Early Childhood Education Policies and Practices

The importance of supporting and promoting the learning and development of all children before they enter school and of engaging their families as partners in this endeavor receives attention almost daily in the media and from policy decision-makers.

1. National summits and conferences have brought together educators, child development authorities, families, and policy makers to focus on the learning and development of young children.
• National Summit on America’s Children May 22, 2007
• Early Childhood Educator Academies 2002-2003
• White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development July, 2001
• Eager to Learn: Educating our Preschoolers June, 2000
2. Major publications synthesizing early development and early childhood education:
• From Neurons to Neighborhoods 2000
• Eager to Learn: Educating our Preschoolers (2000) from the National Research Council of the National Academies is a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary synthesis of the theory, research and evaluation literature relevant to early childhood education.
3. The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law in 2002, continues to direct sweeping educational reform.
4. Good Start Grow Smart, the Bush Administration's early childhood initiative, is intended to strengthen Head Start, to partner with states to improve early learning, and to provide parents, teachers and caregivers information about early learning.
• Early Reading First, part of the Good Start Grow Smart initiative, has a mission to ensure that all children enter kindergarten with the necessary language, cognitive and early reading skills for continued success in school.
5. The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices supports the work of governors, their policy advisors and others leading efforts to promote school readiness by building a comprehensive system of services for children ages birth to five.
6. The State Early Childhood Policy Leadership Forum seeks to build state capacity to develop and strengthen statewide, cross-system early childhood (birth to age 5) policies and programs by supporting a small group of leaders who are actively guiding statewide comprehensive early childhood policy initiatives.
7. The Build Initiative assists state leaderss in planning and implementing a comprehensive early childhood "system of systems" that crosses policy domains. The aim is to prepare young children aged birth - five to succeed by helping their families access high quality early learning programs, family and parenting support, early intervention services for children with special needs, and comprehensive health, mental health and nutritional services.

Most states currently have early childhood policies and initiatives in place that are meant to promote healthy development and school readiness, so children have a better chance of later success in school and beyond.

Implementation of state-funded pre-kindergarten programs varies widely. Some programs are half day, others full day. Some programs are for four-year-olds, others include three-year-olds, while others offer services to infants and toddlers. Pre-kindergarten programs may be operated through local school districts or through public and private centers. While some states and cities are striving toward universal availability of pre-kindergarten programs, most states target programs for children who have identified risk factors such as poverty, low parental education, teen parents and English as a second language.

The following provide information about state early childhood policies and initiatives:

1. Baby Matters: A Gateway to State Policies and Initiatives is a searchable database that provides information about state policies and initiatives impacting infants and toddlers and their families. A detailed description of each policy or initiative is provided, as well as links to additional related resources. The database is maintained by ZERO TO THREE and can be searched by category, state, or keyword. (posted April 27, 2009)
2. NCCP's Early Childhood State Profiles highlight state-level policies related to early childhood development. The policies fall into three major categories: health and nutrition, early care and learning, and parenting and economic supports. The state profiles were produced as part of the Improving the Odds for Young Children project at the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). (posted April 27, 2009)
3. PEW Charitable Trusts: Pre-Kindergarten Initiatives promotes the development of fact-based policies that enable young children as well as older ones to succeed in school and in life. Below are programs with a focus on early education:
• National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University supports early childhood education initiatives by providing objective, nonpartisan information based on research.
• Pre-K Now supports universal voluntary access to high-quality pre-kindergarten at both the national and state levels. This initiative collaborates with advocates and policymakers to lead a movement for high-quality pre-kindergarten for all three- and four-year olds.
4. The Trust for Early Education (TEE) was established in 2002 with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and receives support from several foundations. TEE advocates for high quality, voluntary Pre-K for all three and four year olds.
5. Education Commission of the States has an extensive database of pre-kindergarten services including state profiles, comparisons and reports.
6. The National Conference of State Legislators produced a report (PDF: 5,205kb) that provides a summary of research about early education, a description of the role of legislators, and state-by-state legislative activity. The appendices offer a variety of resources such as lists of bills by state and by topic, state legislative Web sites, legislative session calendars, resources on early education, and a glossary of terms.
7. Starting at 3, a project of the Education Law Center, maintains a database of State Laws Relating to Pre-K, which provides state-by-state information on case law, constitutional provisions, statutes, regulations and guidelines relating to state-funded pre-k programs.
8. Early Childhood Focus is a news service created by NACCRRA (the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies), which features news from around the country related to child care and other early childhood issues. It is updated regularly.
9. Financing Pre-K Programs
• Funding the Future: States' Approaches to Pre-K Finance (PDF: 421kb) examines the range of financial approaches states employ, how effective they have been in raising funds for high quality programs, how sustainable those sources of funding are, and how they can be increased to improve quality and expand access to pre-kindergarten.
• State Strategies for Financing Early Childhood - As an increasing number of states become involved in early childhood education, several strategies have emerged for financing these initiatives. The Education Commission of the States' Web Site provides examples of resources states are tapping to fund early childhood programs as well as ways states are investing to improve these programs

