Presentation by Joan Lombardi, Ph.D Inter-American Symposium: Policies and Strategies for the Child’s Successful Transition to Socialization and Schools Valparaiso, Chile May Early Childhood Development in the United States: History and current trends

Overview of the presentation Status of young children in the U.S. History of early care and education Current trends and initiatives

Variation by State: All Children

Variation by State: Children Under Six

Source: National Center for Children in Poverty. (2006). Basic Facts About Low-Income Children: Birth to Age 18.

Disparities in Early Vocabulary Growth 16 mos.24 mos.36 mos. Cumulative Vocabulary (Words) Higher income Middle income Lower income Child’s Age (Months) Source: Hart & Risley (1995) Slide adapted from Center for the Developing Child

Source: Slide by Flavio Cunha

Source: Slide by Flavio Cunha based on Heckman and Masterov, Age Rate of return to investment in human capital Preschool programs Schooling Job training Preschool School Post-school Programs targeted towards the earliest years Figure: Rates of Return to Human Capital Investment at Different Ages: Return to an Extra Dollar at Various Ages

Minnesota- early childhood creates 28,000 jobs

Characteristics of early childhood in the United States Universal access to Kindergarten for 5 year olds in the public schools, often part day. New trend to expand to full school day. Diverse delivery system for children under age 5 (mixture of public school, private providers, religious providers, home providers, family, friends and neighbor care). Range of quality in programs Limited access to paid leave

Looking back on early childhood policy in the United States….. Two federal programs Head Start and Early Head Start Child care State investments

Head Start Goal is school readiness for children in poverty Started in l965 as a summer program for children before they start school, later moved to school year schedule Comprehensive services- health, education, parent involvement, family support Performance standards, monitoring and technical assistance Federal grants to local programs Now services half of all 3 and 4 year olds in poverty

Head Start and transition Ongoing communication between the preschool program and the local schools Alignment of expected outcomes from preschool into school Joint training across preschool and school faculty Outreach to parents to help them understand the importance of continued parent involvement as they transition to school (including helping parents of limited English proficient children understand the instruction and other services provided by the school) Facilitating the transfer of records as children move on to schools

Early Head Start Launched in l995, to serve pregnant women and children 0-3 Random assignment study, 3000 children, most effective programs: - Start prenatally - Provide continuity throughout the early years - Well implemented standards - Use combination of home visiting and center based services

Child Care Number of working mothers starts to grow in the l970s Many attempts to pass child care legislation in the 70’s and 80’s, Child Care legislation, l990 Block grant to states (children 0-13) Purpose work support, few quality protections Funding primarily goes to parents to pay for child care of their choice

State investments grow State public private partnership- 0-5, with community wide planning Prekindergarten- mainly for four year olds, some states universal, some targeted to low income children (debate continues) Home visiting- range of programs, some for infants, some for 0-5, some targeted, some universal

Current issues How to best respond to the diversity of languages and cultures Assuring continuity of quality services 0-8 (vertical alignment) Assuring uniform standards across many types of programs (horizontal alignment)

Coordinated governance State Early Learning Councils across sectors Specialized agencies focused on early childhood

Early Learning Health, Mental Health and Nutrition Family Support Special Needs/ Early Intervention State Early Childhood Development System

Quality across programs Quality rating and improvement systems Multiple levels of quality Star rating system Information to parents Quality improvement grants to reach higher levels of qualiy

Professional Development Systems Development of new programs to meet new roles (infant and toddler, literacy specialists, etc) Articulation across levels of professional development (certificate, two year degree, four year degree, graduate) Scholarship programs TEACH early childhood Improved compensation and working conditions

Children Ready for Success Monitoring standards and ongoing technical support Monitoring and Improvement Programs Guided by Program Standards and Early Learning and Development Guidelines Programs Professional Development To consumers, public and private sector Engagement & Outreach Health, Nutrition, Mental Health, Disability Services Parenting and Family Support Comprehensive Services Early Childhood Development System A sample format Across programs and connected to other systems Governance And Financing Core competencies Access to Training and Higher Education J Lombardi, Adapted from the Early Childhood Systems Working Group

Creating caring communities Linking schools to the surrounding child care community Schools ready for children Joint training Outreach to informal providers- family, friends and neighbors Involving everyone in the lives of young children from the libraries to the grocery store

Early Childhood: A New Era “Its time to make an historic commitment to education, we can start by guaranteeing access to quality, affordable, early childhood education for every child in America” Barack Obama

Since the election Expanded health insurance for children Invested $5 billion for early childhood in the economic recovery (Early Head Start, Head Start, Child Care) Proposed challenge grants to the states to improve quality Proposed to expand home visiting for first time parents at risk Proposed Presidential Early Learning Council

Moving forward……. Old think Learning begins at school entry Care vs education Child focus vs parent focus Targeted vs universal Transition from preschool to school New Think Learning begins at birth Care and education Two generational/ comprehensive Progressive universal Continuity 0-8 (vertical alignment)

Change begins with each of us….each step counts……together we make a difference for children!