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National Policy Scans

The national policy scan links to sites for policies, practices, and programs that have received attention for their potential to create an aligned learning continuum. These sites are grouped in the following categories: governance, standards, certification, professional development, data, conditions, and incentives. A 50-state overview also provides an analysis of state’s birth to grade three alignment efforts. Many national organizations, including National Association of State Boards of Education, National Governor’s Association, Chief Council of State School Officers, and National Association of Elementary School Principals have led national early childhood and school readiness efforts. Through another national initiative, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Education Commission of the States is coordinating The Governors’ Forums: Linking Ready Kids to Ready Schools, an initiative coordinated by Mimi Howard at the Education Commission of the State that will bring together key state policy and education stakeholders in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to create and sustain smooth transitions and aligned programs and practices across early learning and the early grades.

Governance

In an effort to align Pre-K, many states have mandated the participation of early childhood divisions within existing K-20 structures.

• Massachusetts and New Jersey have created new departments combining Pre-K with early elementary (3).
• Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Governors’ Forums: Linking Ready Kids to Ready Schools is bringing together key state policy and education stakeholders in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to create and sustain smooth transitions and aligned programs and practices across early learning and the early grades. The first report of this initiative-highlighting the work in Arizona-has been released.
• Arizona and Colorado have both created Pre-K-3 initiatives tied to statewide P-20 councils.
• Washington House Bill 2964 establishes the Department of Early Learning, which includes the purpose of promoting linkages and alignment between early learning programs and elementary schools and support the transition of children and families from pre-kindergarten environments to kindergarten.
• Colorado Executive Order B00307 creates the Governor's P-20 Education Coordinating Council, which includes as one of its goals identifying options for expanding, monitoring, and effectively coordinating early childhood education with the state’s K-20 system. Senate Bill 46 requires a study of an education system ranging from pre-kindergarten through higher education and creates a legislative oversight committee and special council.
• Virginia’s Executive Order 40 continues the work of the P-16 council, including the goal to work closely with the Start Strong Council and other appropriate entities and organizations to ensure that Pre-K and early childhood initiatives are coordinated with other education initiatives.
• Iowa Learns Council builds an integrated, comprehensive early care, health and education system that includes transition plans so that all children move smoothly into the K–12 education system.
• California passed two laws to better regulate pre-K programs and to increase access to pre-K programs statewide. The first law established the Early Learning Quality Improvement System Advisory Committee, which will recommend how to rate and improve development services for children from birth to age five. It also establishes a framework for future resources necessary to achieve and maintain future resources. The second law establishes the California State Preschool Program, which consolidates all existing early childhood programs in the state by streamlining funding processes, as well as reducing administrative costs while also expanding program availability.

Standards

• The National Association of Elementary School Principals produced Leading Early Childhood Learning Communities: What Principals Should Know and Be Able to Do outlining standards for principal’s role with advocating, supporting, and improving early childhood education in their schools and communities.
• In Pennsylvania, information for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, contained within the Continuum Indicators, has been incorporated into the Early Learning Standards and Pennsylvania's Standards for Kindergarten A crosswalk of the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards links the state’s learning standards for children and national and state program standards.
• Massachusetts Executive Order 489 creates the Readiness Project, a plan to implement fundamental and systemic reforms to public education over the next ten years. One of the goals of the readiness project is to align curricula from pre-kindergarten through high school, higher education and work force development, including an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math, as well as other subjects and methods that enhance creativity and problem-solving skills.

Certification

• The Council for Professional Recognition designed a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential to help childcare professionals work with children, parents and other adults to nurture children's physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth in a child development framework.
• Iowa has specific criteria for K-12 administrator candidates during their clinical practice that requires them to study about and practice in settings that include diverse populations, students with disabilities, and students of different ages.

Professional Development

• The Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators will begin creating statewide Ready School professional development opportunities for K-12 administrators this fall. At the early childhood level, the state has a coordinated site for professional development opportunities for early childhood and after school directors.
• The Nebraska Department of Education and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services collaborated to sponsor a Birth through Grade 3: Research to Practice Conference designed to address issues of leadership, literacy, assessment, meaningful implementation of curriculum, and transitions children experience as they move from preschool through kindergarten and the early elementary grades.
• The New York State Early Care and Education Core Body of Knowledge Framework (The Framework) serves as a resource for guiding the professional development of staff involved in early care and education and for the agencies, institutions, and associations that provide or administer professional development activities.
• The California Early Childhood Mentor Program selects, trains, and compensates experienced early childhood teachers and caregivers to mentor student teachers in early childhood care settings.

Data Infrastructure

• Massachusetts’ Readiness Project, a plan to implement fundamental and systemic reforms to public education over the next ten years, includes the goal to implement an effective and efficient accountability system for students, instructors and administrators from pre-kindergarten through higher education that enables authorities both to review performance and to target assistance where it is most needed.
• Senate Bill 2107, Part A, Section 4 directs the New York Board of Regents to explore the development of a pre-kindergarten through postsecondary (P-16) data system that tracks student performance from pre-kindergarten through public colleges in the state, and links students to teachers.

Asssessment

• A Quality Rating System (QRS) is a systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early care and education programs. Quality Rating Systems award quality ratings to early care and education programs that meet a set of defined program standards in an effort to increase the quality of care and education for children; increase parents’ understanding and demand for higher quality care; and increase professional development of child care providers.
• The Maryland Model for School Readiness (MMSR) is an assessment and instructional system designed to provide parents, teachers, and early childhood providers with a common understanding of what children know and are able to do upon entering school. An important component of the MMSR is the Work Sampling SystemTM (WSS), which provides a way for teachers to document and assess children's skills, knowledge, behavior, and academic accomplishments in a variety of subject areas. All 24 of Maryland's local school systems have integrated the use of the MMSR into their programs and many school systems have also included pre-kindergarten teachers and early childhood special educators in MMSR staff development activities.

Conditions

• In addition to Illinois, states like North Carolina ,Ohio, and Arizona have implemented Teacher & Learning Conditions Surveys to collect input on issues that impact the working conditions for K-12 administrators and teachers.
• In the early learning field, the Early Childhood Work Environment Survey is an assessment tool that measures the working conditions for employees in an early learning setting.
• In working to improve the organizational conditions in the early learning field, Teri Talan and Paula Jorde Bloom developed the Program Administration Scale (PAS) to provide a reliable and easy-to-administer tool for measuring the overall quality of administrative practices of early care and education programs.

Incentives

• Through Ohio’s Readiness School Initiative grants will be made available through the Governor’s Office to ten elementary school principals to pilot the Resource Guide in their schools.