on Facebook
on Twitter
on YouTube
RAND Community Conference on Early Childhood Issues
Learning What Others Are Doing
Date: |
November 10, 2007 |
Time: |
8:30 A.M. – Noon |
Location: |
The RAND Corporation Free parking |
This community conference is a public service of The RAND Corporation. There is no admission charge. However, seating is limited and advanced reservations are required.
How can I attend?
Program
Santa Monica is a community known for its commitment to quality child care and early childhood development programs. There are many excellent public and private programs available for young children, 0-5 years old, conducted by experienced professionals and dedicated volunteers. For all of them, finding the resources to maintain their high-quality programs is a constant struggle.
What can our community learn from the experiences of others? And what might be possible if an independent funding source were available to help early childhood development programs?
To help us answer the first question, Dr. Rebecca Kilburn, Director, RAND Child Policy, will discuss the results of a thorough, objective review and synthesis of research that addresses the potential for various forms of early childhood intervention to improve outcomes for participating children and their families.
- What are the potential consequences of not investing additional resources in the lives of children?
- What is the range of early intervention programs?
- What are the demonstrated benefits of interventions with high-quality evaluations?
- What are the features associated with successful programs?
- What are the returns to society associated with investing early in the lives of disadvantaged children?
To address the second question, Sally McCrady, Vice President, PNC Financial Services, and Program Manager, PNC Grow Up Great, will describe the ten-year, $100 million investment by PNC to enhance the effectiveness of early childhood programs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PNC Grow Up Great is the most comprehensive corporate-based school readiness program in the country. It is partnering with experts in the field, including Sesame Workshop and Family Communications, Inc. to:
- Provide grants for 'best in class' early childhood development organizations and activities.
- Engage employees in volunteerism.
- Communicate the importance of school readiness through diverse media outlets.
- Provide resources and materials for employees and customers on how to enhance the development of young children.
- Advocate in order to promote and increase awareness of the school readiness issue.
- Better prepare 2.8 million children in the markets PNC serves for school in the areas of language, literacy, science, creative arts, social and emotional growth and physical health.
Featured Speakers
Dr. Rebecca Kilburn is a Senior Economist at the RAND Corporation. She is Director of RAND Child Policy and the Promising Practices Network on Children, Families and Communities, and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She is a member of the General Accounting Office Early Childhood Education and Care Expert Panel, the Society for Research in Child Development, the Population Association of America, and the American Economic Association. She served on the Los Angeles Children's Planning Council. She has published extensively on the subject of child care and early childhood issues. Her current research continues to focus on preschool education in California and in other states.
Dr. Kilburn received her B.A. in economics from Kenyon College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.
Sally McCrady is vice president and program manager for PNC Grow Up Great. Grow Up Great is The PNC Financial Service Group's $100 million program to support high quality early childhood education for children birth through age five. In this role, she coordinates the four main components of the program: advocacy, grants, awareness and volunteerism. McCrady also serves on the board of the Carriage House Children's Center.
McCrady received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of New Hampshire and a master's degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.
How Can I Attend?
This community conference is a public service of The RAND Corporation. There is no admission charge. However, seating is limited and advanced reservations are required.
About RAND
RAND is a nonprofit organization that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. As the nation's first “think tank,” RAND has been expanding the boundaries of human knowledge for 60 years and continually seeks nonpartisan solutions to the most pressing challenges of our day. Initially, RAND focused on issues of national security; today, RAND also uses its intellectual reserves to make a difference in health, education, business, law, and science. No other institution tackles tough policy problems across so broad a spectrum.
Further Inquiries
Contact Ann Wang at (310) 393-0411, ext. 7304.
Top