This brief encourages state policymakers and their partners to critically review professional development and accountability policies, offers guidance on policy implementation, and makes recommendations for the “powerful and few” core state policies that can improve teaching and learning for all young children. This report comes from an initiative from The BUILD Initiative and the Center for Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO), who worked together with state leaders and national experts to strengthen policy that promotes effective early childhood teaching, birth through 3rd grade.

This brief encourages state policymakers and their partners to critically review professional development and accountability policies, offers guidance on policy implementation, and makes recommendations for the “powerful and few” core state policies that can improve teaching and learning for all young children. This report comes from an initiative from The BUILD Initiative and the Center for Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO), who worked together with state leaders and national experts to strengthen policy that promotes effective early childhood teaching, birth through 3rd grade.

This brief encourages state policymakers and their partners to critically review professional development and accountability policies, offers guidance on policy implementation, and makes recommendations for the “powerful and few” core state policies that can improve teaching and learning for all young children. This report comes from an initiative from The BUILD Initiative and the Center for Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO), who worked together with state leaders and national experts to strengthen policy that promotes effective early childhood teaching, birth through 3rd grade.

This brief provides information to inform decision-making regarding the assessment of young children’s learning, development, and wellbeing (LDWB) for state and national assessments designed to influence early childhood education (ECE) policy and practice. This report draws from a scholarly discussion paper The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) produced for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that presented the pros and cons of various instruments used for reporting on international data of children’s cognitive and social outcomes.

This report provides policy makers with information on state-funded pre-K programs’ eligibility policies and the common risk factors used to prioritize enrollment. The risk factors with the strongest impact on children’s school readiness are summarized. The report concludes with considerations for policy makers as they review or revise eligibility to serve more children, effectively and efficiently, in high quality early education programs.  [Executive Report available here]

This report features case studies of three selected schools receiving SIG funds that have, with the support of their districts, promoted the use of early childhood programming (PK–3) as a key strategy in their schools’ turnaround models. The goal of this document is to increase the awareness and understanding of how to effectively embed PK–3 strategies in school turnaround efforts within the SIG program. CEELO collaborated with the Center on School Turnaround (CST) to develop the case studies.

December 10, 2014 letter from U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education commending the case studies to colleagues.

This policy report describes findings from a CEELO review of data on 21 states’ principal licensure requirements, interviews with experts on principal preparation and professional development in seven states, and interviews with staff at the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Institute for School Leadership. Our research reveals an array of administrator licensure titles assigned to grade-level authority across states, some permitting principals or administrators the flexibility to oversee programs ranging from early childhood through high school. Early childhood content is not a required element of principal preparation or professional development for principals in most states, according to our findings. Very few states have any formal requirement for early childhood content in licensure for principals responsible for early education programs. Some states have developed policies and programs that acknowledge a need for integrating early childhood content, but very few have progressed beyond initial stages of providing training or outlining policies.  (July 2014, Policy Report)

This policy report describes readiness and opportunity gaps in access to high quality early education.  The report is organized into four main sections. The first describes the “readiness gaps” at kindergarten entry as of 2010. The remaining sections examine the extent to which there are “opportunity gaps” in the early care and education services that may be associated with those readiness gaps.

This report serves as a guide and framework to early childhood policymakers considering formative assessment, outlining issues for consideration in implementing formative assessment.This guide provides a practical roadmap for decision-makers by offering several key questions to consider in the process of selecting, supporting, and using data to inform and improve instruction.

This policy brief addresses the questions: What child assessments are required of pre-K and Kindergarten providers? How are child assessment data used? The brief is based primarily on secondary analysis of data collected in the NIEER State of Preschool Yearbook and presents a snapshot of responses to questions about child assessment.

This report provides state leaders and technical assistance providers with information about the design and requirements of teacher evaluations systems for early childhood teachers in 11 states. The report discusses the approach each state is taking to adapt the state system and develop resources for early childhood teachers. It identifies specific opportunities and challenges state leaders are addressing in implementing student learning objectives as an alternative method of measuring early childhood teachers’ contributions to children’s learning. The report concludes with questions for further research and recommendations for state policy makers. Executive Summary also available.

This policy brief from Dr. Goffin was commissioned by CEELO as they begin designing an Early Education Leadership Academy (EELA) for early learning and K–Grade 3 State Education Agency/Early Learning Agency (SEA/ELA) administrators. The report concludes with a series of action suggestions based on the findings from this multi-­dimensional view of the leadership development needs of SEA/ELA early learning administrators. [Full Report] | [Executive Summary]