2008 Report on Key National Indicators of Child Well-Being Available Online
July 14, 2008 - The newly released America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008 profiles the status of the nation's children and youth, presenting up-to-date federal statistics on a variety of issues in one convenient reference. According to the report, math and reading scores of fourth and eighth graders have increased, but also shows that the teen birth rate and the proportion of infants born at low birthweight have also risen.

Federal Education Panel Approves $2.5 Billion for State Pre-K Grant Programs
July 10, 2008- The House Education and Labor Committee approoved the grant program for states to use for Pre-K Education on June 26. The bill authorizes annually $500 million for the FY09-FY13 budget years for states to recieve voluntary  grants which can be used toward increasing the number of early childhood educators with bachelor's degrees, reducing student-teacher ratios, implementing research based curricula and providing health screeenings and nutritional assistance.

Early Care and Education Success in RI
July 8, 2008- Despite a very difficult budget climate, RI lawmakers have enacted legislation with some important victories for ECE. The Rhode Island Pre-Kindergarten Act enables the planning of a pilot Pre-K program to serve children ages 3 and 4 in communities with low performing schools. It serves as a major step toward securing future resources for statewide Pre-K in RI. Other good news this session includes the restoration of $1 million to save 130 state-funded Head Start slots, a rate increase for child care providors caring for state-subsidized children, and continuation of the entitlement to child care subsidy for income-elligible families and restoration of the requirement in law to adjust child care rates based on a market rate survey.

Fact Sheet Shows Over 1 Million Children Served By Head Start in 2006
July 7, 2008- The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has released a fact sheet reporting on 2006 data for all Head Start programs. The data show that Head Start continued to provide vital programming and services to a diverse group of recipients, totaling over 1 million young children through 2,696 grants throughout the country. Of those children, most recieved important health screenings including medical, dental and disability screenings, and most recieved follow-up services when necessary.

Majority of Voters Support Federal Investment in Pre-K
June 23, 2008- Findings of a national poll of registered voters highlight 7 out of 10 voters want state and local governments to provide voluntary Pre-K for all children, even across a divisive political spectrum. More results from the poll, conducted for Pre-K Now, can be viewed here.

Powerful Op-Ed Advocates for Head Start
June 13, 2008- "Head Start really works!" is the title of an op-ed submitted by Cynthia Garcia Coll, Ph.D. and  Pamela C. High, M.D. The article originally ran in the Providence Journal on June 12, view the full text here.

RIAEYC Spring Event: Public Policy 2008
On June 10, RIAEYC is hosting their annual Spring Event from 6:00 – 8:00 pm at the Waterplace Restaurant in Providence. The event will feature a presentation on PreK in Rhode Island by Judge Flanders, chairman of the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education and Elizabeth Burke Bryant from Rhode Island KIDS COUNT.  To register call 467-1219 ASAP. Download and view the flyer.

New! Child Care and Early Learning Factsheet 
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT released its annual publication on the well-being of children and families in RI, the 2008 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook. The Factbook reports on 62 indicators of child well-being across five subjects: Family and Community, Economic Well-Being, Health, Safety, and Education. Read the Fact Sheet on the child care and early learning indicators.

New Study Showing State-by-State Differences in Child Wellbeing
Rhode Island is the 4th best state in the country for children according to Geography Matters: Child Well-Being in the States, a recently released report by the Every Child Matters Education Fund. The report highlights the gap that exists between states on a wide variety of child well-being indicators. The report includes rankings by indicator that show where each state stands on important measures of child well-being, as well as rankings by state that show each of the states rank in terms of overall vulnerability and specific measures. For more information, view the press release.

New Report Showcases Strategies and Practices That Drove New Investments for Early Care & Education
March 4, 2008 - Voices for America’s Children has released ''Increasing State Investments in Early Care and Education: Lessons Learned from Advocates and Best Practices.'' The report features the advocacy efforts of organizations in 10 states, including Rhode Island, that recently passed an early care and education legislative initiative.

Budget Cuts: Implications for Children and Families in RI
The proposed budgets cuts related to early care and education and child care in Rhode Island in the FY '08 and FY '09 budgets will likely result in the decline of quality care for children in Rhode Island. Download Rhode Island KIDS COUNT's latest summary of the proposed Fiscal Year 2008 and Fiscal Year 2009 budget cuts related to Child Care/Early Childhood Education and talking points. View more budget snapshots.