All children can benefit from high quality programs that are developmentally and culturally appropriate, family centered and that provide a literacy rich environment. The following links provide additional information about effective early childhood practices:

1. Developmentally Appropriate Practice is an approach to education that guides educators in their everyday practice. See the NAEYC's 2009 Position Statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice.
2. Family Centered Practices recognize and support the critical role that families play in the development of their children.
3. Preparing Personnel to Meet the Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families infuses cultural competence in early childhood programs.
4. Early Literacy research informs families and educators about practices that can provide the foundation for success in kindergarten and later years.
5. Readiness of children and schools has received considerable attention in recent years with a large body of research and recommendations to support appropriate practice.
6. Beyond the Journal is NAEYC's online version of their journal, Young Children.

In addition to practices that are appropriate for all children, there are many recommendations and resources to support the special needs of children with disabilities and their families. This section provides a number of links to these considerations.

1. Assistive Technology
2. Autism Spectrum Disorders
3. Early Childhood Mental Health, Social Emotional Development and Challenging Behaviors
4. Child Maltreatment and Prenatal Exposure to Drugs or Alcohol
5. Early Identification and Intervention of Specific Disabilities and Children At-Risk

Other topics on the NECTAC Web Site related to evidence-based early childhood practices and instructional strategies include

1. Program standards
   Program standards focus on system policies and/or essential features of effective service provision such as organization, curriculum, developmental monitoring and family and community partnerships. They often include quality indicators or checklists to be used in self-assessment for program improvement or monitoring for program accountability.
2. Personnel standards and licensure
   Personnel standards are intended to guide and help prepare all service professionals and educators who work directly with young children with special needs in a variety of early childhood settings and who work collaboratively with families. They provide a base from which states can develop certification, licensure and credentialing guidelines.
3. Early learning standards
   Early learning standards or guidelines relate to expectations for children's developmental progress. They may be general or more tailored to a particular age range and may vary in terms of breadth and depth. Also referred to as child outcomes, data on children's functioning can be used for documenting program effects as well as improving programs.
4. Child evaluation and assessment
   Evaluation is used to determine the existence of a delay or disability and to identify the child's strengths and needs in all areas of development. Assessment is used to determine the individual child's present level of performance and early intervention or educational needs, thus influencing practices for improving the quality of life for the child and family. Additionally, there are recommended practices, instruments and methods for assessing young children in early childhood settings.
5. State accountability and monitoring
   State accountability systems are designed to assure that requirements of federal regulations are met, that the program is being managed effectively and that the intended purposes of the legislation are fulfilled. Monitoring identifies how well the state is doing, where it needs to make improvements and how it can improve early childhood practices.
6. State TA systems
   State technical assistance systems assist local programs and communities to help assure that public policies are implemented appropriately and effectively and to assist them in adopting or adapting specific innovations or practices or to meet their specific needs to improve practices for the benefit of young children and their families.
7. Program effectiveness
   Evaluation studies that examine the effectiveness of early intervention services, programs across a variety of early childhood settings, and curricula promoting school readiness for young children provide evidence of program effectiveness as well as strategies to enhance developmental and educational outcomes.