This resource was prepared in response to a request for information from a Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) State about the innovative work with family child care providers that is being done in RTT-ELC Phase 2 States (Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin) and Phase 3 States (Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, New…

This resource was prepared for an Early Learning Challenge (ELC) State in response to a request for information about initiatives to improve the quality of child care and early education provided by family, friends, and neighbors in the 20 RTT-ELC States. This information will be helpful to other States as they consider how to continue to increase…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2015 describes Illinois' accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Illinois will implement to address those challenges. Illinois' Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant initiatives reflect the State's three…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2014 describes Illinois' accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Illinois will implement to address those challenges. Illinois' Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge grant efforts reflect the State's three strategic reform…

Stand for Children was founded in the late 1990s as a way to advocate for the welfare of children. It grew out of a 1996 march by more than 250,000 people in Washington, D.C. The aim of the march was to highlight child poverty at a time when Congress and the Clinton administration were preparing to "end welfare as we know it." Jonah…

The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2016 describes Illinois' accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Illinois will implement to address those challenges. Illinois' Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) Grant initiatives reflect the State's three…

The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, authorized by Congress in 2011, is designed to improve the quality of early learning and development programs for children from birth through age 5. This discretionary grant program is administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services…