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News Archive for 2008

Aug 26, 2008 (Statesman Journal, Salem, OR)
Opinion: Early childhood education leads to financial success
Social skills learned at a young age can pay off later in life
You probably know that the more education you have, the more you are likely to earn. Did you know that some economists say social skills learned in early childhood are important to acquiring that education?

Aug 26, 2008 (The Washington Post)
Day Cares
Research Has Eased Some Fears About Having Children Spend Their Days Away From Home
The most important predictor of children's attachment, as well as their cognitive and social development, researchers found, was the sensitivity of their mothers and the characteristics of their families, such as parental income and educational levels. The influence of these factors trumped any effects of day care.

Aug 25, 2008 (Education Week)
Hard Times Hit Schools
States' budget shortfalls darken start of new year
Across the country, one of the education programs that's grown exponentially in dollars and enrollment since the last economic downturn is prekindergarten, especially for at-risk students, which is thought to save states money down the road in terms of remediation and even prison costs. With tighter budgets, pre-K funding could be a target for cuts or could see slower growth.

Aug 23, 2008 (The New York Times)
A Promise of Pre-K for All Is Still Far Off in New York
More than 10 years after New York's political and education leaders promised to work toward providing access to pre-kindergarten classes to every 4-year-old across the state, more than a third of the 677 local school districts have no such programs. Last year, fewer than 91,000 children attended state-financed pre-kindergarten classes — 38 percent of the state's 4-year-olds.

Aug 22, 2008 (Education Week)
Slowing speech eases child's ability to listen
According to [Wichita State audiology professor Ray] Hull, the average adult speaks at a rate of almost 170 words per minute. But the average 5- to 7- year-old processes speech at a rate of only 120 words per minute. The gap between what a child hears and what he or she understands can appear to parents and teachers as inattention, confusion or outright defiance.

Aug 21, 2008 (The Washington Informer)
Pre-K for All Comes to the District
All children ages three and four in the District will soon have access to high quality pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) programs, thanks to the Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Act of 2008, which was passed by the D.C. City Council in July. City officials are working to ensure that all District children have access to these programs by 2014.

Aug 21, 2008 (Tacoma Weekly)
Tacoma gets scoop on 'gap' from Harvard expert
The term "achievement gap" refers to the void in academic success among white students, minorities and low-income students. According to [Dr. Ronald] Ferguson, through an intelligence test for infants at around a child's first birthday, studies have shown no major discrepancies in intellect among racial groups at that age.

Aug 21, 2008 (Lansing State Journal)
Preschool may boost chances of graduation
Report: Crime rates lower among those who finish school
K.P. Pelleran, state director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Michigan, said it is essential to start more preschool programs. The group is calling on Congress and state lawmakers to expand and pay for pre-kindergarten programs such as Head Start.

Aug 21, 2008 (The Jackson Sun, Jackson, TN)
Editorial: Early Pre-K success should be expanded
The state hired Ohio-based Strategic Research Group to evaluate results of the three-year-old program. The report shows that children who participated in the Pre-K program performed better in reading and math in kindergarten and first grade.

Aug 20, 2008 (The Dispatch, Clay Center, KS)
Families crowd into Parents As Teachers program
A local program that helps parents be better teachers is full and has a waiting list, overwhelming the three member staff of Parents as Teachers. The voluntary program provides home visits, regular group meetings, developmental screening, a resource library and time for children to meet with parents and other children in the program to play and learn together.

Aug 19, 2008 (Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks, ND)
N.D. receives largest early literacy grant
North Dakota received the largest 2008 Early Reading First grant in the nation, totaling more than $5.6 million to be distributed over the next three years. The money, from the U.S. Department of Education, will go toward development and implementation of MiND PLACE, North Dakota Preschool Literacy Acquisition Collaborative for Education.

Aug 19, 2008 (Kalamazoo Gazette, Kalamazoo, MI)
Schools across Kalamazoo County will share a universal preschool curriculum
In lieu of universal preschool in Kalamazoo County, the training session was a first step toward the next-best thing: A universal curriculum and a collaboration with the potential to revolutionize local early-childhood education.

Aug 18, 2008 (Chicago Tribune)
Study suggests a struggle to find affordable child care
Chicago parents could pay more than $9,500 a year, report says
A report to be released Monday confirms parents across the Chicago region are struggling to find quality child care that is affordable. Infant care can cost more than college tuition and swallows one-fifth of a family's income on average, according to Illinois Action for Children, a non-profit group that administers financial assistance for child care in Cook County.

Aug 18, 2008 (The Epoch Times, New York, NY)
Childcare Before Kindergarten Promotes Obesity
Moreover, the report indicates that the type of childcare makes a difference. For instance, children who receive care from a relative, friend, or neighbor, held at least occasionally in the child’s own home, were more prone to obesity than those who received care at a daycare center or nursery school.

Aug 18, 2008 (KETV, Omaha, NE)
Ready For Kindergarten?
Many parents -- even if their child attended preschool -- are still unsure about how well prepared their child is for kindergarten. To help ease parents' fears, the national Parent Teachers Association has compiled this list of skills that education experts say children should possess to do well in kindergarten.

Aug 18, 2008 (Science Daily)
Starting Kindergarten Later Gives Students Only A Fleeting Edge
New research challenges a growing trend toward holding kids out of kindergarten until they're older, arguing that academic advantages are short-lived and come at the expense of delaying entry into the workforce and other costs. The findings show older kindergartners fare better academically largely because they learn more before starting school, not because age improves aptitude, said Darren Lubotsky, a University of Illinois economics professor who co-wrote the study.

Aug 17, 2008 (The Boston Globe)
Editorial: Learning, early and often
Down the road, the state could save money on expensive social costs such as remedial education and incarceration. But to reap these benefits, Massachusetts needs to build a first-class preschool system, ultimately investing an estimated $600 million to unleash preschool's power.

Aug 17, 2008 (The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, CO)
San Miguel to ask voters to fund child care
A critical shortage of child care and preschool facilities is hurting families, but the county aims to do something about it. To help underwrite more child care centers and better pay for teachers, the November ballot will include a question asking voters to approve a property tax increase that would generate about $600,000.

Aug 16, 2008 (The Post-Crescent, Appleton, WI)
4-year-old kindergarten eyed in Appleton
School officials want to get a good look at how other communities provide 4-year-old kindergarten programming as they study whether the district should dip its oar into 4K waters. The study is an outgrowth of interest from the district's future needs study committee, parents and the school board, [Judy Baseman] said, noting Appleton is in a minority of districts in the state that don't offer 4K.

Aug 15, 2008 (Finance and Commerce, Minneapolis, MN)
Cargill, McKnight-supported foundation focuses on early education
That's why Cargill and the McKnight Foundation launched the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF) in 2006. The foundation is in its second year of creating a "market" for early learning as a way to improve early-learning opportunities — and thereby the number and quality of college graduates — in Minnesota.

Aug 14, 2008 (The Charleston Gazette, Charleston, WV)
Walker approves W.Va. pre-kindergarten programs
Two days after [she] submitted a letter saying 20 country pre-kindergarten programs were not approved, state Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Martha Walker decided to approve 52 county plans.

Aug 14, 2008 (The Guardian, London, UK)
School dinners debate: Junk food may harm toddlers' ability to learn
Children who are brought up on a diet of junk food at the age of three are more likely to make slow progress at school, educational researchers have discovered. The study found the correlation for three-year-olds persisted even after adjusting for the social, economic and ethnic characteristics of the family.

Aug 14, 2008 (WANE TV, Fort Wayne, IN)
Gov. talks 2009 education plans
[Indiana Gov. Mitch] Daniels said he is determined to complete funding for full-day kindergarten within the next four years and will work with the General Assembly to determine the appropriate funding increase in the next state budget. According to the Indiana Department of Education, full-day kindergarten enrollment increased by 43 percent between the 2006-07 academic year and 2007-08 (32,356 to 46,409), when increased state funding became available.

Aug 14, 2008 (The Chattanoogan.com)
County Schools Get $3.9 Million For Early Reading Initiative
Hamilton County Schools was one of 31 programs in the nation selected to receive an Early Reading First Grant from the United States Department of Education this year. The grants are designed to enhance young children's language and cognitive development by providing high quality instruction and research-based professional development to teachers.

