The Administration's January proposal for the 2014-15 state budget projects a surplus, due to painful budget cutting in recent years combined with the economic recovery and voter approval of new revenues. While the proposal invests some of the additional revenue in children, it falls well short of what is needed. California's kids have borne a…

This qualitative case study focused on why rural North Carolina superintendents do or do not consider utilizing pre-kindergarten programming in their public school districts. The primary data sources were interviews of North Carolina school superintendents in rural counties. Review of an e-survey was used to supplement the interview data. The…

The state of California has recently emerged from deep recession and associated reductions in early childhood programs and has moved into a period of reinvestment in child care, preschool, and transitional kindergarten (TK). In fiscal year (FY) 2014-15, the Budget Act included over $273 million for early learning and child development and restored…

This report is provided in response to a mandate by Congress in the Head Start Act, §650(b), as amended on December 12, 2007. The Act requires that the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services submit a report on the facilities of Indian Head Start agencies to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of…

This past year has been unlike any in recent history. In March, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced Illinois to shift suddenly to remote learning for all students. This adjustment exposed the digital divide as a stark reality. One bright spot in the year occurred in May, when the Illinois' plan for career and technical education (CTE) received…

Data in this report suggest that AISD's full-day prekindergarten (pre-K) program helped reduce the number of students who were retained a grade level or were placed in special education services. The cost per student for full-day pre-K was less than the costs associated with grade-level retention or special education services.

Like all states, Nebraska faces distinct challenges in how it allocates resources to meet the most immediate needs of its citizens while investing responsibly in long-term social and economic growth. This report presents selected indicators that describe the status of infants and toddlers in Nebraska; Often comparable data for the U.S. as a whole…

Policies such as those related to child care subsidies and quality rating and improvement systems are designed to increase the likelihood that child care and education arrangements meet developmental needs of children and employment needs of parents. Ultimately, parents select child care arrangements, and the quality and stability of these…

Several sectors and levels of organizations, agencies, and projects are involved in promoting and providing education, care, and intervention services for young children and their families in Illinois. State government entities involved in matters of early care and education include the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the Department of…

In October 2014, The National Center for Education Research (NCER) and the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education, convened a Technical Working Group (TWG). The purpose of this TWG meeting was to discuss critical education problems and issues on which…

Participation in preschool programs has been associated with a number of positive outcomes. Evaluating data from the 40-year follow-up to the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program Study, Belfield and his colleagues show how preschool participation by low income children relates to significant economic benefits both to the children by the time they…

In October 2010 the government confirmed it would introduce a "pupil premium" payable to schools with disadvantaged pupils. This shift towards resourcing by group rather than area may mark the closing of another chapter in efforts to produce a more meritocratic education system utilising what might be termed "intermediate"…

In recent years, economic downturn and changes to Indiana's school funding have resulted in significant financial reductions in General Fund allocations for many of Indiana's public school corporations. The main purpose of this statewide study is to examine the possible impacts of these budget reductions on class size and student achievement. This…

There has been a focus on policies relating to early years education and care across the developed world and particularly in Europe. In the UK, there has been a raft of policy changes alongside increased investment. However, this paper argues that these changes may not be sufficient to meet EU objectives in terms of quality or the government's…

What drives governments with similar revenues to publicly provide very different amounts of goods for which private substitutes are available? Key examples are education and health care. This paper compares spending by Brazilian municipalities on pre-primary education--a good that is also provided privately--with spending on public infrastructure…