Measuring kindergarten readiness is essential to identifying children who would benefit from additional supports, either in kindergarten or in the years before kindergarten entry. Several measures of kindergarten readiness are in use now by states and researchers. Most assess individual children at the time they enter kindergarten, using teachers…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "The High Cost of Low Educational Performance": New OECD Report Finds that 25 Point Increase in PISA Scores…

The education pipeline in the United States will not produce enough college graduates to stay competitive in the global economy unless current trends are reversed (Callan, Ewell, Finney, & Jones, 2007). The fastest-growing populations--generally low-income and often from racial or ethnic minority groups--do not have the aspirations, academic…

"Measuring College and Career Readiness" represents a snapshot of the ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2009 and focuses on their readiness for college and careers. Designed to inform policymakers and practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness, it is not intended to be comprehensive but instead is designed to help…

KIDS COUNT, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. By providing policymakers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, KIDS COUNT seeks to enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all…

In 2003, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) released a "Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Health." In recognition of the critical role states play in the development of early childhood initiatives and of the unique contributions that state Title V programs can make to these initiatives, the Bureau operationalized their…