Aug 13, 2008 (The Daily Item, Lynn, MA)
Swampscott official blasts governor over Readiness Project
The Readiness Project being touted by Gov. Deval Patrick could prove disastrous to struggling school districts, according to some local elected officials. The Readiness Project, which includes universal pre-kindergarten programs and all day kindergarten, is a major concern for School Committee Chairman David Whelan, who expressed fears it would become another unfunded mandate.

Aug 12, 2008 (Asbury Park Press, Neptune, NJ)
Freehold expands full-day preschool
Sixty children have been accepted into the program, whose expansion to full-day marks the first step in a five-year process toward universal preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds in the district, said Donna Johnson, principal of Freehold Learning Center. The Freehold school district is one of 87 statewide that are mandated to start implementing a full-day preschool program.

Aug 11, 2008 (The Progress, Clearfield, PA)
Pre-K Counts gives kids solid learning foundation
The underpinnings of CAS's Pre-K Counts program are tied to the national and statewide preschool educational standards, which in turn connect with kindergarten skills and standards. By following these standards the children develop early literacy skills and gain math skills that have real life applications.

Aug 10, 2008 (The Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, SD)
New preschool project could rekindle dispute
Sioux Falls' 2nd pilot program starts amid legislative debate
Schoolchildren are getting younger in Sioux Falls as education options for 4-year-olds grow in spite of the Legislature refusing to be involved and a state witness who questions its need.

Aug 10, 2008 (San Francisco Chronicle)
U.S. student, 5, faces 'learning gap' in U.K.
Britain has a national curriculum with specific goals, and schools there are rigorously inspected and evaluated. Most kids enter school at 4, instead of 5 as is the case here, and pre-kindergarten programs tend to be more academic than in the United States. American programs are often more play-based than academically structured, and standards vary widely from state-to-state and between public and private settings.

Aug 10, 2008 (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Column: Is kindergarten the new 1st grade?
Many parents are holding back boys from kindergarten -- are they not ready or is it too hard too soon? What was your child's kindergarten experience like?
My 5-year-old son will be starting kindergarten on Monday but many boys his age across the country, and in our community, won't be joining him on that first day of school. It's not a new trend but it's one that seems to be happening more often — children, almost always boys, being "redshirted" by their parents out of fear that they aren't academically ready or mature enough for the rigors of kindergarten.

Aug 8, 2008 (Bucyrus Telegraph Forum, Bucyrus, OH)
Opinion: Cost of child care zooms
According to a report released by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) entitled, "Parents and the High Price of Child Care: 2008 Update," the price of child care is rising faster than the average rate of inflation. While the report demonstrates that costs are lower for family child care homes, many of these providers are unlicensed, leaving the health and safety of children in these types of homes unknown.

Aug 7, 2008 (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN)
Parents get help in choosing child care
Minnesota has launched a project that uses a star system to rate licensed child care providers.
Called Parent Aware, the program gives participating child care facilities a rating of zero to four stars, depending on staff training, teaching materials, parent involvement and other factors. Licensed child care facilities have volunteered to be part of the program; more than 200 have enrolled to date.

Aug 7, 2008 (Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks, ND)
ND report advocates tutors, teacher training
North Dakota's schools should make student tutoring, state-funded preschool and teacher coaching more widely available as part of a comprehensive improvement plan, a consultant's report says.

Aug 7, 2008 (The Record, Bergen County, NJ)
Editorial: Corzine's education legacy
The campaign for universal preschool is a national movement, and New Jersey is considered a model, thanks to its long-established full-day programs for 3- and 4-year-olds in the Abbott districts, the state's neediest. [Governor] Corzine's phased-in expansion, which begins in September, will eventually offer preschool to any low-income child in public school across the state.

Aug 7, 2008 (The Washington Post)
In the Under-5 Set, Minority Becoming the Majority
As the current crop of youngsters reaches kindergarten age, school systems that would otherwise be losing students will continue to grow or remain stable. They will also need to accommodate an ever-larger number of students who were raised in immigrant households where English was not spoken.

Aug 6, 2008 (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS)
Column: Mississippi trailing the region in early childhood education
Mississippi is the only state in the South without a state-funded early children education program. Only nine other states nationwide do not invest in some form of early childhood education and only 12 states don't have a state-funded pre-kindergarten program.

Aug 5, 2008 (The New York Times)
Where the Race Now Begins at Kindergarten
Parents who sent their toddlers to the well-regarded Mandell preschool on the Upper West Side used to count on getting into the private school of their choice. But with the recent boom in the city's under-5 set, the competition for kindergarten places can rival that of Ivy League admission.

Aug 1, 2008 (The Republican, Springfield, MA)
New law supports preschool
The legislation formally established the [Massachusetts] state Department of Early Education and Care, which was created a year ago, and calls for a universal voluntary prekindergarten program.

Aug 1, 2008 (The Times Record, Brunswick, ME)
Starting off right: Lawmakers, advocates call for greater investment in early childhood programs
[Sen. Sean] Faircloth chaired the Commission to Develop a Strategic Priorities Plan for Maine's Young Children, which was established last year through an amendment to "An Act to Ensure the Success of All Maine Families Through Early Care and Education," legislation sponsored by Faircloth. The commission's task was to identify and implement best practices to increase the quality of child care services and address current limits on access to high-quality care based on a parent's ability to pay.

Jul 31, 2008 (The Hunstville Times, Huntsville, AL)
Editorial: A drop in the bucket
The Legislature must make education its top goal in more than campaign slogans. It must not only pay teachers more, but provide more support and offer innovative programs like pre-K to move the state forward.

Jul 30, 2008 (Lancaster New Era, Lancaster, PA)
Wait lists grow along with state preschool funding
Hundreds of 3- and 4-year-olds in Pennsylvania sit on a waiting list to attend free preschool. Despite a 15 percent funding increase, the governor's free program, Pre-K Counts, does not have enough money this year to meet the skyrocketing demand for early childhood education, educators say.

Jul 30, 2008 (The New York Times)
Dr. Julius B. Richmond, Who Led Head Start and Battled Tobacco, Dies at 91
The Head Start program, a triumph for advocates of early intervention in childhood, was a focal point of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty and an extension of work by researchers like Dr. Richmond. In the late 1950s, he was chairman of the pediatric department at the State University of New York College of Medicine at Syracuse (now Upstate Medical University) when he and a colleague, Betty Caldwell, began studying the interactions of parents and very young children in poor families.

Jul 29, 2008 (The New York Times)
Column: The Biggest Issue
Why did the United States become the leading economic power of the 20th century? The best short answer is that a ferocious belief that people have the power to transform their own lives gave Americans an unparalleled commitment to education, hard work and economic freedom.

Jul 28, 2008 (The Birmingham News)
Editorial: Alabama has a great pre-K program for 4-year-olds; if only that program was available to more than a handful of the state's eligible 4-year-olds
Alabama and North Carolina are the only states to meet all 10 quality benchmarks of the National Institute for Early Education Research. We have the nation's best pre-K, but offer it to just a sliver of eligible children.

Jul 28, 2008 (Idaho Statesman)
United Way's kindergarten boot camp starts with basics
The organization brings in kids who will start school in the fall and familiarizes them with skills teachers expect them to know on day one.
Last summer, 26 children in the Caldwell School District got ready to start kindergarten with help from a unique pilot program, United Way of Treasure Valley's kindergarten readiness "boot camp." The test group, all children from schools with high poverty rates, was small. But when they took their first standardized tests last fall, nearly 60 percent scored at or above grade level, compared to 17 percent of their classmates who were not in the program.

Jul 27, 2008 (The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN)
Teacher, community redesign space for Hernando's challenged pre-K students
The first day of school will find special education preschool teacher Nicole Lulow in her best teaching environment in six years at Hernando Elementary School. Lulow has tapped corporate goodwill and volunteer labor to transform classrooms into a learning suite for 3- and 4-year-olds with autism and other developmental issues.

