to reach this critical milestone often falter in the later grades. Now, researchers have confirmed this link in the first national study to calculate high school graduation rates for children at different reading skill levels and with different poverty rates. (October 2012) This issue brief addresses the dearth of reliable, complete, and comparable data on pre-K and kindergarten in school districts and local communities. Press release. (October 2012) America's Report Card 2012: Children in the US This report provides a holistic picture of unmet needs in five areas of a child’s life: economic security, early childhood education, K-12 education, permanence and stability, and health and safety. Related story. (October 2012) First-Time Kindergartners in 2010-11: First Findings From the Kindergarten Rounds of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 This provides a snapshot of the 3.5 million kindergartners who were attending kindergarten in the United States for the first time in the 2010-11 school year. The ECLS-K:2011 is a longitudinal study that will follow students from their kindergarten year to the spring of 2016, when most of them are expected to be in fifth grade. (July 2012) Increasing the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Existing Public Investments in Early Childhood Education - Recommendations to Boost Program Outcomes and Efficiency The authors explore how conflicting expectations, misaligned system requirements, and programmatic firewalls create barriers to the implementation of a well-coordinated system of high-quality education for children ages birth to 5. Related story. (June 2012) The State of Preschool 2011 This latest Yearbook presents data on state-funded prekindergarten during the 2010-2011 school year as well as documenting a decade of progress since the first Yearbook collected data on the 2001-2002 school year. (April 2012) A Count for Quality: Child Care Center Directors on Rating and Improvement Systems Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) - a strategy to improve families' access to high-quality child care - assess the quality of child care programs, offer incentives and assistance to programs to improve their ratings, and give information to parents about the quality of child care. Relating story. (March 2012) The Abecedarin Project Poor children who get high-quality day care as early as infancy reap long-lasting benefits, including a better chance at a college degree and steady employment, according to this study that followed participants from birth to age 30. Relating story. (January 2012) The Importance of Talking in Class A recent University of Pennsylvania study shows that economic and social class plays a role in elementary grade students' ability to ask for help from teachers. (January 2012) Policy Brief: The Importance of Aligning Pre-K Through 3rd Grade Child development is a continuous process that must be fed and nurtured along the way. Gains made in high-quality pre-k programs must be sustained by quality education throughout the K-3 years. (January 2012) Starting Out Right: Pre-k and Kindergarten What’s the best early childhood education combination communities can provide? Until now, research hasn’t had an answer. Relating story. (November 2011) Does When You Are Born Matter? The Impact of the Month of Birth on Children's Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills in England It is well known that children born at the start of the academic year tend to achieve better exam results, on average, than children born at the end of the academic year. Relating story. (November 2011) Transforming Public Education - Pathway to a PreK-12 Future This report challenges our nation's policymakers to transform public education by moving from a K-12 to a Pre-K-12 system. Related stories: Inside Higher Ed and Education Week. (September 2011) School-Based Early Childhood Education and Age-28 Well-Being: Effects by Timing, Dosage, and Subgroups This reports the effects of the Child-Parent Center Education Program on indicators of well-being up to 25 years later for more than 1400 participants. This established, publicly funded intervention begins in preschool and provides up to six years of service in inner-city Chicago schools. (Link provides a report abstract. Paid subscription for entire report.) Relating article. (June 2011) Preschool Curriculum: What's in it for Students and Teachers? This report shows that the efficacy of preschool programs - both in stimulating children's cognitive development and effecitvely reducing the achievement gap - can be signficantly improved if programs are aligned with new research about how children learn in the academic areas of oral language, literacy, math, and science. Relating story (May 2011) The State of Pre-School 2010 The 2010 State Preschool Yearbook is the eighth in a series of annual reports profiling state-funded prekindegarten programs in the United States. Relating Christian Science Monitor story. (April 2011) Update - The Promise of Georgia Pre-K: Building Life-Long Education, Current Budget Savings and Long-Term Economic Growth in Hard Times This report finds that the Georgia lottery-supported Pre-Kindergarten program stands out as the state’s most effective, efficient program by helping to improve student performance in K-12 grades and saving