Â鶹¹ÙÍø Works to Raise Awareness About the Importance of Early Childhood Education
Research proves that quality early childhood education programs can help:
- improve children’s school readiness; and
- close achievement gaps that exist among children even before they enter school.
Research also finds that children who participate in high-quality programs:
- demonstrate greater interest in learning;
- are less likely to repeat a grade;
- are less likely to require special education classes; and
- are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college.
States have recognized the benefits of early childhood education. As many as 40 states fund preschool for three- and four-year-olds. However, recent fiscal conditions threaten to derail some of this progress.
Â鶹¹ÙÍø Supports Pre-K Education
From 2006 to 2011, Â鶹¹ÙÍø and its Center for Public Education collaborated with Pre-K Now, a campaign of the Pew Center on the States, to engage school boards in support of high-quality, voluntary prekindergarten education.
As a legacy to these accomplishments, Â鶹¹ÙÍø and its Center for Public Education administered The Pre-K Coalition through funding from the Pew Center on the States. It brought together the most influential national education organizations to develop common goals for pre-k policy and raise awareness about the importance of early learning.
The coalition developed consensus policy statements and recommendations on a number of key early education issues to inform federal policy and legislation
Why is Federal Action Necessary?
- The U.S. Department of Education currently spends less than 1 percent of its total budget on preschool education.
- Access to publicly funded pre-k programs is uneven. Eleven states do not offer any publicly funded pre-k education.
- Compared to other developed countries, the United States invests fewer resources in preschool programs.
See Â鶹¹ÙÍø's position on early childhood education for more about what you can do to advocate for quality pre-k programs.