Jul 25, 2008 (The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA)
State lawmakers target First 5 program, its reserves; Riverside County supervisors object
The state's looming budget cuts have some legislators eyeing a multibillion-dollar pot of money that for years has built playgrounds, fixed tiny teeth, provided preschool for poor kids, funded craft workshops and doled out books and other freebies in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Jul 24, 2008 (The Holland Sentinel, Holland, MI)
Kids need Great Start
Collaborative unveils plan to develop universal system of early care and education
Federal and state programs provide free or subsidized preschool and daycare for families who qualify, but many parents either pay for preschool or ignore it. The Great Start Collaborative is a group of organizations looking to promote early childhood education in hope of reaping long-term benefits.

Jul 23, 2008 (Daily News, New York, NY)
Siblings win pre-K school battle
Dozens of siblings mistakenly denied spots in the city's prekindergarten program will be enrolled this fall, but their classes will grow and be staffed by $1.4million worth of extra teaching aides.

Jul 21, 2008 (The Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO)
Kindergarten: Small child, big decision
Deciding when to send a child to kindergarten can be difficult for parents. Should a gifted child start at age 4 so she doesn't get bored? Should a less precocious child wait until he's 6 so he doesn't fall behind his classmates? There's no clear-cut answer.

Jul 20, 2008 (Press-Register, Mobile, AL)
Opinion: Some good news in the numbers
Research shows that high-quality pre-kindergarten yields academic benefits for children and economic savings for communities. We know that children who have quality early-learning experiences are less likely to need special education placements, grade retention or remedial services.

Jul 15, 2008 (USA Today)
Even background TV can impact kids' attention
After videotaping and carefully analyzing the children's reactions, researchers found that kids watched the TV only in snippets but that it modestly shortened their playtime. TV decreased play's intensity and cut by half the amount of time children focused on a given toy.

Jul 15, 2008 (The Detroit News)
Column: Early connections are key for infants to thrive
Well, the new science of brain development is forging a path that is both illuminating and frightening. It's pushing the frontiers of early childhood practice (that's where parents and child care providers come in) and policy (that's where legislators and business leaders come in). In ways never before understood, we now know that an infant's early circuits of the brain cannot be rewired later in life; optimal flexibility and plasticity of the brain occurs very early, during the first three years of life.

Jul 15, 2008 (Huliq, Hickory, NC)
Parenting quality influence children's early cognitive development
Even among low-income families, mothers with greater social and economic resources were more supportive in parenting their children than those with fewer resources, which in turn influenced the children's cognitive performance. That's the main finding of a new study that considers how economic factors and parenting quality jointly influence children's development.

Jul 15, 2008 (The Leader-Post, Regina, Canada)
Violence's greatest impact on children
Research shows that the earlier a child is exposed to violence, the greater the impact that violence will have on their development. A review of such research compiled in the province over the last 12 years is the basis of a new Justice Canada and Saskatchewan Justice jointly funded study led by Dr. Leslie Tutty. One of the recommendations the study makes is the need for more intervention for preschool-aged children.

Jul 13, 2008 (Child Development Media Blog)
What Parents Should Know about Quality Preschool
Finding a preschool that fits parents' needs, budgets, and schedules can be challenging, and parents need to know what to look for to ensure their child is receiving top-quality instruction and care. The National Institute Early for Education Research has compiled a List of Top 10 Pre-K Questions designed to assist parents as they search for the best setting for their children.

Jul 12, 2008 (Statesman Journal, Salem, OR)
Editorial: Investment in preschoolers will benefit state
Legislature's decision to expand Head Start is smart
One study even put a dollar figure to the savings: for every dollar invested in the preschool program, more than $8 in benefits were returned to society as a whole. Oregon would be crazy to turn down such a payoff.

Jul 9, 2008 (Why Boys Fail blog)
Barnett: Schools 'less ready' for boys...
Interesting, and it raises this fundamental question: Do boys show up for kindergarten less prepared for school work than girls? For the answer, I went to one of the nation's top experts, Steven Barnett, executive director of the National Institute for Early Education at Rutgers University.

Jul 9, 2008 (KITV, Honolulu, HI)
Early-Education System Initiative Becomes Law
Lawmakers Override Governor's Veto
Hawaii is on its way now to having a comprehensive early childhood learning program, despite Gov. Linda Lingle's attempt Tuesday to kill the bill -- lawmakers over-rode her veto. The new law creates a State Early Learning Council which, over 10 years, aims to create the states first comprehensive early-education system.

Jul 9, 2008 (The Dover Post, Dover, DE)
Minner signs childhood services bill
Governor Ruth Ann Minner signed Senate Bill 222 on July 8, establishing the Delaware Stars for Early Success program, a voluntary quality rating and improvement plan to assist families in selecting early childhood services for their children and to improve the quality of early childhood programs in the state. Under Senate Bill 222, sponsored by Senator Patricia Blevins, the Delaware Stars for Early Success is a five-level system that builds on licensing rules, setting increasingly higher standards at each star level in the following areas:

• Qualifications and Professional Development;
• Learning Environment and Curriculum;
• Family and Community Partnerships; and
• Management and Administration.

Jul 7, 2008 (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH)
Kindergarten displays a gap: Some pupils will need more help to learn
The huge difference in readiness skills is evident in schools across Northeast Ohio. In many cases, the results mirror what decades of research show: The chance of a child being well-prepared for kindergarten rises right along with the parents' income and education level and the use of high-quality preschool programs.

Jul 6, 2008 (The Montgomery Advertiser)
Alabama pre-K program growth slowed
Pumping $30 million into the program would have more than tripled the number of children enrolled in state-funded programs this school year, but it didn't happen. The state Legislature instead doubled pre-school funding with a $20 million appropriation during its last session.

Jul 5, 2008 (The Statesman Journal, Salem, OR)
Head Start is set to expand services to Oregon children
The expansion will allow programs to add 1,336 extra children
The overall expansion was aimed at boosting Head Start coverage to 75 percent of all eligible children, short of the 80 percent mark that is considered full funding. As it is, because of an increased number of eligible children, the budgeted expansion will reach about 70 percent.

Jul 4, 2008 (Boston Business Journal)
Opinion: Early ed.: An investment in the Massachusetts workforce
The recently released recommendations of Gov. Deval Patrick and his Job Readiness Task Force provide a reform-oriented vision for education in the 21st century that will help meet this need [for a skilled workforce]. With a strong emphasis on early education, the plan strategically focuses resources where they will generate the greatest return on investment for taxpayers, providing the double benefit of training tomorrow's leaders while helping meet the needs of today's parents.

Jul 2, 2008 (The Mercury News, San Jose, CA)
Opinion: Universal preschool would give all kids a chance to succeed
In the past few months, both the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence and the Superintendent of Public Instruction's P-16 Council have offered comprehensive blueprints for education reform. Both recommend phasing in universal preschool, starting with children from low-income families and those entering low-performing elementary schools. Over the next three to five years, business leaders should work with educators and policy-makers to realize this vision and ensure, at the very least, that the children who need it most have access to a high-quality preschool.

Jul 2, 2008 (The Tuscaloosa News, Tuscaloosa, AL)
Jumpstart helps Hispanic preschoolers
Learning a new language can be a daunting task for anyone. Combine that task with learning a new social system and arriving on time for the first day of school, and it seems like more than a five-year-old should endure.

Jul 2, 2008 (The Express-News, San Antonio, TX)
Opinion: Texans: Start making yourselves heard
Because money is always tight, budget writers need to listen to the research about how to wrench the most impact from our tax dollars. A recent study by the Bush School for Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University found that the state stands to save at least $3.50 for every dollar it spends on high quality pre-kindergarten.

Jul 1, 2008 (The Daily Press, Newport News, VA)
New office coordinates programs for young children
The Office of Early Childhood Development is responsible for services that include the Virginia Preschool Initiative, Head Start, child care subsidies and other initiatives for children 5 and younger.

Jul 1, 2008 (The Mississippi Press)
Excel by 5 may come to Moss Point
Moss Point could become the second city in Jackson County to start up the same kind of early childhood learning program that launched in Pascagoula last year. The program, an initiative of Mississippi State University's Early Childhood Institute, offers support to parents of children up to 5 years old with the goal of improving the overall well-being of children up to 5 years old and preparing them for kindergarten.

