Vol. III, Issue 23—January 16, 2015–January 31, 2015
Contents

Highlights

Federal Updates

Policy Trends and Analysis

New Research

Upcoming Events

Other News, Announcements
and Resources

News from the States
o
California
o
Georgia
o
Illinois
o
Kansas
o
Louisiana
o
Maine
o
Michigan
o
New Mexico
o
New York
o
Oregon
HIGHLIGHTS:
White House Holds Summit on Early
Learning
During his annual speech to Congress, President Obama described child care as
a “must-have” for working families and proposed a new tax cut of up to $3,000 per
child per year. The president later reiterated his support for making child care
more affordable in a speech at the University of Kansas. He called for an
additional $80 million investment in the Child Care Development Block Grant
(CCDBG). Read more here and
here.
Back to top
FEDERAL UPDATES:

Federal Leaders:
o
President Obama signed a presidential memorandum granting
executive branch employees up to six weeks paid leave after
the birth or adoption of a child. Read more here.
o

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand re-introduced three bills that aim to
increase the affordability of child care. Read more here and
here.
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA): The U.S. Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a full
committee hearing on ESEA. Discussion centered on the number of
assessments children should be required to take. Read more here and
here.
Back to top
o
POLICY TRENDS AND ANALYSIS:


Early Childhood Development: The Institute for Child Success
released the brief, “When Brain Science Meets Public Policy: Strategies
for Building Executive Function Skills in the Early Years", which offered
policy recommendations to support executive function skills in young
children. Proposals included the adoption of dual-generation strategies,
place-based approaches and developmental screenings.
Early Childhood Health: The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and the
Georgetown Center for Children and Families released the results of a
50-state survey of Medicaid and CHIP officials. The report found that the
median income eligibility limit for children in Medicaid and CHIP was

255% of the federal poverty line. Read more here.
The Southern Education Foundation analyzed National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) data and found that 51% of children
attending public schools in 2013 were low-income. Analysis accounted
for children in pre-kindergarten through high school. Read more here.
Back to top
NEW RESEARCH:


Early Childhood Obesity: A study in Pediatrics found that overweight
and obese children participating in Head Start lost weight faster than a
control group not attending the program. Similarly, children in Head Start
who were underweight also reached a healthier weight by kindergarten.
Read more here and here.
Early Childhood Investment: Researchers from the National Bureau of
Economic Research (NBER) found that children who had received
Medicaid earned higher wages compared to a control group. They were
also more likely to attend college and had a lower risk of premature
death. Read more here and here.
Back to top
UPCOMING EVENTS:


February 10: The American Institutes for Research and the National
Center on Family Homelessness are holding the event, “America’s 2.5
Million Homeless Children: A Panel Discussion.” The event will include a
conversation of the recently released report, “America’s Youngest
Outcasts: A Report Card on Child Homelessness.” Read more here.
March 25-26: The Ounce and the Urban Education Institute are cohosting a convening of school district leaders in Chicago entitled
“Excellence in the Early Grades: District Leadership Summit.” This event
will bring together leadership from school districts across the country to
discuss local policy strategies to promote improved alignment across the
P-3 spectrum. Read more here.
Back to top
OTHER NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES:




Early Childhood Advocacy: The Ounce of Prevention Fund's Margie
Wallen, director of policy partnerships, national policy, is among the
candidates running for a member-at-large position in the upcoming
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
governing board election. Read more about Wallen here and here.
Professional Development: National Journal details the training
opportunities that Educare of California at Silicon Valley will offer to area
child care workers. Read more here.
Pre-kindergarten: NPR explored the ways in which pre-kindergarteners
comprehend the significance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. Read
more here.
Child Care:
o
NPR described the World War II-era national child care program
that President Obama referenced in his State of the Union
address. Read more here.
o
The Wall Street Journal investigated the economic impact of
high child care costs and how workers can benefit from
affordable care arrangements. Read more here.
o




Slate detailed the increasing costs of child care and explained
the reasons behind the expense. Read more here.
Access to Early Learning: Quartz analyzed the results of the latest
“Quality Counts Report” and found that 64% of children from high-income
households attended pre-kindergarten programs while 40% of children
from low-income families received such services. Read more here.
Home Visiting: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is
reviewing benchmark data submitted by tribal home visiting grantees.
Read more here.
Head Start: The Division Director, Education and Comprehensive
Services, Office of Head Start (OHS) provided an overview of Head
Start’s innovative approach to community engagement. Read more here.
Literacy Development: The New York Times highlighted two
interventions that involved texting parents in order to encourage
engagement in literacy activities with their children. Parents who received
text messages spent more time reading with their children than parents
who did not receive text messages. Read more here.
Back to top
NEWS FROM THE STATES:
California