taxpayers millions of dollars annually. (March 2011) Tennessee pre-k students see 82 percent gain over peers Children who attended state-funded prekindergarten classes gained an average of 82 percent more on early literacy and math skills than comparable children who did not attend. (February 2011) Strengthening Pennsylvania Businesses Through Investments in Early Care and Education This report looks at how investments in early learning increases sales from local businesses, create jobs and grows the economy. (February 2011) Chicago Longitudinal Study According to this study, for every $1 invested in a Chicago early childhood education program, nearly $11 is projected to return to society over the children's lifetimes -- equivalent to an 18 percent annual return on program investment. More Information.. (February 2011) Numbers negative for funding of pre-K; Georgia Lottery can't keep up with the costs of stellar state program Sixteen years ago, Georgia created an innovative educational program unlike any in the nation. Using money from the new lottery, the state would offer free "prekindergarten" to 4-year-olds, regardless of family income. But what's ahead for the program considering the current fiscal situation. (January 2010) Effectiveness of a Program to Accelerate Vocabulary Development in Kindergarten This study in Mississippi has found that a good kindergarten literacy program can boost disadvantaged students' vocabulary in kindergarten by as much as an extra month of school. (December 2010) Long-term Effects of the North Carolina More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Program: Children's Reading and Math Skills at Third Grade More at Four, North Carolina's state-funded pre-kindergarten for disadvantaged four-year-olds, is making a significant academic difference that extends at least through third grade, according to the latest statewide evaluation of this nationally recognized program. Press release. (November 2010) Voices for America's Children This report examines total investments in education by state and by age, finding that children pre-school aged and younger get only a fraction of the investment that school-aged children get. (November 2010) The New Mexico Pre-K Evaluation: Impacts from the Fourth Year (2008 - 2009) of New Mexico's State-Funded Pre-K Program This initiative has expanded quickly since it began in 2005. During this period of rapid growth, New Mexico PreK has participated in an evaluation using a methodologically rigorous design known as the regression-discontinuity approach. This fourth in a series of reports focuses on the impacts of New Mexico PreK on children’s vocabulary, math, and literacy skills at the beginning of kindergarten. (November 2010) Blueprint for Early Education Compensation Reform This report calls for increasing the compensation of early childhood workers through such incentives as bonuses, earned tax credits and loan forgiveness programs in an attempt to attract and retain a well-trained child-care workforce. (September 2010) Preschoolers' depression can linger; adults opt for meds Researchers followed 306 children ages 3 to 6 for 24 months and found that depression doesn't necessarily end when Susie gives back the doll. Children who were depressed at the beginning of the study were four times more likely to be depressed 12 or 24 months later than children who weren't depressed at the beginning of the study. (May 2010) Early Childhood Experiences Have Lasting Emotional and Psychological Effects Experiences between birth and age 5 matter significantly to children's long-term emotional and psychological health, and changing these experiences for the better pays dividends. (May 2010) Child Care Center Findings; Findings from Georgia's Pre-K Program This study provides scientific evidence for where further investments are needed while validating Bright from the Start’s current initiatives designed to improve quality in all early learning environments across the state. (March 2010) Cost savings analysis of school readiness in Michigan - Prepared for Early Childhood Investment Corporation This study provides more evidence that early childhood investments pay big dividend to society down the road of a child's life. (January 2010) Estimates of the Costs and Benefits of Expanding the Early Childhood Education Program in Kentucky A number of findings emerged from this work, but there is one overriding conclusion: When we consider the combined public and private benefits of pre-k, the total estimated benefit is more than $5 for every $1 the state would invest in an expanded pre-k program. (December 2009) Ready, Willing, and Unable to Serve - Early Education Across America is Needed to Ensure National Security Seventy-five percent of America's young adults can't join the military because they can't pass the entrance exam, are obese, have drug issues or criminal records. Something must be done. (November 2009) Preschoolers' depression can linger; adults opt for meds Researchers followed 306 children ages 3 to 6 for 24 months and found that depression doesn't necessarily end when Susie gives back the doll. (August 2009) The Apples Blossom: Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effects Study (Apples) In the 1999-2000 school year, the state of New Jersey initiated an ambitious and groundbreaking endeavor to help