Jun 30, 2008 (Asbury Park Press)
State expands free preschool program
But beginning in September, New Jersey's preschool program will expand: Eighty-seven more school districts will be required to offer universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds. All children in the state who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches will also be offered free full-day preschool; that income limit is about $37,000 for a family of four.

Jun 30, 2008 (Chicago Tribune)
Blagojevich signs preschool funding bill
Governor Rod Blagojevich has signed an early childhood learning bill that will continue funding preschools across Illinois.

Jun 30, 2008 (Marin Independent Journal, Novato, CA)
Underserved children gain skills for school
The program targets kids with little or no preschool experience and is funded primarily through First 5 Marin, the early childhood education agency supported by tobacco tax revenue. Last year in Marin, 72 percent of the students in the program were Latino and more than 65 percent came from homes where Spanish was the primary language spoken at home.

Jun 29, 2008 (The Miami Herald)
Literacy effort starts with pre-K directors
Some early childhood centers are testing a program that builds communication between teachers and parents and translates to better learning.
Preschoolers across Broward are getting a jump on literacy through an innovative program designed by education researchers at Nova Southeastern University. The program is being tested at six centers that cater to infants and preschool children, but instead of starting with the children, the program targets the center directors, said Lorraine Breffni, director of early childhood at NSU's Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies in Davie.

Jun 28, 2008 (Express-News, San Antonio, TX)
Editorial: Head Start cutbacks hurt most vulnerable
Head Start is an effective early childhood development program that helps low-income children obtain educational achievement and move out of poverty. The country can't afford to have effective programs like this reduced.

Jun 27, 2008 (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY)
State starting Seniors4Kids program
Older citizens to aid in preschools
Kentucky is the fourth state -- joining Florida, New York and Ohio -- to establish Seniors4Kids. [First lady Jane] Beshear hopes that the efforts of seniors involved in Seniors4Kids will not only increase enrollment in pre-kindergarten programs, but also benefit the students in the long run.

Jun 26, 2008 (The Record, Stockton, CA)
Raising the bar for early education
More schooling is being expected from teachers in publicly funded programs, but trend may spur exodus
Many of the teachers who educate San Joaquin County's youngest students are working to earn specialized degrees that policymakers hope will help improve the quality of publicly funded early-childhood education.

Jun 26, 2008 (Irish Examiner, Cork, Ireland)
Poverty linked to pre-school place shortage
A shortage of pre-school education facilities in poorer communities could be affecting the ability of children in those areas to complete school and defeat the generational cycle of poverty, experts have warned.

Jun 26, 2008 (USA Today)
Universal preschool students perform better
An ambitious public pre-kindergarten program in Oklahoma boosts kids' skills dramatically, a long-awaited study finds, for the first time offering across-the-board evidence that universal preschool, open to all children, benefits both low-income and middle-class kids.

Jun 25, 2008 (The Morning Call, Allentown, PA)
Opinion: ... and providing Pre-K to at-risk children
Our crime prevention arsenal has one extraordinarily powerful and proven effective tool. Quality pre-kindergarten programs for kids at risk have staggering crime prevention benefits by intercepting at-risk children before they become hard-wired by a culture of crime.

Jun 24, 2008 (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Report: Georgia pre-k falls behind
Georgia, the first state to offer universal voluntary pre-kindergarten, has now fallen behind other states in educational programs for 4-year-olds, according to a report to be issued today.

Jun 24, 2008 (Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY)
Editorial: State should find funds for taking care of kids
Make child care subsidies a priority right now
The larger issue is the need to support low-income families in need of child care. It's that crucial care that's needed to help make other initiatives successful such as getting more families to take advantage of universal prekindergarten and getting more parents off welfare and into jobs. But without so-called wraparound care, those worthy efforts are doomed to fail.

Jun 24, 2008 (The Reporter-Herald, Loveland, CO)
More children can go to preschool for free
State legislators recently passed funding to add more than 6,000 slots in the Colorado Preschool program statewide, including 45 in the Thompson School District's Integrated Early Childhood program.

Jun 23, 2008 (The State, Columbia, SC)
Opinion: Pre-K essential to adequate education
In the Abbeville County case, scheduled to be argued on Wednesday, the justices are being asked to apply the language of the state constitution, which guarantees an adequate public education for every child, to pre-kindergarten.

Jun 21, 2008 (The Akron Beacon Journal)
Foundation of learning is built in the home
About one in three Akron students begin kindergarten without a basic framework of skills. But local programs are showing parents how to be their child's best teacher.
Nearly 29 percent of children entering kindergarten in Akron Public Schools last fall started their public education already behind their classmates on basic readiness skills, according to data released last week by the Ohio Department of Education. The Kindergarten Readiness Assessment-Literacy (KRA-L) tests given to incoming kindergartners every fall since 2004 measure a child's ability to comprehend and process oral language and identify letters, rhymes and sounds.

Jun 20, 2008 (Reno Gazette-Journal)
Language immersion program aims to make students bilingual
Classes will include 50 percent English speakers who have no or limited Spanish proficiency skills and 50 percent Spanish speakers who have no or limited English skills. The program will provide instruction in both languages while encouraging cultural awareness in the process.

Jun 19, 2008 (Gotham Gazette, New York, NY)
The Quest for Childcare: Few Spaces, Little Information
Although New York City offers low-cost or free childcare, there are not enough places for every child. And even when a program is available, many immigrant families do not know how to navigate the complicated system to receive this service.

Jun 19, 2008 (Public Opinion, Chambersburg, PA)
Pre-K program showing 94% success rate
An assessment at the end of the 180-day, Pre-K Counts school year determines whether children are at the right level to begin kindergarten. Areas assessed include language, literacy and math readiness, as well as social-emotional development. The Department of Education announced this week that 94 percent of Pre-K Counts children finished the school year with age-appropriate skills and behavior or emerging age-appropriate skills and behavior.

Jun 19, 2008 (Washington Informer)
Advocates for Pre-K For All Celebrate Legislative Victory
The Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Act of 2008 provides city legislators, like D.C. Council Chair Vincent C. Gray, the opportunity to "redefine what education is" and when it starts by ensuring that every family in the District has access to high quality Pre-kindergarten programs. Charlotte Brookins-Hudson, one of the authors of the act and former General Counsel to the D.C. Council, said children whose families cannot afford to put their children in private Pre-K programs are being left behind academically.

Jun 19, 2008 (The Town Talk, Alexandria, LA)
Editorial: Pre-K success makes a case for new funds
LA4 is a real success story, primarily because it focuses on academics and accountability. A team of researchers led by Craig Ramey of Georgetown University's Center on Health and Education Results evaluates the program annually. Findings have shown consistent progress in language, print and mathematics skills.

Jun 18, 2008 (San Mateo County Times, San Mateo, CA)
High quality preschool helps minorities close achievement gap
San Mateo County preschool program viewed as model for state
Many more Latino children like Josue should participate in high-quality programs such as Preschool for All, according to a new study released today by the independent nonprofit research organization RAND Corp. The study represents the first comprehensive statewide look at the quality and use of early-childhood care and education programs.

Jun 18, 2008 (The Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, OH)
Strickland aims to make education more personalized
Gov. Ted Strickland wants a more flexible and personalized system of public schools where students are encouraged to be more creative and innovative.

Jun 17, 2008 (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Programs help students get ready for kindergarten
Some school districts, like Webster Groves, realize that some students might need more help with the transition to kindergarten, so they're enrolling them for month-long programs during the summer and teaching them what it takes to succeed in the fall. The programs are a big step beyond your typical kindergarten introduction event, where wide-eyed youngsters may tour their classroom, eat a real school lunch, and get to climb on that big yellow bus for the first time.

Jun 17, 2008 (KSFY, Sioux Falls, SD)
New Program For Pre-K Kids
A Pre-Kindergarten Pilot Program has been set up in Sioux Falls and legislators in Brown County are taking note. Officials will have the first year results of the Sioux Falls Pre-K Pilot Program by August.

Jun 16, 2008 (The Seattle Times)
Column: Education: As the twig is bent ...
Wouldn't it be great if there were a single solution to our most vexing problems? We could add productive workers, cut crime, reduce teen pregnancies and save money, too. Well, just click your heels, because we already have that power; we just have to recognize it and act on it. The magic lies in early education: all the emotional, physical, social and cognitive learning kids do between birth and 5.

