All states, and the federal government, offer a variety of education and care programs for children aged birth through five. And every state has struggled to integrate and coordinate these programs. With families and states facing historic financial challenges, the need for states to be efficient in the coordination and delivery of service is greater than ever. The federal government is providing states with resources to build better systems through state advisory councils, but to truly succeed states must go beyond baseline federal requirements and ask their councils to define a comprehensive birth to five system.
Increasingly, states are finding that education policy is best developed according to a plan - one that identifies goals, metrics, and benchmarks. Each state's plan must be its own, but there are certain principles that will cut across states. The most successful states will set out clear goals for child success, identify which services will help children of different ages move toward those goals, and what policies will need to be implemented for those services to succeed. The state's big-picture goals will likely include:
- Improving the quality of existing programs;
- Expanding access to underserved populations through new or existing programs;
- Enhancing integration and collaboration among early education and care programs;
- Linking to health, mental health, family support, and other services;
- Building stronger infrastructure to support core state responsibilities; and
- Tying birth-to-five education with K-12 public education.
EducationCounsel combines years of expertise in the process of state policy change with rich substantive knowledge of early learning. The challenges of early learning are unique in education policy, because a comprehensive early learning system requires collaboration across a range of sectors beyond K-12 – including state pre-k, state infant-toddler services, Head Start, child care, and higher education. We understand the importance of not only identifying the right policies, but facilitating successful relationships among the key players.
We have the expertise to help states develop and implement plans that maximize the efficient use of resources, are sustainable and "owned" by wide segments of the community, and – most importantly – improve the likelihood of successful outcomes for the state's children. For more information about the services we can provide, please contact Elliot Regenstein at (312) 212-4380.
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EducationCounsel works with federal and state policymakers and private and public organizations to make sure children are fully prepared to learn when they enter kindergarten.