Transcript How Do We Talk about 0-5 Systems?

Early Childhood
Development:
A Conversation
Joan Lombardi
Children’s Defense Fund
Emerging Leaders® Spring Institute
April, 2007
Let’s talk about……..

Young children and ECD policies in the U.S.

What we need to do

ECD as a global movement
Measuring Child Well Being in Rich Countries
UNICEF 2007
Low-Income Status Varies by
Age
Source: National Center for Children in Poverty. (2006). Basic Facts About Low-Income Children: Birth to Age 18.
School readiness by mother’s education level
100
Percentage of First-time Kindergartners Demonstrating Positive
Indicators of School Readiness by Mother's Education Level,
1998
Less than high school
86
90
79
80
69
70
Percent
High school diploma/GED
61
57
60
Some college, including
vocational/technical
College degree or more
50
46
50
40
39
38
32
30
31
22
20
10
0
Reading proficiency
Mathematics proficiency
Fine motor skills
Source: Child Trends and Center for Health Research. (2004). Early Child Development in Social Context.
Data from K. Denton, E. Germino-Hausken, and J. West (project officer), America's Kindergartners, NCES
2000-070, (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics, 2000).
Percentage of income paid for
care
Higher
Income
6%
Lower
Income
16%
Very Low
Income
0%
23%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
* Higher Income is over 200% of poverty, very low income is
under 100% of poverty
Source: Giannarelli and Barsimantov. (2000). Child Care Expenses of America’s
Families. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Rate of Total and LEP Enrollment Growth:
Between 1992/93 and 2002/03
United States
90%
80%
LEP enrollment
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
Total K-12 enrollment
10%
0%
9
9
2-
3
9
94
3
9
9
4-
5
9
9
5-
6
9
9
6-
7
9
9
7-
8
9
9
8-
9
9
0
9-
0
0
0
0-
1
0
0
1-
2
0
0
2-
3
Source: Office of English Language Acquisition
THE URBAN INSTITUTE / Washington, D.C.
Historical Trends in ECD

K emerges at the turn of the 20th century through
state by state action, today over 98 percent
coverage, half day but moving to full school day in
many communities

Mid century- 50s interest in nursery education,
however mostly university based and private
The legacy of several
roads…..




Early 60’s- interest in early development and civil
rights leads to the establishment of Head Start
for children in poverty
Late 60s and early 70s- child care for working
women grows, but comprehensive bill vetoed (no
major legislation for almost 20 years)
Mid 80’s, release of Perry preschool data and
growth of state prek, continues today
Health and family support (maternal and child
health, parenting etc)
The past ten years….

In the 90’s-growth of Head Start and child
care, emergence of Early Head Start

2000’s-focus on state prek and No Child Left
Behind, flat funding for child care and Head
Start

Today- growing interest in young children
Pieces begin to come together
in the states

Unified Governance

Early Learning Standards

Quality Rating Systems

Prek into child care

Professional development
Early Childhood Development System
Engagement &
Outreach
Coordinated Governance
And Financing
Across programs and
connected to other
systems
Programs
Programs
Guided by Program
Standards and Early
Learning Guidelines
To consumers, public
and private sector
Children Ready
for Success
Comprehensive
Services
Monitoring
and Improvement
Health, Nutrition, Mental
Health, Disability Services
Parenting and Family
Support
Compliance with
standards and ongoing
technical support
Professional
Development
Core competencies
Access to Training and
Higher Education,
Credentialing
Investments in birth to five
grows in the states

0-5 initiatives
Smart Start and other public private
partnerships

Preschool with a set aside- Illinois

Special infant and toddler initiatives
California Paid Leave, Kansas EHS,
Missouri Home Visiting, Help me Grow,
Quality Child Care
A few words about preschool

Preschool as a term is broader than prek

Preschool is not just another grade in school, but should
be a hub for comprehensive services

Beyond targeted vs universal- starting with all children in
communities with high proportions of low income families

Despite growth, we have a long way to go…
- In 2005-06, 38 states invested in prekindergarten initiatives which
enrolled
942,766,spending nearly $3.3 billion
- While the number of 4 year olds served has grown, the number
of 3 year olds has remained relatively stable
- Quality varies across the states, nearly half the states do not meet the standard of
requiring a BA or higher.
Source of Prek data: The State of Preschool 2006, NIEER
Federal policies fail to keep up with what
we know from science is important for
early development and later success




Too many families still not covered by FMLA,
and of those covered, far too many cannot afford
to take unpaid leave
Head Start- only 60 % of the eligible
Early Head Start, only 3 percent of the eligible
served
Child Care and Development Fund-only one in
seven eligible served, limited investments in
quality
With flat federal funding, number of children receiving
child care assistance has declined
Decline in Children Receiving Child Care:
150,000 Children Have Already Lost Assistance,
Administration Expects to Lose 300,000 More
3
(in millions)
2.45
2.3
2.0
2
1
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
FY 2007-2012 are Administration's Projections
Note: The Deficit Reduction Act increased mandatory funding for CCDBG by $200
million beginning in FY 2006.
Sources: Child Care Bureau and Analytic Perspectives, Budget of the United States
Government, Fiscal Year 2008, slide by CLASP.
Time for a New National Investment in
Early Childhood Development





