Teachers of very young children have the awesome task of providing rich information and experiences that build skills and understanding in the context of every day routines "and" within intentionally-designed play opportunities that capture children's interests, wonder and curiosity so they want to know more. Pennsylvania's learning…

This report from the Washington State Department of Early Learning (DEL) describes some of the Department's work since it's creation in July 2006. Among other achievements, the Department has laid a strong foundation for raising the quality of child care and the state's preschool program, strengthened both the safety in and the reach of early…

In the winter and spring of 2007-08, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) expanded its ongoing research on the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) by conducting case studies of six schools in Rhode Island to learn more about the influence of NCLB and related state accountability policies on curriculum, instruction, and student…

The United States is as known for its high-quality universities as for its poor-quality public schools. Many states are taking steps to improve the likelihood that their children will succeed in grades K-12 by providing funding for pre-kindergarten (PK). More than $2.4 billion dollars is spent on these programs, and the number of children…

Many Americans assume children's publicly funded education begins with kindergarten. To the contrary, kindergarten is not mandated in all states. Moreover, most kindergarten programs implemented in the public education system are half-day; full-day kindergarten is far less frequent. Access to kindergarten is highly dependent on state, school…

Reading First is a federal initiative authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act. The U.S. Department of Education provides Reading First grants to states, which, in turn, award subgrants to eligible school districts that submit approved proposals for how they will apply scientifically based reading research to improve reading instruction and…

This study is sixth in a series of surveys of courses of study reported at intervals during the past 15 years by the Office of Education. In the main, the earlier publications consisted of lists of courses filed in the library for the use of curriculum makers and research workers in education. The present study is concerned with an analysis of the…