New report details child care assistance policies in all 50 states A new report - State Child Care Assistance Policies 2011: Reduced Support for Families in Challenging Times - examines the impact of policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report compares data from February 2011 to data from February 2010 and 2001. Unfortunately, the report shows that families are not only worse off in 2011 than they were in 2010, but are also worse off than a decade ago. Child care assistance is essential in helping low-income families afford reliable child care.
Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care Child care providers are often early witnesses to the signs of developmental problems that may impact children in their care, but they often lack the capacity or training to identify a problem, discuss concerns with families, and guide families in seeking related services. In Rhode Island, early childhood stakeholders have created and funded a collaborative initiative, known as Watch Me Grow RI, that helps build that capacity, and better serve children in participating child care programs.
LAUP Study Finds a Higher Rate of School Readiness A study of kids who attended Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) classrooms found that after one year of pre-K, 72 percent of children tested for near proficiency in school readiness skills, including social expression and self-regulation, compared to 22 percent when they started. The gains were particularly significant for English Language Learners (ELLs). They started the year with lower school readiness skills than their non-ELL peers, but after a year of LAUP pre-K, the gap had closed.
State Child Care Efforts Fact Sheet The National Women's Law Center has released state-by-state fact sheets regarding childcare efforts under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The National Women's Law Center makes efforts to support women in the workforce by advocating for early education and child care. The Rhode Island fact sheet focuses on using federal grants to invest in improving early child care for infants and toddlers as well as improving the quality of early education.
Washington Post Series on Early Care and Education The Washington Post conducted a series of interviews regarding early child care and education. The interviews of Edward Zigler, James Heckman, Raj Chetty, Sara Mead, and Danielle Ewen covered a range of issues including Head Start and the Early Learning Challege Fund. The series placed an emphasis on the importance of funding early childhood education initiatives.
New Report Highlights Strategies for Boosting Pre-K Quality After reviewing the current strategies for improving pre-k teaching quality, there is a stronger push for new improvement strategies. The article advocates for more professional development for teachers and focuses on the implementation of two models of teacher development, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM). The implementation of these two models may not prove to be successful enough in improving the quality of pre-k teaching, but the report has stimulated discussion on the issue.
State Child Care Assistance Policies 2010: New Federal Funds Help States Weather the Storm NWLC's seventh annual report, State Child Care Assistance Policies 2010: New Federal Funds Help States Weather the Storm, reveals that states largely held off major cuts as of February 2010, with help from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. Although most state policies are holding steady compared to a year ago, they have not improved or are behind where they were in 2001. As a result, state policies continue to fall short, particularly in the area of reimbursement rates. The report also includes some information about developments since February 2010 that indicate states may face challenges in protecting their child care programs as ARRA funds are exhausted.
BrightStars Honors Early Learning Programs December 8, 2010 - More than 300 early care and education program directors, early childhood teachers, community leaders and policy makers gathered at the Starry, Starry Night event to celebrate and salute the early learning programs that have joined BrightStars, Rhode Island's Quality Rating and Improvement System. There are 77 programs which serve more than 1,800 children participating in BrightStars. Read the Providence Journal article and view photos from the event. For more information about the program, go to www.BrightStars.org.
Release of Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters Issue Brief Read Rhode Island KIDS COUNT's latest Issue Brief entitled Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters. The Issue Brief covers the development of early literacy skills from birth through grade three, data on early literacy achievement in Rhode Island and recommendations for improving reading proficiency rates in the early grades. Read the article, Most RI Fourth Graders Not Proficient in Reading, or view the press release.
Visitation program launched for at-risk mothers Read the article, Home visitation program launched for at-risk mothers, in the Providence Business News. The article is about Rhode Island KIDS COUNT's press conference recognizing US Senator Jack Reed for his leadership in securing federal funding for the Nurse-Family Partnership Initiative, an evidence-based home visiting program that helps first-time parents succeed. View photos from the event and the episode of the Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Cable Television Show featuring nurses from Children's Friend discussing the NFP initiative.
New England Voter's Guide The New England Alliance for Children's Health just released results of a regional candidate questionnaire on a variety of issues affecting New England's children and families. To find out where candidates stand on issues affecting children and families, view the Voter's Guide.
American Prospect Special Report: Reading by Grade The July/August 2010 Issue of The American Prospect has articles on the impact of early learning, health and school attendance on third grader's reading proficiency. The Issue also highlights best-practices for improving reading proficiency.
Are All America’s Children Reading Proficiency Above Average? According to a new Voices for America's Children report, only one-third of American fourth-graders read at a proficient level, but according to state assessments, school performance is excellent. The report presents national and state-by-state data, and explores the answer to the following question: Are all America’s children really above average? Read the Voices’ analysis.