Jun 15, 2008 (The Boston Globe)
In an on-demand world, can parents retain control?
If you're also willing to turn off the set, then TV-at-your-whim can be a terrific parenting tool. In his new book "Anytime Playdate," Dade Hayes argues that the preschool TV landscape, the subject of much hand-wringing, does offer some serious teaching and parenting tools.

Jun 13, 2008 (The Tuscaloosa News, Tuscaloosa, AL)
Alabama’s new budget expands pre-K
Alabama's new education budget will allow the state's pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds to add more than 1,000 students across the state.

Jun 12, 2008 (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Pre-K Counts, Head Start stress early education
Pennsylvania this year introduced the Pre-K Counts program that provides schooling for 3- and 4-year-olds from families whose income can be as much as three times the national poverty level. Both Pre-K Counts and its federal counterpart, Head Start, provide youngsters with a play-learning atmosphere that introduces education and socialization.

Jun 12, 2008 (Martinsville Bulletin, Martinsville, VA)
Early learning pays off
Preschool kids score better after initiative
Students who took part in a Henry County preschool program earned higher test scores than their peers, according to a report presented to the school board by Dr. Dawn Holley, elementary curriculum specialist. Among 2007-08 kindergartners, 82 percent of those who participated in the state-funded Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) as 4-year-olds made the fall PALS kindergarten benchmark, Holley said.

Jun 12, 2008 (The Providence Journal)
Opinion: Head Start really works
Because Rhode Island policy makers recognized the importance of early education to the development of foundational cognitive and social skills, policy makers wisely chose to invest state funds to provide Head Start to 400 children who would otherwise be on a waiting list. If state funds are not available, these 400 children will miss a powerful opportunity: to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.

Jun 10, 2008 (The Wall Street Journal)
The war on obesity targets toddlers
The jury is still out on whether obesity programs for toddlers work or are even desirable. Because such programs are so new, their effectiveness hasn't been well-documented and the limited research that exists is mixed. Experts also caution that children need a balanced diet and should be able to eat unlimited amounts of nutritious foods, like vegetables. Children up to about the age of 5 need a higher percentage of fat in their diet than do adults, so following professionals' nutrition advice is critical for parents who want to manage their children's weight.

Jun 10, 2008 (The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, FL)
'Blended' pre-K program a success
Federal law requires school districts to serve children with disabilities beginning at age 3. Most of those in Volusia attended classes for part of the day and school officials assumed -- as the state allowed -- that they were exposed to typically developing children at home or in other settings once they left school. The state changed that rule in 2006-07 as it set the goal of having 76 percent of pre-K children with disabilities educated with typically developing peers by the 2010-11 school year.

Jun 10, 2008 (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
Unique room helps kids hurdle learning obstacles
The school has some sensory equipment in its pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms, but an entire room dedicated to sensory integration is the first of its kind in the Tupelo Public School District. The classroom provides just the right challenges for students depending on their circumstances, [special education teacher Ellen] Hill said, which could include autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.

Jun 8, 2008 (The Boston Globe)
Editorial: Preschool, Italian style
The Reggio [Emilia] schools have infant and toddler programs, and preschools for older children. Teachers focus on children's competence, and their ability to be small but vital educational researchers. The schedule is loose enough to follow the children's leads, and the schools are architecturally appealing, meant to inspire learning.

Jun 8, 2008 (Whittier Daily News, Whittier, CA)
Report: Early kindergarten cutoff date benefits children
The primary benefit [of changing the kindergarten cutoff date] is better elementary math and reading scores that persist as far as eighth grade, researchers said, because some students would be a year older when taking those tests. But it also may increase the so-called "achievement gap" between poor students and their more affluent peers whose birthdays fall in this three-month gap, mostly because higher-income families would be able to afford a better preschool education than low-income families.

Jun 8, 2008 (The Reporter, Lansdale, PA)
Business leaders hold early childhood education summit
An investment in early childhood education is an investment in the future success of the entire community. That was the message conveyed at a recent Business Leaders Summit on Early Childhood Education held in King of Prussia.

Jun 6, 2008 (The Buffalo News)
New Pre-K approach to math adds up
Instead of memorization, Building Blocks teachers encourage pupils to find the reasons behind shapes and numbers, and teach math throughout the day instead of during one class period, [Professor Douglas] Clements said. The teachers also emphasize counting throughout life, such as observing the number of stop signs on the way home from school.

Jun 6, 2008 (Education Week)
Long-term economic payoff seen from early-childhood education
The latest analysis of a long-running early-childhood-education program for children of low-income families in Chicago suggests economic payoffs from such services that continue well into adulthood.

Jun 5, 2008 (The Tennessean)
Tight state budget derails parent's hopes for pre-K
Program can't expand
Middle Tennessee parents are being notified their children won't attend state-funded pre-kindergarten this fall, their registrations canceled in the wake of an abrupt freeze on a planned $25 million program expansion.

Jun 4, 2008 (The Herald, Smithfield, NC)
Editorial: Are our kids getting smarter?
Each year, the state spends hundreds of millions of dollars on preschool and child-care programs in North Carolina. And each year, very little assessment takes place showing exactly what taxpayers are getting for their dollar.

Jun 4, 2008 (Newsweek)
Column: Is EF the New IQ?
Why the ability to resist distraction, a skill scientists call
But recent advances in psychology and brain science are now suggesting that a child's ability to inhibit distracting thoughts and stay focused may be a fundamental cognitive skill, one that plays a big part in academic success from preschool on. EF comprises not only effortful control and cognitive focus but also working memory and mental flexibility—the ability to adjust to change, to think outside the box.

Jun 3, 2008 (The Shreveport Times, Shreveport, LA)
Some may have to pay for preschool
Some parents may have to pay for their child to attend a public preschool next year. If families aren't enrolled in the federally-funded free and or reduced-price meal program, they may be asked to pay at least $450 monthly for their child to attend prekindergarten classes funded through the state's Cecil J. Picard LA 4 preschool program.

Jun 3, 2008 (The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, IN)
Editorial: Small steps in learning …
In spite of the growing need, Indiana remains among early childhood education's dirty dozen – 12 states that dedicate no state money to preschool programs. [Indiana] falls behind, if one is to accept sound research that the most important brain development happens before the age of 5 and that every dollar invested in high-quality pre-kindergarten saves taxpayers up to $7.

Jun 2, 2008 (The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY)
Head Start's Holding Pattern
Across the nation, Head Start programs are facing troubles related to a budget crunch: high staff turnover, reduced hours, staff cuts. The [National Head Start Association] report found that half the programs studied now worry about teacher salaries so low staff would likely leave and 62 percent plan to reduce hours or days of operation.

Jun 2, 2008 (Lansing State Journal)
Preschoolers get play areas all their own
The Michigan School Readiness Program, a grant which has funded the launch of several Lansing preschools, requires those schools to build age-appropriate playgrounds. The new play places are smaller in size and surrounded by mulch that squishes underfoot, thanks to a synthetic shock-absorbent subsurface intended to help reduce injuries.

Jun 1, 2008 (Tulsa World, Tulsa, OK)
Editorial: Early returns
Though the importance of appropriate early childhood education is better appreciated than ever before, still-emerging research — some of it being generated right here in Tulsa — is beginning to suggest the earlier, the better. Such research, if it proves to be well-founded in the next few years, will have important implications in the growing debate over funding universal pre-school programs.

Jun 1, 2008 (Catalyst Chicago)
Teach for America goes to preschool
Teach for America, the national program that sends top-tier college graduates to teach in high-needs public schools, has a new mission: Early childhood education. It's all a response to the need for high-quality early childhood teachers in community preschools, says Teach for America's leadership.

May 30, 2008 (The Times Picayune, New Orleans, LA)
Letter to the Editor: Preschool molds good citizens
Right now, our state legislators are considering bills that would make pre-kindergarten programs available to every 4-year-old in Louisiana by the year 2013. Our state legislators must pass this bill, because quality pre-K is proven to cut future crime.