Quality Child Care and Early Learning in Rhode Island
December 2007 - Rhode Island KIDS COUNT recently released an Issue Brief entitled "Quality Child Care and Early Learning in Rhode Island" about the importance of high-quality early learning opportunities to improve the odds that children will succeed in school and life. The Issue Brief highlights teacher qualifications, Program Cost, key program quality ellements, and strategies to expand access to high-quality child care and early learning programs.

Rhode Island Early Learning Standards
The Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has launched a new website for the Rhode Island Early Learning Standards Project. Information about current professional development and technical assistance opportunities for program administrators and practitioners can be accessed at the website at www.ride.ri.gov/els.

2007 Lipsitt-Duchin Lecture
October 18, 2007 - "The Secret Life of Infants" is the title of the 2007 Lipsitt-Duchin Lecture in Child Behavior and Development co-sponsored by Rhode Island Kids Count and the Center for Study of Human Development. The lecturer this year on October 18, 2007 will be Dr. Carolyn Rovee-Collier of Rutgers University, a renowned psychologist and expert in child development whose innovative studies of human infant memory have been widely recognized. Dr. Rovee-Collier will talk about her pioneering methods for exploring baby memory and some breakthrough findings that have been made using these procedures. This event is free and open to the public.

Finding a Standards-Based Preschool
October 17, 2007 - 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.

BrightStars: Recognizing Quality Care & Learning
October 10, 2007 - Rhode Island has developed BrightStars, a quality rating system for early learning and child care programs, in order to improve family access to high quality programs across the state. BrightStars is coordinated by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT and the Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children with primary funding from United Way of Rhode Island. During the 2007 session, the Rhode Island General Assembly established the voluntary quality rating system in statute as a public-private partnership. Legislation lead sponsors were Senate Majority Leader Teresa Paiva-Weed and Representative Tom Slater. 

Featured in this photo from (L) are Channavy Chhay - United Way Project Manager for Children, Youth and Families, Leanne Barrett - Policy Analyst for Kids Count, Majority Leader Paiva Weed, and United Way Public Policy Coordinator Paola Fonseca

New Publication: A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy
August 2007 - A ground-breaking framework released by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University combines knowledge from neuroscience, behavioral and developmental science, economics, and 40 years of early childhood program evaluation. The authors provide a framework to guide policymakers toward science-based policies that improve the lives of young children and benefit society as a whole.

New Brookings Report: Balance Federal Budget Through Investments in Children
August 6, 2007 - Spending $94 billion to deliver high-quality early childhood education for the nation's 3- and 4-year-olds and spending $39 billion on three other childhood initiatives over a 5-year period is one component of a strategy  for balancing the federal budget in Cost-Effective Investments in Children prescribed by The Brookings Institution, as part of the Brookings Budget Options Series.

America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2007
July 13, 2007 - The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics' annual report presents background data and highlights 38 key indicators of children's well-being using the latest available data, including children's family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health.

Children in Immigrant Families Surprisingly Rooted in America
Three Out of Four Speak English Fluently
April 2007 -  A new research brief by Child Trends and the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis of the University at Albany, State University of New York, reveals that nearly one-half of children in immigrant families speak English fluently and another language at home. At the same time, many young children in immigrant families would benefit from quality early education programs to further their integration into American society.

Release of Ready or Not: Preparing Rhode Island’s children to Succeed in School and Benchmarks for Progress
February 2007 - This report is an update of the final report of the Rhode Island School Readiness Team released in May 2004. The report focuses on key indicators used to determine the health development and well-being of young children

Report on Pre-K and Latinos: Outreach, Access, Language Commitment Needed
July 2006 - Pre-K and Latinos: The Foundation for America's Future provides an overview of some of the obstacles Latino families face in accessing early learning opportunities for their children and offers strategies for increasing Latino participation in pre-k. Newly released by Pre-K Now, the report also looks at pre-K in light of demographic and socio-economic trends, patterns of access and attendance, language issues and obstacles to effective outreach to Latino families. Download the  of the Executive Summary in Spanish.

The Child Care Patterns of White, Black and Hispanic Children under 5
This report from the Urban Institute examines the child care patterns of white, black, and Hispanic children. The study finds that a large majority of white, black, and Hispanic children under 5 in families where each parent present in the family works is in some form of nonparental child care.

Updated Online Report Tracks U.S. Birth Information Across States and 50 Largest Cities
March 29, 2006 - The online report, The Right Start for America’s Newborns: City and State Trends, has been updated to include 2003 data, adding to the birth information the report has tracked yearly since 1990. Read Providence's profile.

School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps, Policymakers and Practitioners Conference
March 8, 2006 - 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
November 21,2005 - 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.