The State of Preschool 2009 Findings in The State of Preschool 2009: State Preschool Yearbook include a decrease in progress in three key dimensions of state funded preschool nationally - enrollment, quality standards and resources. The report highlights the fact that although Rhode Island’s preschoolers were not offered access to state-funded pre-k education during the 2008-2009 school year, the state has since launched a Pre-K Demonstration Program in four urban communities, providing pre-K to a small number of preschoolers.
New Report Highlights Child Care and Preschool Quality in RI A new report highlights the quality of child care centers and preschools in RI. According to the report, 86% of classrooms serving preschool-age children and 74% of classrooms serving infants and toddlers were providing "medium quality" care. While only 10% of preschool classrooms and 6% of infant-toddler classrooms were providing "high quality" programs that would be expected to improve child development and promote early learning. View highlights from the report in a powerpoint presentation and the press release.
Early Head Start Program Expanding in Rhode Island The Early Head Start Program is a comprehensive early childhood program serving low-income children birth to age three, pregnant women, and their families. Funded almost entirely by the federal government, Early Head start is designed to provide high-quality early care and education and comprehensive services to infants and toddlers, and promote healthy birth outcomes for women.Recently, Children's Friend (one of five providers of Early Head Start in RI) announced it will be able to serve an additional 62 children and families in Pawtucket. Click here to read the Providence Journal article accompanying the announcement.
Report Applauds Rhode Island Lawmakers for Investing in High Quality Pre-K Rhode Island became one of two states to approve new pre-k programs in state fiscal year 2010, according to a state-by-state analysis by Pre-K Now. The report, Votes Count: Legislative Action on Pre-K Fiscal Year 2010, evaluates state budgets to determine which legislatures count voluntary, high quality pre-k among their top education reform strategies. View the report press release and Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Executive Director Elizabeth Burke Bryant's statement on the report.
Decoding the Economic Stimulus for Early Care and Education in Rhode Island The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 contains provisions for funding that have the potential to improve early care and education in Rhode Island, including more available funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the Early Head Start program, IDEA and Title 1 funding. View a powerpoint presentation prepared by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT explaining the current early care and education system in Rhode Island and opportunities within ARRA to increase investment in Rhode Island's youngest children.
Finding a Standards-Based Preschool Download the recently released brochure for parents entitled, Early Learning Standards Project:What Parents Should Know About Standards-Based Education for Preschoolers in English and in Spanish. Rhode Island's Early Learning Standards were developed to provide guidance to parents, teachers and administrators on what children should know before they enter Kindergarten.
School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps, Policymakers and Practitioners Conference Rhode Island KIDS COUNT co-sponsored a one day conference at the Brown University Faculty Club entitled School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps to share findings of the Princeton University / Brookings Institution Future of Children Journal volume on School Readiness. Dr. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, co-author and editor of the volumne, shared the findings of the journal with over 100 participants. Download the agenda, press release or Dr. Brooks-Gunn's presentation.
Release of Successful Start: Rhode Island's Early Childhood Systems Plan The RI Department of Health released the Plan at a breakfast event attended by more than 120 Rhode Island leaders in the early childhood field. A panel of state department directors commented on their plans for implementing key recommendations in the plan. The Successful Start strategic plan was developed by the RI Department of Health and Rhode Island KIDS COUNT.
Rhode Island Early Learning Standards The Early Learning Standards were released in December 2003 by the Rhode Island Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education and Human Services, along with Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. A "tool kit" of fun activites for pre-schoolers will be available soon. Read the Early Learning Standards in English and in Spanish.
Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care
LAUP Study Finds a Higher Rate of School Readiness
State Child Care Efforts Fact Sheet
Washington Post Series on Early Care and Education
New Report Highlights Strategies for Boosting Pre-K Quality
State Child Care Assistance Policies 2010: New Federal Funds Help States Weather the Storm
Release of Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters Issue Brief
Visitation program launched for at-risk mothers 
New England Voter's Guide
American Prospect Special Report: Reading by Grade
New Report Highlights Child Care and Preschool Quality in RI
State Officials Visit Pre-K Demonstration Classrooms
Early Head Start Program Expanding in Rhode Island
Report Applauds Rhode Island Lawmakers for Investing in High Quality Pre-K
Decoding the Economic Stimulus for Early Care and Education in Rhode Island
Finding a Standards-Based Preschool
School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps
Getting Ready: Findings From the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative A 17 State Partnership
Rhode Island Early Learning Standards