May 29, 2008 (The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ)
An early start on homework
Preschoolers now tackle assignments, and some wonder at what cost
Not so long ago, kindergarten homework was cutting edge. But as parents fret over children falling behind, homework in preschool is becoming the norm -- despite the fact researchers say it has little value. For preschoolers, they say, it might even be detrimental.

May 29, 2008 (The New York Times)
Pre-K System Faulted as Confusing to Parents
A new application process intended to simplify pre-kindergarten enrollment has left parents confused and angry about options for their children, New York City's public advocate said on Wednesday.

May 28, 2008 (The Wall Street Journal)
Checking Up: States' Reports On Child-Care Centers Hit Web
In the past, state regulators' inspections of child-care centers and homes for safety, quality and cleanliness typically were cloaked in bureaucratic obscurity. To see the records, parents often had to drive to a state office during the workday or file cumbersome written requests under state freedom-of-information laws. Now, 20 of the 50 states have begun posting the records online, and at least 13 more plan to do so soon.

May 28, 2008 (The News Journal, Wilmington, DE)
Making preschoolers stars
Program provides first-class early care
Thanks to Delaware Stars for Early Success -- the state's five-star quality rating and improvement system for early care providers -- the Wilmington child care center has revitalized the playground, added libraries and sandboxes in every classroom and put several staff members through intense professional development.

May 28, 2008 (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Opinion: Early learning key stage of education
No one is suggesting mandatory pre-school. Parents should be supported as a child's first teacher. I suggest a state delivery system of early learning that is voluntary but fully funded and available to all.

May 27, 2008 (The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA)
Lawmakers ax reading plan
A bid by state educators to lift student achievement off the bottom has turned into a key point of controversy in Gov. Bobby Jindal's budget proposal. The issue under debate is Jindal's proposal to spend $14 million on a new program for improving reading skills for children from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade.

May 27, 2008 (The Wenatchee World, Wenatchee, WA)
Editorial: Dividends from early education
There is an opportunity here to invest in education where there will be a measurable payoff. Washington state has moved ahead, increasing funding for preschool programs substantially, but there should be more, and more outlets for private contributions involvement.

May 25, 2008 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Pre-K Counts turns fun into learning
This year marks the first time that Pennsylvania has dedicated state funding for preschool programs, a decision driven in part by research contending that every dollar spent on high-quality Pre-K programs results in $17 less in future spending on education, crime and social welfare.

May 25, 2008 (The Charlotte Observer)
Editorial: Preschool's value
Programs work, but tracking could help them work better
What effect the prekindergarten program might have on 4-year-olds once they reach their teen years would be beneficial for parents, educators, politicians and other taxpayers to know.

May 25, 2008 (The Columbia Daily Tribune)
Promoting preschools
Business partnerships are sought to fund early childhood education.
Providing children with quality preschool has the power to eliminate academic achievement gaps, lower crime rates, decrease dependence on social services and boost employment opportunities later in life, two decades of research has shown. Early childhood education might not be a magic bullet to solve all social ailments, but it's by far the best return on an investment society can make, said Greg Steinhoff, director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

May 22, 2008 (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
Annual child wellness report commends Tennessee's pre-K efforts
The 2007 Kids Count report by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, released early today, says the state has received national attention for its pre-K efforts. "For the past two years, Tennessee was recognized by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) as one of only six states with the highest quality Pre-K program standards," said the report, titled "Opportunity for All Children in Tennessee."

May 22, 2008 (KPLC TV, Lake Charles, LA)
Choosing a Preschool is Exciting -- and Difficult
Shopping for preschools for your little one for the first time is exciting, but it can be difficult to know which is the best choice. The first thing you should consider, says Amita Gupta, an associate professor of early childhood education at The City College of New York, is what kind of environment you are comfortable with.

May 21, 2008 (The Tennessean)
District proceeds with pre-K plans despite program cuts
Although funding for Gov. Phil Bredesen's $25 million pre-kindergarten expansion program has been cut from next year's budget, Sumner County school officials say they are moving forward with plans to launch two new pre-K classes this August.

May 20, 2008 (The Daily Journal, San Mateo, CA)
Making day care safer during a disaster
Despite recent disasters including the 2001 terrorist attacks, many child-care providers don’t have emergency plans for their charges, experts say. Parents need to take matters into their own hands by asking if plans are in place, says Linda Smith, executive director of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies.

May 20, 2008 (The Daily Press, Newport News, VA)
Editorial: The payoff
Skip subsidies. This economic development pays off: Preschool
But there's a big payoff to another kind of public investment: in quality preschool. That modifier is important, since quality early childhood education is the only kind found to make a real difference down the line.

May 20, 2008 (The Garden Island, Lihu'e, HI )
Bill offers footing for universal preschool
The Early Learning Council that would be created by Senate Bill 2878 "is key in establishing a comprehensive, quality early learning system" to be known as Keiki First Steps, said Anna Peters of the Kaua'i Good Beginnings Alliance. The bill relating to early learning sits on the desk of Gov. Linda Lingle.

May 19, 2008 (The Dallas Morning News)
Project aims to give low-income Dallas toddlers an educational boost
Toddlers are shaping up to be the next generation of preschoolers, a pattern fueled by fears that poor children aren't ready to learn when their first school bell rings. University of Texas researchers say the answer is to start younger. They are using a $6 million federal grant to test out preschool for poor 2- and 3-year-olds in Houston and Tallahassee, Fla., day-care centers.

May 19, 2008 (The Beaumont Enterprise, Beaumont, TX)
Preschool teachers focus on interaction
A recent University of Virginia study noted that the better the interaction a child has with a teacher in preschool, the better the child's academic development.

May 19, 2008 (Chicago Tribune)
Teacher tries to help preschoolers stay alive
Students' stories of gang violence changed her lesson plan
With this school year's large numbers of Chicago Public Schools students dying from gunfire, the 15-year teacher [Marisol Sierra] has had to update her curriculum to include lessons that could mean life or death to her young charges, she said. The students, some in pigtails and some wearing shirts with animal figures, immediately began talking about the latest run-ins they and their families have had with the gang members who loiter on their blocks.

May 17, 2008 (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA)
Opinion: Crayons, scissors and jobs for Louisiana
Some type of publicly funded pre-K is operating in almost every parish, but all the public pre-Ks target low-income children. As a result, the program misses many children who would benefit.

May 16, 2008 (Asbury Park Press)
A preschool open to all children
Approval of the preschool culminates more than two years of efforts and research into establishing the unique program by district administrators and staff. Robert Mulligan, supervisor of special education for the Point Pleasant Beach School District, said the integration of typical students and those with special needs will be a positive step for the entire preschool class.

May 16, 2008 (HuntingtonNews.Net)
Marshall University's Early Education Outreach Program Receives $300,000 from Benedum Foundation
Marshall University has received a $300,000 award from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to expand a statewide Pre-K professional development initiative that will impact Pre-K educators throughout West Virginia, according to Monica DellaMea, director of the Marshall University Early Education Outreach Program (MUEEOP). The MUEEOP, a service program of the Marshall University College of Education and Human Services, will expand its current capabilities to provide sustained professional development for West Virginia Pre-K teachers throughout the state.

May 15, 2008 (The Palm Beach Post)
Editorial: A new early warning
On per-child spending and quality, the National Institute for Early Education Research in March ranked Florida 34th of 38 states that finance preschool. And Florida meets just four of the eight quality standards the group measures, lacking in training and credentials for pre-K teachers.

May 14, 2008 (Bangor Daily News)
AG cites benefits of educating youth
Maine is not doing enough to invest time, energy and money in its youngest residents, [Attorney General Steven] Rowe said. As a result, the state spends more than it should on criminal justice, special education, substance abuse and domestic violence recovery programs, Rowe said.

May 12, 2008 (USA Today)
More state funding helps fuel preschool growth
Proponents of publicly financed pre-K say the push will pay off in better achievement, higher graduation rates and lower chances that a child will need expensive special-ed services. But they also say the quality of programs is uneven.

May 12, 2008 (The Tribune, Greeley, CO)
Full-day kindergarten: Educators solid on the idea but funding isn't
Right now, most of the students who go to kindergarten full time are either poor or at-risk students, meaning they are entering the school system below grade level in terms of reading. But after going to kindergarten full time, educators say those students are either meeting or exceeding the test scores of their peers.

