CEELO convened a series of focus groups and conducted a national survey of state early childhood education agency staff, in partnership with the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education. Data for this report was collected from May through September 2018 in focus groups and a national survey of state…

A state asked the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) and Child Trends to review national research on best practices that have been shown to improve results on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), with a specific focus on research that impacts instruction and is applicable to teachers in school and community-based…

Improving learning outcomes for all young children requires skilled and knowledgeable leaders who are disposed to effectively promote early care and education program and system goals. Yet, state early education administrators--those responsible for overseeing pre-Kindergarten policies and programs--vary in their leadership competencies. To…

Improving learning outcomes for all young children requires skilled and knowledgeable leaders with the capacity to effectively promote early care and education programs and systems. To do so, administrators must be able to work within government to improve policy and promote policy implementation at scale in local communities. In many states,…

The Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes' (CEELO) mission is to strengthen the capacity of State Education Agencies and state Early Learning Agencies to lead sustained improvements in early learning opportunities and outcomes. These agencies have authority to establish and implement policies, administer funding and provide oversight for…

The Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes partnered with the New Jersey Department of Education from 2013 to 2017 to implement a peer learning community in selected districts. The goal of the PLC was to support effective implementation of key early childhood policies and improve the quality of instruction preschool through grade 3. This…

The New York State Department of Education (NYSED) has been supporting selected districts in the planning and implementation of PreK-3rd Grade systems. NYSED is supporting the use of the Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating PreK-3rd Grade Approaches developed by Kauerz and Coffman (2013). Recognizing the ultimate goal of PreK-3rd…

During 2017-2018, CEELO conducted a professional learning community (PLC) to support leadership development among newly appointed, high-level leaders of early education in state education agencies. The goal of the PLC was for participants to increase awareness, gain critical knowledge and develop leadership skills needed to guide highly effective…

This brief reviews state plans submitted to the U.S. Department of Education as of October 1, 2017. It focuses on three key topics for early learning in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): setting clear goals and policy priorities for early learning, integrating early learning into school improvement, and supporting early childhood educator…

This report delves into experiences from states that are operating pre-K classrooms in charter schools in order to inform stakeholder discussions and decision points as the state moves to sustain the Preschool Development Grant (PDG) programs currently operating in charter schools. As the number of children enrolled in state-funded pre-K…

This report is the result of a request from two states for technical assistance to support the selection and revision of the state's Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEA's). Given that this is a national topic of interest, the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) summarized what we gathered to provide other states with this relevant…

A growing number of states are interested in tracking the readiness of children entering kindergarten. In 2010, just seven states (Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, and Vermont) collected Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) data for the purposes of aggregating data at the state level. Since this time, most states report…

In 2014, the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) was asked to provide information on how other states are approaching the development and implementation of Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) as part of a comprehensive assessment system. Specifically, the request asked for information about KEA measures used by other states, the…

A state department of education requested information about other states' efforts implementing Kindergarten entry assessments (KEAs). Reviewing experiences from other states implementing KEAs will help inform stakeholder discussions and decision points as they procure a KEA tool; specifically, identifying key data points and reporting; and…

High-quality preschool lays the foundation for a child's educational career. Preschool is where children are learning how to self-regulate, make friends, communicate, and express their wants and needs while preparing for their educational career within the K-12 system. If children do not have the behavioral and social-emotional skills needed to…