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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Report
A focus on children, whose ideas are still being developed, may be more effective in promoting tolerance and critical thinking in the Arabic–speaking world than efforts directed toward adults, whose attitudes are already established.
Research Brief
Shares results of a RAND analysis of programs participating in Minnesota's Saint Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to cover the cost of high-quality early childhood education programs.
Report
Minnesota's Saint Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program provides scholarships to cover the cost of high-quality early childhood education programs. This report provides detailed cost and program data for 12 participating programs.
Project
The California Preschool Study sought to understand achievement gaps among the state's children, whether existing preschool education programs is adequate, and what efficiencies could be achieved through public funding of early childhood education.
Report
Explores why Hispanic children are enrolled in preschools and early childhood centers in lesser proportions than children of other races and ethnicities.
Multimedia
In a Webinar held on December 9th 2009, child policy experts discussed the latest research related to child care quality and the implications of the findings for policy.
Journal Article
This article tests whether parents reinforce or compensate for child endowments.
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