May 12, 2008 (St. Joseph News-Press, St. Joseph, MO)
Preschool program focuses on inclusion
UCP offers setting where kids with and without delays can help one another grow
Last fall, the preschool moved from serving only children with severe developmental delays to an integrated setting, where children with mild to severe delays, as well as no delays, mix. Integrated programs (also referred to as inclusion) can benefit children with and without disabilities, particularly with respect to social development, according to the National Professional Development Center on Inclusion.

May 9, 2008 (KGO-TV, San Francisco, CA)
Preschool expectations higher than ever
The California Department of Education has just come out with its first ever list of skills preschools should be teaching. The 205-page document is full of recommendations to push children further than many schools are used to.

May 8, 2008 (The Birmingham News)
Editorial: Alabama's state budgets won't make everyone happy, but they do manage to protect and even expand some important programs
The education budget, which the Senate will likely debate today, also would increase spending on prekindergarten by more than $9 million, almost doubling this year's amount.

May 8, 2008 (Imperial Valley News, Yuma, AZ)
Plan to Improve California Preschool Options Highlighted
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today joined Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Member Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) at Jedediah Smith Elementary School's preschool program to highlight a new legislative bill package aimed at expanding quality preschool options for children in California. The bills, sponsored by O'Connell, Preschool California, Children Now, and the California Child Development Administrators Association, will streamline funding for preschool and improve preschool quality.

May 7, 2008 (The Times, Shreveport, LA)
Editorial: Pre-K programs deserve support from Senate
Louisiana Senate Bill 286 and its twin in the House (HB 722) would make pre-kindergarten programs available to every Louisiana 4-year-old by the year 2013. The potential long-range benefit to the student and the state is considerable, and the hefty price tag that comes along with it should be considered a long-term investment rather than a short-term expense.

May 7, 2008 (The Sun, Mount Vernon, IA)
Push made for public preschool
With the deadline for applying for a state early childhood education grant approaching, Mount Vernon School District Superintendent Jeff Schwiebert told those attending a preschool forum last week that the district would be applying.

May 7, 2008 (Arkansas News Bureau)
Fewer teachers leaving after first year, panel told
Also during the meeting, the joint committee approved an interim study by Rep. Nancy Blount, D-Marianna, which creates a task force to study the development of a birth-to-kindergarten teacher license in the state. Blount said such a program would allow for day care teachers to receive further training in how to teach children too young for preschool.

May 7, 2008 (Central Florida News 13)
Pre-K Essential For Later Success
According to the Center for Public Education, every dollar spent for pre-K can save up to $16 in public education because fewer students need to be placed in special education classes, and that means fewer students are held back. Also, studies show pre-kindergarten education increases test scores and graduation rates.

May 6, 2008 (Consumer Electronics Net)
Study Shows Children's Web Sites May Be Entertaining, But May Also Make Kids Cry
Most Popular Sites Commercialized; Some 'Sell' Kids' Creations Back to Them
Publishers of many major children's Web sites should do a better job disclosing sales and advertising information to parents, especially as more kids at younger ages go online to play and meet friends, says a study released today by Consumer Reports WebWatch and the Mediatech Foundation of Flemington, N.J. The study, "Like Taking Candy from a Baby: How Young Children Interact with Online Environments," used ethnographic methods and focused on young children, ages 2 1/2 to 8.

May 6, 2008 (San Mateo County Times)
Preschool bills getting high grades from county official
AB2759, authored by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, would consolidate all of the existing state preschool, prekindergarten, family literacy, general child care and development programs. It would then create the California State Preschool Program, the largest state-funded effort of its kind in the nation.

May 6, 2008 (Twin Cities Daily Planet, Minneapolis, MN)
Opening the door to early learning
The question is how to get all children ready, when economic factors, types of child care and early childhood learning opportunities vary so greatly. More focus on early childhood learning by establishing an Office of Early Learning might just help boost the bottom line, supporters say.

May 4, 2008 (Southeast Missourian)
Pre-K learning benefits children
Children who can identify letters and sounds before kindergarten are 20 times more likely to read basic words by the end of kindergarten than children who don't know their letters or sounds, according to Pre-K Now. The Washington, D.C. advocacy group also says students who start behind often also stay behind; 88 percent of first-graders who struggle at reading continue to struggle with reading in fourth grade, the group reports.

May 3, 2008 (The News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA)
Early childhood education support expanding in state
The state's plan to nurture early learning in young children has become a large, very active effort, according to Kathy Glazer, director of the governor's newly created Office of Early Childhood Development.

May 2, 2008 (The Ottawa Citizen)
Editorial: The benefits of early learning
It is well worth exploring how making early childhood education available to most Quebec children, not just those whose parents can afford it, has played into its students' above average literacy and math skills. Several U.S. studies and one that looked at the Quebec program concluded that the benefits to children - cognitive, academic and health - and their families, far outweighed the costs.

May 2, 2008 (The Greenville News, Greenville, SC)
Opinion: Progress slow toward educational excellence
So what can be done to improve our state's high school graduation rates? The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study tracked children from impoverished backgrounds and concluded that students who attended high-quality preschool classes are more likely to graduate from high school.

May 2, 2008 (The New York Times)
An Initiative on Reading Is Rated Ineffective
President Bush's $1 billion a year initiative to teach reading to low-income children has not helped improve their reading comprehension, according to a Department of Education report released on Thursday. The program, known as Reading First, drew on some of Mr. Bush's educational experiences as Texas governor, and at his insistence Congress included it in the federal No Child Left Behind legislation that passed by bipartisan majorities in 2001.

May 1, 2008 (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Editorial: Expand pre-k for kids' sake
Debate continues over whether Atlanta ought to adopt a lottery system for pre-k rather than rely on the first-come, first-served basis that favors parents with the financial wherewithal to take off work for most of the week. The real debate ought to center around why there aren't enough high-quality pre-k classes to go around.

May 1, 2008 (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Child care workers in U.S. averaged $18,820 in 2006
Child care workers typically earn less than locker-room attendants and service-station workers, pulling in $18,820 a year in 2006, according to a report released Thursday. Despite recent attention about the importance of early education, the hourly rate of the industry's arguably most important people, child care workers with some college education, rose only 39 cents over the last 35 years, AFT said.

Apr 30, 2008 (The Kansas City Star)
Kansas leads push to expand pre-K education
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius wants more children from low-income families to have a chance at preschool and, based on the statistics, a better life. This year, she asked the Kansas Legislature to spend a lot more money — $27 million extra — on early childhood learning.

Apr 30, 2008 (The Ruston Daily Leader, Ruston, LA)
Even Start fights for life
There used to be 33 Even Start sites across the state, but that number has been reduced to 10 because of a lack of funds. Even Start receives no state funding, and administrators are pushing to change that.

Apr 28, 2008 (Asbury Park Press)
Preschool classes give children a leg up
POSITIVE RESULTS: 2nd graders who had prekindergarten test better
At first, the children in Sandra Davis' prekindergarten class look like they're having a good time, surrounding the teacher as she reads them a story and playfully calling out answers to her questions about the story. Real learning is going on here, however. Proof of that is in results of standardized tests administered to second-graders who were in the district's first all-day prekindergarten class in 2004-05.

Apr 28, 2008 (The Honolulu Advertiser)
Hawaii lawmakers push keiki education
More than 80% of Isle kids begin school lacking needed skills
Hawai'i is about to take the first step toward greater state involvement in the education of preschool children. With milestone legislation poised for passage, Hawai'i is expected to join a growing list of states that have established some form of an early childhood education system.

Apr 28, 2008 (The Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT)
Grants Help Ready Colchester Kids For Kindergarten
Colchester's organized collaboration between home day-care centers, private nursery schools and town-run preschools has some state educators looking at the school system as a model for early childhood education and intervention in a community that once would not have been considered for such assistance.

Apr 27, 2008 (Chicago Tribune)
Science, politics and preschool
Experts agree: Kids need early education programs. But how early?
A tide of recent research on early childhood development is inspiring prominent scientists and politicians to argue for an unprecedented investment in schooling that begins virtually at birth. But as decades of academic studies on brain development start to land in the real world, experts are divided on whether to focus new funding on infants and toddlers, or conventional preschool.

