Child Care and Early Education Legislative Network E-Update
December 2007
In this Update:
What's New
Upcoming Events
New Resources
Legislation Highlights
Forthcoming Publications
Technical Assistance
Launch of the Birth to Five Policy Alliance Website
The Birth to Five Policy Alliance Website was launched on November 14, 2007. It is the first site in the country dedicated to providing a one-stop shop for information. On the website you will find: 50 state information on the activities by legislatures, governors, and communities; state policy profiles; state-by-state data; key research plus ideas, options and best practices policymakers can use; and specific tools geared to the needs of business and community leaders.
Click here to view the website.
Child Care and Early Learning Legislative Database
NCSL will be launching a Child Care and Early Learning legislative database using State Net, a legislative tracking service. The searchable database will contain all proposed and enacted legislation concerning child care and early education for the 2008 legislative session. In addition, NCSL will be posting biweekly updates providing information on the latest legislative action addressing child development and early learning from all states. Look for this starting in January. Contact Kelli Kelty (kelli.kelty@ncsl.org) if you have any suggestions about how this can best serve your needs.
Upcoming Events
NCSL Education Finance Summit on February 15-17, 2008
NCSL will be hosting an Education Finance Summit Pre-Conference on Friday, February 15, 2008 from 12:30-3:30pm in San Antonio, Texas. This pre-conference event, "Financing Preschool Through the Education Finance Formula and Other Options," will provide a snapshot of state experiences with this and other financing methods and discuss the pros and cons of various approaches.
In 2007, thirty-six states appropriated new funds for preschool. While states are using a variety of strategies, the school finance formula is a growing mechanism for financing both school- and community-based preschool. The NCSL Education Finance Summit, co-sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, will be held in San Antonio, Texas on February 15-17, 2008, and will present the newest ideas about what works for students and how we can pay for it. The Summit will focus on the nuts and bolts of K-12 finance, how states fund early education, how to invest in a 21st century workforce, and more.
For more information, please go to www.ncsl.org/edfinancesummit.
National Symposium on Early Childhood Science and Policy on June 26 - 27, 2008
To help states learn and apply program evaluation research and the science of early childhood development to state policy, the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, and NCSL will jointly present a National Symposium on Early Childhood Science and Policy on June 26-27, 2008, to take place at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Letters are being sent to legislative leaders and governors' staff and states are being asked to submit applications by February 8, 2008. Feel free to contact Steffanie Clothier, (303)856-1416, steffanie.clothier@ncsl.org, or Jennifer Stedron, (303)856-1427, jennifer.stedron@ncsl.org for more information.
The National Symposium on Early Childhood Science and Policy is designed to build leadership capacity in the states for developing and implementing science-based policies that enhance children’s learning, behavior, and health. State-based teams of legislators, gubernatorial policy advisors, and business and civic leaders will join with Harvard faculty members and other world-renowned researchers to learn about recent advances in neuroscience, molecular biology, medicine, and developmental psychology—which together form an integrated science of early childhood development—as well as evidence-based policy implications from four decades of rigorous program evaluation research.
For more information visit http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu/content/policy.html
New Resources
NCSL Legisbrief: Trends in Early Learning
States are using many different strategies to promote young children's healthy development and early learning. Major trends in early learning include multi-strategy approaches to support at-risk children in the first five years, increased funding for pre-kindergarten, focused approaches for infants and toddlers, quality rating systems, and significant private sector leadership in new public-private partnerships.
Click here to view the document.
Policy Brief: Who Goes to Preschool and Why Does it Matter?
Preschool participation in the United States has been increasing steadily over the last four decades. By 2005, more than two-thirds of the nation's four-year-olds were enrolled in a preschool program. This National Institute for Early Education Research policy brief identifies factors that influence preschool enrollment, such as income, geography and ethnicity, and offers policy recommendations to address inequities in access.
Click here to view the policy brief.
Votes Count: Legislative Action on Pre-K Fiscal Year 2008
For Fiscal Year 2008, thirty-six states increased funding for pre-kindergarten according to a report released by Pre-K Now. "Votes Count: Legislative Action on Pre-K Fiscal Year 2008," an annual state-by-state analysis of legislative support for pre-kindergarten, shows historic momentum for funding early education across the country, with 528 million new dollars committed to providing at least 88,000 more children access to pre-kindergarten. The number of states increasing pre-kindergarten funding breaks last year's record of 34, and far exceeds the FY05 record of 15.
