On the Road to High-Quality Early Learning

This timely book will help policymakers and practitioners convert their visions of high-quality early education into on-the-ground reality by providing a much-needed, richly detailed look at how states can design, fund, and manage exemplary programs. The authors describe and analyze how four states--Michigan, West Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina--have built early education systems that positively affect student outcomes. Sharing a commitment to advancing key elements of a quality preschool education, each of the states developed programs with different enrollment requirements, services, and oversight. All of them, however, rely on common overarching strategies, such as: establishing standards and supporting improvement, investing in knowledgeable educators, coordinating and aligning early education programs with elementary school, seeking sufficient funding sources and mechanisms, and building broad-based support. This book offers powerful lessons for anyone who is committed to delivering engaging, age-appropriate preschool programs for all.

Book Features:

• Provides a comprehensive examination of how states can build high-quality early education systems, and what that looks like at the local level.
• Addresses both the design and implementation of early education programs that can foster gains in school readiness and other long-term benefits.
• Identifies the themes that can guide program development and expansion at all levels and across diverse contexts.
• Demonstrates how well-crafted local policy and skilled management sustain good classroom practice.
• Shows how to effectively manage early education programs and create linkages among the broad array of state agencies supporting children and families.
• Emphasizes the central role that teachers play in changing children's lives and helps teachers understand why they are expected to follow certain practices.