Apr 24, 2008 (The Home News Tribune, East Brunswick, NJ)
Analysis: N.J. spends most on preschool
New Jersey allocates an average of $10,494 in state funding for each child enrolled in pre-kindergarten. That's 33.6 percent more than the second-highest-spending state, Oregon.

Apr 24, 2008 (The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA)
First 5 commissioner urges school bonds to build preschools too
The founder of a nonprofit group seeking to break down barriers to early childhood education said Wednesday that the next statewide school construction bond must include funding for new preschool classrooms. Molly Munger, a First 5 California state commissioner and founder of the Advancement Project Los Angeles, said the Inland region is not accessing all the funding it could be for early-childhood programs because there is a shortage of places to house them.

Apr 24, 2008 (The Mississippi Press)
Opinion: Good session for education
The Early Childhood Education Program is one of the more important areas to develop. Mississippi is one of a dozen states that did not fund a pre-kindergarten program in the 2006-07 school year, according to a report by The National Institute for Early Childhood Research.

Apr 23, 2008 (Visalia Times-Delta, Visalia, CA)
Preschoolers learn language skills to prepare for kindergarten
Preschool is the time to learn your ABCs — and your números uno, dos y tres. Spanish and even American Sign Language are making their way into the preschool curriculum. Children are learning not just to communicate, but to do so in a multicultural society.

Apr 23, 2008 (The Wenatchee World, Wenatchee, WA)
Parents study how to give kids a head start
Without these early lessons, Pedro and Cassandra may have started kindergarten already behind their peers — the beginning of a long achievement gap. North Central Washington Readiness for Kindergarten is a grant project that offers parents three group classes and follow-up home visits with literacy specialists.

Apr 23, 2008 (Times Daily, Florence, AL)
Riley confident Alabama pre-k funding won't be cut
Alabama is facing a massive $375 million deficit in its education budget for Fiscal Year 2009, but Gov. Bob Riley says he's confident the looming cuts feared by colleges and the K-12 system won't affect the state's youngest students.

Apr 22, 2008 (KHON 2 News, Honolulu, HI)
Hawaii's early education in the spotlight
Early education gets a boost as experts from three other states join Hawaii to improve policies. A four day conference is underway to strategize on early childhood development and education. And the idea is to learn from others by sharing policies that have worked best. Experts from Washington, Florida, and Mississippi have joined in.

Apr 22, 2008 (Rocky Mountain News, Denver, CO)
Preschool program grows slowly, but gaining steam
Organizers say it's 'like trying to ride the bike while ... assembling it'
Fewer than 700 kids are enrolled in a voter-approved Denver Preschool Program that was supposed to handle 4,000. But enrollment numbers are expected to grow to 3,800 by August and possibly 6,600 in the future.

Apr 20, 2008 (The Oklahoman)
Pre-K - it's not just about social skills anymore
Since the advent of federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind and the prevalence of computers in classrooms, curriculums have changed nationwide as well as here in Oklahoma. Schools that once used the pre-K years primarily to socialize children are now making use of those early years to lay the foundation for not only reading, but math and science, as well.

Apr 17, 2008 (The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA)
Opinion: Why early learning is crucial for kids
Studies show the experiences -- both positive and negative -- that these children have before they turn 5 will affect their learning and social development, and economic contribution for life. Young children learn best when they have activities that stimulate creativity, curiosity and all the skills they need to succeed, proper health and nutrition, and a safe and stable family/home life.

Apr 17, 2008 (The Brownsville Herald, Brownsville, TX)
Early development critical to children's success
While Brownsville educators can attempt to provide incentives to students at the high school and university level, experts at United Way of Southern Cameron County emphasize that early childhood development is key in forging intellectual abilities that will benefit community children for life. Unlike tutors, summer school, and special educational tools that a child may need as they get older, a young child can reap exponential benefits from the cost-free stimulation of a parent's company.

Apr 17, 2008 (KTKA, Topeka, KS)
Early childhood education task force sets out to achieve mission
Just by playing with each other, Corrie Fitzgerald with the Topeka Lutheran School for Young children said the young minds are learning the social skills necessary to have an enjoyable educational experience. But for more than 1,300 Topeka 3-to-4-year-olds, pre-school isn't an option.
The reason, there just isn't enough room.

Apr 15, 2008 (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
Children seem to thrive on learning multiple languages
For many years, parents and teachers assumed that teaching a foreign tongue to young children might be too difficult. But language teachers who work with younger children say you need only hear the children of immigrants to understand how learning more than one language is not only possible, but beneficial.

Apr 15, 2008 (The Kansas City Star)
Missouri panel to study public pre-K education
A statewide task force soon will begin exploring how Missouri might move toward building a more extensive system of publicly funded pre-kindergarten education. The Missouri Panel on School Readiness: Focus on Pre-Kindergarten Education will meet three times during the summer with the aim of producing a report in November.

Apr 14, 2008 (The Free Press, Mankato, MN)
Preschooler boom signals difficulties
Funds not up to par with increase in population
The Mankato Area School District has already identified a population boom among its preschool-aged children and has projected large enrollment increases in the coming years. The Waseca School District will welcome its largest kindergarten class in years next fall while the Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial School District is trying to expand early childhood education services to meet population increases.

Apr 14, 2008 (The Daily Advertiser, Lafayette, LA)
Officials promote moves to expand pre-K
Summit seeks to further reach
In Louisiana, more than 15,000 4-year-olds are enrolled in pre-K programs from the state called LA4. It's a large number compared to the 1,000 that were enrolled six years ago. Funding has continued to grow for the program that demands a certain level of quality when it comes to curriculum and teachers.

Apr 11, 2008 (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
Editorial: State's Department of Early Learning paying dividends
Washington should benefit significantly from its strong commitment to early childhood education. Early learning programs are thought to give the biggest bang for the education dollar.

Apr 9, 2008 (Asbury Park Press)
Opinion: Returns on pre-K funding prove it's a wise investment for state
As to the question of whether New Jersey can afford to expand public pre-K, the answer is clearly "yes." Pre-K pays off so well because we pay a high price for failure, particularly in a time when even children from middle-income families have much too high a chance of needing long-term special education or dropping out of school.

Apr 8, 2008 (Daily Camera, Boulder, CO)
Lawmakers focus on preschoolers
State lawmakers want to put tens of thousands of 4- and 5-year-olds in preschool and kindergarten next year under the school finance act.

Apr 7, 2008 (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS)
Editorial: Pre-K: Mississippi is now falling farther behind
Southern states lead the nation in the overall quality of publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs for 4-year-olds, a recent study shows, but you wouldn't know it in Mississippi.

Apr 4, 2008 (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
St. Charles School District considers preschool program
Results from a recent survey sent home with elementary school students showed most parents would like to see an early childhood preschool program in the St. Charles School District. Nearly 84 percent of about 400 parents who responded said they would send their child to the preschool, and about 75 percent said they would be able to pay tuition if it were on a sliding scale based on income.

Apr 2, 2008 (The Washington Times)
Council approves pre-K increase
D.C. Council members yesterday gave unanimous preliminary approval to legislation expanding the city's educational offerings to 3- and 4-year-olds, a move that coincides with a national trend to serve students before they reach kindergarten.

Apr 1, 2008 (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
Pre-k demand swells
Georgia and Tennessee lawmakers this week are working on budgets that could add 1,000 new pre-kindergarten seats in the Peach State and nearly 300 additional seats in Tennessee.

Mar 26, 2008 (The Record, Bergen County, NJ)
Editorial: Abbott vs. Corzine
The Abbott system has directed state funding to 31 districts designated as impoverished. They include one in Bergen County, Garfield; and two in Passaic County, Paterson and the city of Passaic. The districts have benefited from a huge influx of aid to bolster their relatively low property tax revenues, two mandatory years of pre-kindergarten education, and the bulk of a multibillion-dollar school construction program.

Mar 25, 2008 (Connecticut Post)
Editorial: Boost investment in early education
Connecticut can be justifiably proud that its early childhood education programs rank among the tops in the nation, but the state still has much work to do to meet the needs of poor children in its urban centers such as Bridgeport.

Mar 24, 2008 (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA)
Editorial: Keep focus on early start