Click here to view the report.
Taking Stock: Assessing and Improving Early Childhood Learning and Program Quality
In October 2007, the National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force released a report that provides guidance to states in developing comprehensive assessment systems to improve the performance of early education programs. In the report, the task force recommends focusing on infrastructure and describes four approaches that states can use to collect data and report on program performance and child learning. The task force's recommendations seek to improve early education programs and integrate preschool and public school standards as well as professional development.
The task force, comprised of 15 early childhood experts and state officials with substantial experience in early learning programs, was created in 2005 and supported by the Foundation for Child Development, the Joyce Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Click here to view the report.
In the 2007 Legislative session, thirty-nine states enacted substantive legislation that affects child development and early education. Bills addressed prekindergarten programs and school readiness, child care, quality initiatives, early intervention, and task forces and governance.
This document is divided into two sections- legislative highlights and enacted legislation. The first section is further divided by subject area, including child development, prekindergarten, child care, early intervention, facilities, and task forces and governance. The second section contains summaries of enacted legislation from the 2007 legislative session in a state-by-state format. This will be posted soon—visit our website at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/cc.htm.
Forthcoming Publications
Budget Highlights: Early Care and Education 2007 (January 2008)
Early Learning Policy Strategies (January 2008)
Technical Assistance
NCSL supports legislatures through rapid response to requests for information, legislative analysis, meetings and publications. Through resources from the Buffett Early Childhood Fund and the Pew Charitable Trusts, NCSL staff can also provide on-site assistance to state legislatures. Recent technical assistance to states include:
Alaska
Alaska Best Beginnings recently partnered with NCSL to identify a state legislator who could present at Alaska's upcoming summit on early learning. The Alaska Governor's Summit on Early Learning will be held on December 5-6, 2007 in Anchorage, Alaska. National speakers will present on brain research, economic impacts of early learning, and policymaking. State Representative Elizabeth Coulson from Illinois will be speaking about the vision, history and growth of Illinois' investments in research-based, high-quality programs for young children. She will also discuss how research played an important role for Illinois policymakers and advocates to build bipartisan legislative support of making Illinois' vision for early learning a reality. Alaska is one of ten states to receive a grant this year from National Governors Association to hold a summit event.
Iowa
NCSL participated in a hearing of the Iowa Early Care Best Practices Study Committee on November 26th in Des Moines, Iowa. The committee is exploring how Iowa funds and operates family support/home visiting programs for children starting prenatally through age five. NCSL facilitated bringing in Deborah Daro from Chapin Hall Center for the Children at the University of Chicago to testify to the committee about trends in the field, what we've learned from research, and ideas for implementation. NCSL staff provided testimony on legislative issues and state activity in home visiting.
New Hampshire
NCSL cosponsored a legislative forum entitled The Economic Impact of High-Quality Early Learning Programs in Concord, New Hampshire on October 11, 2007. The event was also cosponsored by the New Hampshire Speaker's Office, the House Children and Family Law Committee, the House Education Committee and the Legislative Caucus for Young Children. National and state experts informed New Hampshire legislators, policymakers, advocates and other stakeholders of evidence-based studies and the economic returns of investing in high-quality early learning programs. NCSL coordinated Dr. Steve Barnett with the National Institute for Early Education Research to speak about the economics and outcomes of early learning. NCSL staff presented on state trends in early learning.
NCSL provides a wide range of technical assistance services to state legislatures. Please email Steffanie Clothier for more information or to request assistance or call (303) 856-1416.
This e-update is made possible by the generous support of The Pew Charitable Trusts and The Buffett Early Childhood Fund. If you have information you would like to share with us, please email Kelli Kelty.
This e-update is an informational service for state legislators and legislative staff who are part of NCSL's Child Care and Early Education Legislative Network. Contact Kelli Kelty or call (303) 856-1389 for more information about the content of this update, or to submit information about your state. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE: Contact Shannon Watson-Borden.
 Child Care and Early Education
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