EdSource detailed the state’s progress in implementing a Quality Rating
Improvement System (QRIS) through its Race to the Top Early Learning
Challenge (RTT-ELC) award. Most early learning centers across the
state have completed their rating plans, which are being evaluated by
local education officials. Read more here.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced a proposal to add 860 slots
over the next 2 years for the city’s Preschool For All program. In
November, voters approved Proposition C, which will help fund the
additional costs. Read more here.
Early childhood advocates responded to Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2015-2016
budget proposal to add 4,000 pre-kindergarten slots by stating their
desire to have 10,000 slots added instead. Read more here.
The executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund-California called
on the governor to adopt a more robust investment approach to child
care in 2015. Read more here.
Georgia

Researchers studied the impact of two professional development models
on state pre-kindergarten teachers. The study found that the Making the
Most of Classroom Interactions (MMCI) and MyTeachingPartner (MTP)
models improved teacher’s instructional effectiveness. Read more here.
Illinois

The Department of Human Services (DHS) will soon run out of state
funds for payments to providers in the Child Care Assistance Program
(CCAP), who serve low-income and working families in subsidized care
arrangements. While limited federal funds will continue to be available


for a portion of these payments, action will need to be taken to avoid
programmatic cuts. Read more here and here.
The Hechinger Report profiles Chicagoland early childhood programs
that offer mental health services to pre-kindergarteners who have
experienced traumatic events. Read more here.
University of Chicago pediatric surgeon Dana Suskind is leading the
Thirty Million Words Project to reduce the word gap between children
born into low-income and high-income families. The program is launching
a long-term study to test the effectiveness of its home visiting
intervention. Read more here.
Kansas



Gov. Sam Brownback announced his FY 2016 Budget, which called for a
transfer of $14.5 million from the Kansas Endowment for Youth and
$500,000 from the Children’s Initiatives Fund to the State General Fund.
Read more here.
State lawmakers and early childhood activists voiced disapproval for
Gov. Brownback’s plan to use funds from the Kansas Endowment for
Youth Fund to plug budget shortfalls. They worry that the transfers could
bring about future cuts to children’s programs. Read more here and here.
In the inaugural address at his swearing-in ceremony for his second term
as Governor, Sam Brownback stressed the importance of reducing
childhood poverty and strengthening families. Read more here and here.
Louisiana

The state Department of Education announced that school districts are
ahead of schedule in their efforts to implement requirements of Act 3.
According to the department, all school districts are participating in the
statewide Early Childhood Care and Education Network pilots. Read
more here.
Maine

CareQuilt, a partnership between Educare Central Maine and social
service agencies, public schools and child care programs, received a $5
million federal grant to expand early childhood services. Read more
here.
Michigan


After investing $130 million over the past two years in the Great Start
Readiness Program (GSRP), the state has increased enrollment in highquality pre-kindergarten by 21,000 4-year-olds. Vicksburg Community
Schools is an example of a neighborhood that has benefited. Before the
expansion of the GSRP, 32 children attended a half-day program four
days a week. Now, 48 children are in full-day programs five days a week.
Read more here and here.
The founder and chairman of the Center of Michigan wrote an opinion
piece for Bridge in which he highlighted home visiting as an effective
practice that promotes healthy child development. Read more here.
New Mexico

The legislative finance committee released a report recommending an
additional $24 million be directed to early childhood programs to increase
the number of children who access the services. Read more here.
New York

Teachers at community-based organizations in New York City Mayor Bill
de Blasio’s expanded pre-kindergarten initiative are requesting salary
increases. Read more here.
Oregon



The state shared data from the second implementation of the
kindergarten entry assessment. Results show that entering
kindergarteners were measured at the same levels as the previous year.
Read more here and here.
The co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means released a
2015-2017 budget framework in response to Gov. John Kitzhaber’s
budget proposal. Compared to Kitzhaber’s budget, the legislative
proposal directs significantly less money to early childhood programs.
Read more here.
A post for the Children’s Institute blog profiles an early childhood policy
advisor who has personal and professional experience working with
young children in rural communities. Read more here.
Back to top
The Ounce of Prevention Fund gives children in poverty the best chance for success in school and in life by advocating for
and providing the highest quality care and education from birth to age 5.
The Ounce National Policy Team partners with and supports early childhood leaders in states as they advance a
comprehensive agenda for at-risk children and families. We do this by providing individualized strategy and policy consultation
and resources; facilitating peer-to-peer learning and networking across states; and supporting Educare Schools and the
Educare Learning Network in the development of their policy and advocacy work.
The National Policy Digest is a bi-monthly newsletter that shares up-to-date and noteworthy developments in state and
federal early childhood news, policy and funding changes, research, policy trends and analyses, upcoming events, etc. culled
from diverse sources in the field. To subscribe, please contact Gregory Tate (gtate@theOunce.org).
33 West Monroe Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60603 • 312.922.3863 • ©2015 Ounce of Prevention Fund