U.S. Dept. of Education Releases Final Application for Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge

The U.S. Department of Education has released the final application for the Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC), which is designed provide $500 million in state-level competitive grants to improve early learning and development programs.

The goal of the RTT-ELC is to better prepare more children with high needs for kindergarten because children from birth to age five, including those from low-income families, need a strong foundation for success in school and beyond.

In its introduction to this initiative, the Education Dept. notes that “Robust research shows that high-quality early learning programs improve children's health, social-emotional development, cognitive ability, and school success. High-quality programs also help close the wide school readiness gap that exists between children with high needs and their peers. Yet, the U.S. lacks a coordinated system for improving and evaluating early learning and development programs as well as sharing best practices across programs and State.”

RTT-ELC is designed to set a high bar and reward states with the strongest plans to improve the quality of early learning and development programs. In their applications, states are required to demonstrate a commitment to building coordinated systems, aligning resources and policies, and increasing access to high-quality early learning and development programs for children who need them most.

RTT-ELC is designed to focus on five key areas of reform:

• establishing successful state systems by building on the state's existing strengths, ambitiously moving forward the state's early learning and development agenda, and carefully coordinating programs across agencies to ensure consistency and sustainability beyond the grant;
• defining high-quality, accountable programs by creating a common tiered quality rating and improvement system that is used across the state to evaluate and improve program performance and to inform families about program quality;
• promoting early learning and development outcomes for children to develop common standards within the state and assessments that measure child outcomes, address behavioral and health needs, as well as inform, engage, and support families;
• supporting a great early childhood education workforce by providing professional development, career advancement opportunities, appropriate compensation, and a common set of standards for workforce knowledge and competencies; and
• measuring outcomes and progress so that data can be used to inform early learning instruction and services and to assess whether children are entering kindergarten ready to succeed in elementary school.

For more information about the Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge, please visit:

U.S. Dept. of Education: Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge

Commentaries:

U.S. Dept. of Education Blog: Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge Application Released (23 AUG 11)

Education Week Blog: Newest Race to the Top Stresses Early Ed. Rating Systems (23 AUG 11)