Expand FMLA and provide incentives to states to provide paid leave
Assure access to quality health care for all young children and their
families and provide developmental screening and follow up
Invest in Head Start 0-5, with a special focus on expanding Early
Head Start
Transform child care to support working families and their children
by assuring access to all families below 200 percent of poverty and
requiring states to develop a quality improvement system
Provide an infusion of new resources to states to promote early
learning 0-5 through a diverse delivery system (home visiting, quality
improvements for child care 0-5, prek, family literacy)
New Messengers

Economists
Business leaders
Law Enforcement
Doctors
Elderly
Parents
You…….

Seven messages for advocates….






1- Refocus on child
development

It is nature and nurture that shape the
architecture of the brain

Domains of development are integrated:
physical, social, emotional, cognitive

ECD Goals- good health, strong families,
positive early learning experiences
2- Advocate for policies that support
positive adult child relationships

Family centered early education

A strong early childhood workforce
qualified staff
compensation
diversity
networks
higher education capacity
recognition of new roles
The Early Care and Education Industry is a
Significant Employer: Example from Ohio
(Source: National Economic Law Center)
3- Recognize that non- program aspect
of a child’s life matter






Family income
Maternal education
Fathers in their lives
Social networks
Conditions of well being- sleep, TV, food
intake
Environment- pollution and violence
4- Understand assessment and say NO where
it does not fit for young children
Assessment to guide curriculum
ECD Improvement system
 Evaluation
 Program Monitoring
Kindergarten Readiness
To hold a community accountable not to judge preschool
programs
5- Follow research, put it to use, and
question it……



Promote the use of evaluation to make
improvements
Use what we are learning: Lessons from
Early Head Start –Children did best when
they had 0-3 and formal preschool program
Respond and question- example from the
recent NICHD report
6- Promote ready schools with a
bottoms up view

Alignment goes both ways

ECD contributes
Respect for diversity
Involvement of parents
Ties to health
Child centered curriculum

Importance of attendance

Include after school
7- Be an advocate for children
in your community and for
children around the world





133 million children born each year around the
world, the vast majority in the developing world
11 million children die each year from preventable
diseases
200 million young children are seriously at risk for
healthy development
The HIV/Aids crisis will leave 20 million orphans
behind by 2010
70-100 million children do not have access to
primary education
Interest in education grows…

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
(l989)

Education for all (l990, 2000)

Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development
Goals
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Eradicate extreme poverty
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV/AID, malaria and other diseases
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global partnership for development
Education for all and ECD

Jomtien, Thailand, l990 World Conference on
Education for All
“Learning begins at birth. This calls for early
childhood care and initial education. These can be
provided through arrangements involving families,
communities or institutional programs as
appropriate” (article 5)

Dakar, 2000 Established 6 goals including: Expand
and improve comprehensive early childhood
care and education, especially for the most
vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
Programs for the under-3s
Many countries lack programmes addressing health, nutrition, care
and education of the under 3s, a critical period in the child’s life
Source: 2007 GMR
World
Arab States
Central/East. Europe
Sub-Saharan Africa
East Asia/Pacific
South/West Asia
L. America/Carib.
Central Asia
N. America/W. Europe
0%
50%
100%
Countries with at least one formal
programme for children under 3 in 2005
(%)
Regional trends in pre-primary
A three-fold increase in pre-primary enrolments over 30 years
More than 1 in 3 children now enrolled but huge regional differences
Source: 2007 GMR
Gross enrolments ratios
in pre-primary (%)
80
Developed/transition countries
70
60
Latin America/Caribbean
50
40
East Asia/Pacific
30
South and West Asia
20
Arab States
10
Sub-Saharan Africa
0
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1999
2004
Recommendations of the Consultative Group on
Early Care and Development
1.Start at the beginning Integrate parenting information
and early stimulation into prenatal care, early health
services, and child care
2. Get ready for success Assure at least one or two years
of preprimary starting with the most vulnerable
3. Improve Primary School Quality Improve first three
grades of school- smaller classes, trained teachers,
learning materials in the hands of children
4. Promote early childhood policy development Include
early childhood in all national planning (PRSP’s, Fast
Track)
To learn about early childhood
development around the world…








UNICEF www.unicef.org
UNESCO www.unesco.org
The Consultative Group on Early Childhood
Care and Development www.ecdgroup.com
The World Bank www.worldbank.org/children
World Forum Foundation www.worldforum.org
The Bernard van Leer Foundation
www.bernardvanleer.org
OMEP www.omep-international.org
You can make a difference…

Global Action for Children
www.globalactionforchildren.org.

Global Campaign for Education
www.globalcampaignforeducation.org

Convention on the Rights of the Child
www.childrensrightscampaign.org
What I have learned along the
way……

All ages and stages matter

We have to advocate across borders for children

Team work is better than me work

Friendship is central to life

Leadership is about letting go

Our work is about love………….