The years before a child begins school are critical in setting the stage for future learning: Adequate preparation for kindergarten is instrumental in determining later success in school. RAND research has informed the debate on balancing the costs and benefits of preschool and early childhood education in the United States and Europe.
Commentary
Federal and state initiatives to advance preschool program quality will further ensure that these investments in early learning programs will achieve their full promise and promote healthy child development — physically, socially, emotionally, and academically, writes Lynn Karoly.
Commentary
High-quality early childhood interventions can improve academic achievement, reduce crime and delinquency, and enhance future labor market success, but the operative word is "high quality," says Brian Stecher.
Blog
Joe Dougherty summarizes key points from a media conference call with RAND experts on early childhood development and education. They discuss the importance of early childhood development in laying the foundation for success later in life, as well as the potential for high-quality programs to yield a return on investment for society at large.
Commentary
An optimal approach to strategically expanding access to early childhood programs is one that helps states and communities identify evidence-based approaches that address their particular needs, within the context of their characteristics, writes M. Rebecca Kilburn.
Multimedia
In this media conference call, RAND experts on early childhood development and education explain the importance of early childhood development in laying the foundation for success later in life, as well as the potential for high-quality programs to yield a return on investment for society at large.
Blog
The 2013 SOTU address will be remembered for its impassioned call for greater gun control just two months after Sandy Hook. But President Obama's second-term agenda can be characterized by its sheer breadth, reflecting the broad range of policy challenges facing the U.S. today.
Journal Article
This policy brief aims to present current development in parenting support in European Member States. We discuss measures that can be labelled as parenting support and offer examples of how these measures are implemented in different Member States. We also provide examples of potential good practice.
Blog
Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Ben S. Bernanke cited RAND studies that have documented the importance of investing early in children's learning. He made the case that early education programs, especially those serving disadvantaged children, are one of the best investments that society can make in its future.
Commentary
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget for the next fiscal year slices funds from established, successful programs that for decades have helped California's youngest and most at-risk children gain a foothold in their own educations, writes Lynn Karoly.
Report
This briefing uses existing data to provide California early care and education stakeholders with information about the performance of a proposed design for a statewide quality rating and improvement system in advance of field-based pilot efforts.
Past Event
This year's conference includes a presentation on "toxic stress" and its impact on early learning, social-emotional development and long-term health, and a discussion about creating a community system that supports the success of children from cradle to career.
Report
California has taken steps to implement components of a comprehensive professional development system for its early child education workforce. However, further advances are needed and more information is required to identify possible inefficiencies in the current system.
Report
Describes child care and early learning arrangements for the approximately 2.8 million California children ages 0 to 5 who are younger than the age at which they would enter kindergarten.
Report
Identifies five strategies for incorporating child assessments into the design, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives designed to raise the quality of care in early care and education settings such as quality rating and improvement systems.
Research Brief
Offers recommendations for improving the education and training of California's early childhood workforce.
Research Brief
Identifies five strategies for incorporating child assessments into the design, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives designed to raise the quality of care in early care and education settings such as quality rating and improvement systems.
Report
The earliest years of a child's life are critical to physical, socio-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development. High quality early education can improve readiness and success in school, particularly for disadvantaged children, but access to such programs is uneven.
Journal Article
Child care studies that have examined links between teachers' qualifications and children's outcomes often ignore teachers' and children's transitions between classrooms at a center throughout the day and only take into account head teacher qualifications.
Journal Article
The objective of this paper is to delineate a set of standards for conducting benefit-cost analyses (BCAs) of early childhood programs.
Past Event
Join this discussion about the upcoming launch of the "Kindergarten Readiness in Santa Monica" initiative, a partnership between Connections for Children, the Santa Monica–Malibu Unified School District, and the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities.
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