close the achievement gap in urban, low-income districts throughout the state. (July 2009) Linking Ready Kids to Ready Schools: Building Policy on State and Community Successes An overview and summary of the national forum Linking Ready Kids to Ready Schools: Building Policy on State and Community Successes. (Forum held in March, report first issued in April, posted here July 2009) Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood: Paths Toward Excellence and Equity Early childhood mathematics is vitally important for young children's present and future educational success. (July 2009) Leadership Matters: Governors' Pre-K Proposals, Fiscal Year 2010 States’ resources are scarcer than they have been in decades, and hard choices must be made about where and how they are best spent. Early learning must be a priority. (June 2009) The State of Preschool 2008 The Yearbook is the sixth in a series of annual reports profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States for 2007 - 08. (April 2009) Navigating the Opportunities for Families with Young Children in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: An Interactive Tool The ARRA creates significant new investments for early childhood programs and support for working families with young children. This new interactive tool is designed to help policymakers determine the ways in which ARRA funds may be used to positively impact the healthy development of young children. (April 2009) Implementing Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion - Special Report 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. (January 2008) Developing Early Literacy Teaching young children about letters and sounds before they begin formal schooling helps them develop a broad range of literacy skills deemed essential to learning to read later on. (December 2008) Opinion: Universal Pre-School Hasn't Delivered Results There is a strong and growing body of literature showing that preschool produces virtually no lasting benefits for the majority of kids. (October 2008) Call for New Programs for Early Childhood Educators In a newly released paper and press release, eight national organizations request that every college president address the issue of early education teaching expertise by asking two questions: What is the current state of our early care and education programs? How can we make them better? (September 2008) Present, Engaged and Accounted For The analysis finds that children who are chronically absent in kindergarten have the lowest performance in reading, math and general knowledge in 1st grade. (September 2008) Schools or the Streets - Crime and America's Dropout Crisis High school dropouts are significantly more likely than graduates to be arrested and incarcerated. And 68% of state prison inmates have not received a high school diploma. (August 2008) Several states believe substantial funding should be aimed at the nation's pre-schoolers. This article in the Wall Street Journal quoting Reagan Foundation researchers says it might not be such a smart idea. (August 2008) Time to Lead Again: The Promise of Georgia Pre-K This report examines how Georgia's lottery-supported pre-kindergarten program has developed since 1995 when Gov. Zell Miller established the goal of Georgia becoming the nation's first state with universal, high-quality Pre-K for all 4-year-olds. (June 2008) The Economics of Early Childhood Policy This report summarizes the contributions from another field—economics—that has played an increasingly prominent role in discussions about early childhood policy. (May 2008) Leadership Matters: Governors' Pre-K Proposals, Fiscal Year 2009 For fiscal year 2009, 16 governors and the mayor of the District of Columbia acted boldly to protect and grow high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten programs. (April 2008, posted July 2008) The Science of Early Childhood Development: Closing the Gap Between What We Know and What We Do 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 will have to be faced. Yet this problem has rarely been addressed. (April 2008) Child Poverty in North Carolina: A Preventable Epidemic 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. (April 2008) Early Learning Guidelines This report presents recommendations to assist states in creating or revising early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers. (March 2008) A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy - Using Evidence to Improve Outcomes in Learning, Behavior, and Health for Vulnerable Children 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. (February 2008) Dollars & Sense: A Review of Economic Analyses of Pre-K The 10 studies compiled in this report are part of a growing body of research regarding the economics of early childhood education. (Released in 2007, posted February 2008) Getting from Here to There: To an Ideal Early Preschool System 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. (Released in 2004, posted February 2008) Implementing Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion 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. (January 2008) Life Chances - The Case for Early Investment In Our Kids - Special Report 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. (January 2008) |
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