A Lot of What I Learned, I
Learned Before Kindergarten:
A Broader, BOLDER Approach to
Early Childhood Care and Education
Elaine Weiss
National Coordinator, BBA
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Income-based achievement gaps
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IF
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Misdiagnosing the Gap
1st grade
370
360
350
340
1st grade
330
320
310
Low-SES
Middle-SES
High-SES
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Drivers of the Gap?
Poverty-related factors:
•
•
•
•
Physical and Mental Health Problems
Poor Nutrition
Lack of support for, less-educated parents
Weak access to quality early childhood care
and education
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Impacts of Poverty: Maternal and Infant Health
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Impacts of Poverty: Infant Health
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
Ever breastfed
30%
Breastfed at 6 months
20%
10%
0%
White infants
African-American infants
Source: Currie 2005
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Impacts of Poverty: Maternal and Infant Health
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Poor
Non-poor
Depressed mothers Young Black Children Young White Children
Source: Currie (2005)
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Impacts of Poverty: Parental Education
1200
College Educated
Parents
600
Very Low-Income
Parents
200
16 mos.
24 mos.
36 mos.
Child’s Age (Months)
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Source: Hart and Risley
Impacts of Poverty: Opportunity Gaps
Lack of well-child
visits, screenings
Undetected
delays
Missed school days
Missed
vaccinations
Poor nutrition,
food insecurity
Lack of access to
dental care
Lack of focus in class
Chronic ear,
other infections
Tooth decay,
cavities, obesity
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ER/hospital visits
Policy Priorities that Work?
Reduce school readiness gap through:
• Supports for parents as children’s primary
caregivers and first teachers
• Boosts to maternal, infant, and toddler health
• Access to high-quality early childhood care and
education programs
• Systemic coordination of early childhood supports
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60
50
40
30
20
10
0
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United States
United…
Switzerland
Sweden
Spain
Portugal
Norway
New Zealand
Netherlands
Japan
Italy
Ireland
Greece****
Germany
France
Finland
Denmark
Canada
Belgium
Austria
Australia
European…
Parental Leave
Paid maternity leave (weeks)
Source: Ray, CEPR (2008)
Nurse Home Visits
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Family Health and Nutrition Supports
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Quality Early Childhood Education
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BBA ECE in Practice
Where is this happening? …
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Omaha, Nebraska
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Vancouver, Washington
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Harlem, New York City
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Orlando, Florida
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Visit www.boldapproach.org/early-childhood-education
ECE Policy Statement and supporting bibliography
2-page ECE Policy Brief
Blogs and media clips
Copy of this PowerPoint and notes/stump speech to
adapt
Contact Elaine Weiss, BBA National Coordinator:
eweiss@boldapproach.org, 202 331-5537
www.boldapproach.org
Sources
•
Campbell, F. A., Ramey, C. T., Pungello, E. P., Sparling, J., & Miller-Johnson, S. (2002). Early Childhood Education: Young Adult
Outcomes from the Abecedarian Project. Applied Developmental Science, 6, 42-57.
•
Currie, Januet (2005). “Health Disparities and Gaps in School Readiness,” 15 Future of Children No.1, Spring, pp.117-138.
•
Delpisheh, Ali, Brabin, Loretta and Brabin, Bernard (2006) 'Pregnancy, smoking and birth outcomes'. Women's Health, Vol 2, Issue 3.
•
Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Policy, Research, and Evaluation
(November 2010). “Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness Review: Executive Summary.”
•
Fosburg, L.B., & Brown, B. (1984). The effects of Head Start health services: Executive Summary of the Head Start evaluation.
Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates.
•
Hart, Betty and Todd Risley (1995). Meaningful Differences. Baltimore, MD, Brookes Publishing.
•
Jehl, Jeanne (2012). Healthy Beginnings: A System of Care for Young Children in Atlanta’s NPU-V. Annie, E. Casey Foundation,
Baltimore, MD.
•
Ray, Rebecca (September 2008). A Detailed Look at Parental Leave Policies in 21 OECD Countries, Center for Economic and Policy
Research.
•
Reynolds, Arthur J., The Chicago Child-Parent Centers: A Longitudinal Study of Extended Early Childhood Intervention, discussion
paper no. 1126-97, Madison, Wisc.: Institute for Research on Poverty, 1997. As of September 29,
2008: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp112697.pdf
•
Schweinhart, Lawrence J., Jeanne Montie, Zongping Xiang, W. Steven Barnett, Clive R. Belfield, & Milagros Nores (2005). Lifetime
Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40 (pp. 194–215). Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope Press. © 2005 by High/Scope®
Educational Research Foundation.
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