Teachers at Orlando Day Nursery in Florida have always evaluated how well their 4-year-old prekindergartners--most of them poor and African-American--could recognize letters, isolate sounds in words, understand stories read to them, and show other hallmarks of early literacy. Just as important, though, have been the teachers' formal observations…

As a new school year begins across the country, many are looking back on a long, hot summer and wondering where did all that time go? For early childhood public policy, three developments over the summer are likely to shape the field for quite some time. By July, many states had wound up their budgets for the coming year. In addition to cuts to…