Professional Resources

KIDS COUNT 2010 Data Book Online: The 21st annual KIDS COUNT Data Book profiles the status of children on a national and state-by-state basis and ranks states on 10 measures of well-being.

Documenting the Value of Preschool Education

In the 1960s the High/Scope Foundation began tracking two groups of low-income, mainly African American, young children. One group received high quality early care and learning from a curriculum supervised by the Foundation. Another mirror group of young children from the same neighborhood in Ypsilanti received no such program in their younger years before entering public school. This type of study is scientific because it contrasts the outcomes of individuals randomly assigned to either a treatment group that attended the early childhood program or a no-treatment group that did not attend the program.

The Foundation has now tracked the lives of both sets of children up until age 40. Most of the findings fall into three important areas:

• Education. Children receiving quality early learning before entering school had higher achievement test scores, less need of treatment for mental impairment, a stronger commitment to education, a higher rate of graduation from high school, and a lower rate of high school dropout.
  

• Crime. Children receiving high quality care were less likely to be involved in crime in their youth and throughout their entire adulthood.
  

• Economy. Children receiving high quality care are averaging thousands of dollars more in annual earnings than their counterparts who did not receive early care in their younger years.
  
  To view the complete results of the High/Scope research through age 40, go to the High/Scope web site at: www.highscope.org

The Price of School Readiness: A Tool for Estimating the Cost of Universal Preschool in the States. Stacie Golin and Anne Mitchell. The Institute for Women's Policy Research (2004).

This report presents a model to estimate the cost of universally accessible preschool at the state level. Since its creation the model has been implemented in a number of states around the country including Illinois, California, and Massachusetts. This report presents the model and details how policymakers, advocates, researchers and other stakeholders can estimate the cost of universal preschool in their jurisdictions. The report also provides an example by applying the model in a fictitious state. Download this PDF file to take a look.

The Evaluation Exchange 
Past issues of The Evaluation Exchange, HFRP's evaluation periodical, are available online in Adobe PDF and/or HTML format. You can request print copies of back issues by contacting the HFRP publications office. You can also subscribe to receive future issues free of charge by filling out our online subscription form.

Administration for Children and Families presents Economic Analysis of the Early Care and Education Sector.

Financing Universal Early Care and Education for America's Children Project. The Human Services Policy Center pairs applied analytic research with the promotion of policies that improve the lives of children, families, and communities, with special attention to the needs of those who are disadvantaged. Core program areas include:

Analyzing Family Support Systems: Many of HSPC's areas of expertise - financial analysis, data profiling, program evaluation, and communication - come together in our efforts to identify and analyze systems that support children and families. Profiling Child and Family Well-Being: Idaho Kids Count (PDF) tracks, analyzes, and communicates information about the health and well-being of children and families in Washington. Financing Access to High Quality Early Care & Education: http://www.hspc.org/publications/financeECEpubs.aspx Additional links to state and local surveys conducted in conjunction with the above analyses are available at: http://www.hspc.org/

Pre-kindergarten Policy Framework is a new web-based resource from the National Pre-kindergarten Center (NPC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Framework is intended to provide a research-based model for states to use as they develop, implement or expand prekindergarten programs. The following sections are included:

The Universal vs. Targeted Debate: Should the United States Have Preschool for All? Steven Barnett, Kirsty Brown and Rima Shore. NIEER. (April, 2004).

The debate over universal vs. targeted preschool programs is explored in this policy brief from the National Institute for Early Education Research. The brief stresses that while targeted programs traditionally have lower costs, universal programs are more effective at reaching all targeted children. While the academic achievement gap is most dramatic between children in poverty and those with the most resources, school readiness is not just a problem of the poor. School readiness for the majority of children can improve with better preschool education.
http://nieer.org/resources/policybriefs/6.pdf (PDF)

The Autism Society of America (ASA) recently launched a Spanish-language section on its award-winning web site. The new section features 18 different links to information about autism, a checklist of common characteristics of autism, tips for parents, a variety of treatment options, educational approaches and programs for children and information on Federal programs.

Healthy Child Magazine is a bimonthly publication for childcare programs devoted to health and safety issues. Each issue includes information on health, safety, medicines, staff health, health education activities, illnesses, and more including reproducible parent information sheets and mini-posters.

Welcome to the new web site of the California Childcare Health Program. Our multi-disciplinary team is here to support you in achieving healthy and safe practices in child care settings. We believe in not only preventing the injuries and the spread of infectious diseases, but in creating the best possible environments in which children can learn and grow.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the nation's largest and most influential organization of early childhood educators and advocates dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through third grade.

Zero to Three Healthy Minds: Nurturing Your Child's Development, a new resource produced by Zero to Three, is now available. Seven two-sided reproducible handouts in a folder can be used to provide parents with key information on brain and child development at stages that coincide with well-child checkups.

Reading is Fundamental (RIF) is the nation's largest nonprofit children's literacy organization. Check out their awesome new website featuring 10 different literacy programs and Reading Planet,a special area for kids. Illustrate books, play games, and practice literacy in Spanish and English.

IdahoSTARS Idaho’s four-part professional development system for Idaho’s child care professionals. Check out the Career Pathway and registry. Incentives and scholarships are available for qualified child care providers who continue their training to move through the Career Pathway. Scholarships are available for training, academic degrees and mentoring. Mini-grants are available for programs seeking accreditation and for CCR&R offices working to fill a regional need.

• IdahoSTARS Training Calendar Child care providers access training opportunities on the web. Calendar of training events, downloads, chat room and question/answer/idea forums are all available at the site.

• IdahoSTARS trainer and training approval (www.idahostars.org)

Stop Bullying Now New campaign from HRSA designed for parents and professionals.

Early Experience in School Sets the Stage for Later Progress

Children's earliest experiences in school often set the pattern for later academic progress, according to a recent research synthesis written by Martha Boethel and published by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL). Readiness: School, Family, and Community Connections describes 48 research studies on the contextual factors associated with children's readiness. In particular, this synthesis explores children's abilities as they make the transition to kindergarten, factors associated with these abilities, and implications of these factors on children's later success. It also discusses the effectiveness of a variety of early childhood or preschool interventions that include a family or community focus. Download the document:

http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-syntheses.html

Kids On The Move has been featured as keynote speakers at many conferences, taught classes for parents and educators across the nation, and teach a 1-hour, hands-on "child's class" for children. View their updated website andlook over sample lesson plans.

New Guide to Diversity Resources for Faculty and Trainers

The latest edition of Walking the Walk: A Guide to Diversity Resources for Trainers is now available. This annotated bibliography is a quick source of high quality, readily available and low cost resources for teaching and training that emphasize diversity. Featured materials include videotapes, books, curricula and other resources that can be used to assist in growing a more diverse and better prepared workforce to serve infants, toddlers, children and families who are culturally and linguistically diverse.

The 2004 edition includes many items that were not in the previous edition, and provides ordering information for each item. Download the Walking the Walk guide at:

http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~walkingthewalk/pdfs/WTW_guide.pdf (PDF).