About The Early Childhood Network Project

The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) has been awarded a grant by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to expand its successful Early Childhood Education Network, a project to ensure that all children start school ready to learn, to six new states: Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, and Virginia.

NASBE first created the Early Childhood Education Network project in March 2001 to help states increase their capacity to create integrated, high-quality early childhood education policies, programs, and services to children. The results of the Network were impressive, with participating states (Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Wyoming) unifying their standards and defining school readiness, aligning higher education course content with early childhood preparation programs, and collecting data on children’s knowledge and skill acquisition subsequent to preschool participation.

Building upon this success, NASBE is providing support for the six new network states to embark on a multi-stage process that helps policymakers, agency staff, higher education, community colleges, and community providers design a cohesive, high-quality early learning system. The three-year project will require states to commit to a team approach, establish ongoing collaborative partnerships, attend a planning conference, and develop and implement a work plan that advances state efforts to provide children with high-quality learning environments. Project outcomes will focus on collaborative efforts to:

• Establish research-based learning standards for pre-kindergarten through grade 3;
• Design certification and licensure requirements to ensure that practitioners have the knowledge and skills they need to teach children effectively;
• Institute program quality assurances to ensure children have access to quality learning environments;
• Align early childhood standards with certification and preparation program approval for providers;
• Integrate early childhood services for children with and without disabilities; and
• Assess the impact of professional development on teacher performance, program quality, and child outcomes.

Rationale

Serious learning gaps between groups of children, based largely on socio-economic factors, already exist among children of preschool age. High-quality preschool services can narrow the achievement gap even before students enter kindergarten. State boards have become increasingly interested in early childhood education as heightened accountability for K-12 student achievement has cast new light on issues of early learning and school readiness. Yet states face enormous challenges in establishing a coordinated, coherent preschool system that provides children with strong programs and well-trained teachers. State, federal, and local early childhood education policies vary widely on almost every count including goals, administrative structures, teacher preparation and professional development, early learning standards, and types of agencies operating programs.

State boards are uniquely positioned to address issues of quality in early childhood services because they have broad oversight of education standards, licensure, and certification. The project will help states respond to these challenges and take specific actions that translate research into policy and practice. NASBE will use a results-oriented process to help states integrate the array of disparate early childhood programs and services, focusing on core areas to merge separate preschool funding streams and integrate common standards and teacher licensing requirements.