In the fall of 2008, a coalition of Minnesota foundations commissioned a local research organization to assess the state's ability to undertake a major improvement in school readiness and early learning services for disadvantaged children. The findings were discouraging. Richard Chase, working at the research arm of St. Paul's Amherst H. Wilder…

The growing movement to strengthen PreK-3rd education as an essential foundation for student success, along with the rapid expansion in public funding for PreK, has created an urgent need to measure children's educational progress, in a continuous fashion, from the beginning of PreK through Grade Three. Currently, some state governments are…

Each year, the Foundation for Child Development (FCD) and the Child and Youth Well-Being Index Project at Duke University issue a comprehensive measure of how children are faring in the United States. The resultant NATIONAL Child and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI) is based on a composite of "28 Key Indicators of well-being that are grouped into…

The New School Foundation was not born from a commission, legislative mandate, research project, think tank, or even the mind of a leading education scholar. One of Washington state's pioneering PreK-3rd initiatives began as the brainchild of a wealthy Seattle businessman, Stuart Sloan, 20 years ago. The New School Foundation and its ideas were…

In 1974, the United States Supreme Court ruled in "Lau v. Nichols" that 1,800 Chinese-speaking children in the San Francisco public schools were entitled to English-language instruction or other support to help them understand what was happening in their classrooms. Thirty-six years later, state and local responsibilities to public school children…

Despite skyrocketing growth in its English Language Learner (ELL) population, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has been remarkably effective in improving outcomes for ELL students across the district. Achievement has increased, and gaps between ELL students and their native English-speaking peers have decreased. This success is intentional.…

Each year, the Foundation for Child Development and the Child and Youth Well-Being Index Project at Duke University issue a comprehensive measure of how children are faring in the United States. The overall comprehensive Child Well-Being Index (CWI) is based on a composite of 28 Key Indicators of well-being that are grouped into seven…

Americans are struggling through the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. In recent years, a significant body of research and analysis has documented the breakdown of the middle class and the impact of the current financial crisis on family income, housing, and jobs. But few reports have examined these impacts through the lens of…

Reading achievement in the United States has stagnated. In 2009, only 33 percent of Fourth Graders were proficient or above in reading--a mere two percentage points higher than in 1998. At the same time, double-digit achievement gaps between African American and Latino/Hispanic students and their white counterparts have changed little in nearly…

Leading change to create an integrated PreK-3rd education and connect early learning programs with the K-12 system is not easy. Superintendents require courage to take the first step, persistence and political skills to encourage organizational and community engagement, and a relentless focus on results to measure progress and build momentum. As a…

Each year, the Foundation for Child Development and the Child and Youth Well-Being Index Project at Duke University issue a comprehensive measure of how children are faring in the United States. The Overall Composite Child Well-Being Index (CWI) is based on a composite of 28 "Key Indicators" of well-being that are grouped into seven…

The persistence of the Great Recession provides us with the opportunity to engage in a long overdue conversation about public investments in America's children. Less than ten percent of the Fiscal Year 2010 federal budget of $3.603 trillion is allocated to children and youth. This percentage is likely to decline in the next decade if current laws…

This study estimates the costs of providing a high-quality PreK-3rd education approach in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Relying on an Evidence-Based approach to school finance adequacy, it identifies the staffing resources needed to offer high-quality integrated PreK-3rd programs and then estimates the costs of those resources. By…

The Foundation for Child Development Child and Youth Well-Being Index Project at Duke University issues an annual comprehensive measure of how children are faring in the United States. The Child Well-Being Index (CWI) is based on a composite of 28 "Key Indicators" of wellbeing that are grouped into seven "Quality-of-Life/Well-Being Domains,"…

In an era of intense fiscal pressures, educators are focusing on those investments most likely to lift student achievement. They are also trying to make more strategic use of existing resources. To achieve these goals, a growing number of policymakers are considering integrated PreK-3rd approaches. Increasingly, they are recognizing that the first…