Download or read book Early Childhood Program Participation from the National Household Education Surveys Program Of 2012 written by U S Department of Education and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-06-04 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents data on the early care and education arrangements and selected family activities of children in the United States from birth through the age of 5 who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten in the spring of 2012. The report also presents data on parents' satisfaction with various aspects of these care arrangements and on their participation in various learning activities with their children. For each category of information included in the report, the results are broken down by child, parent, and family characteristics. The data in this report are from the 2012 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2012) Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) Survey. The ECPP survey is used to collect information on children from birth through age 6 who are not yet enrolled in kindergarten.1 Prior to the 2012 ECPP survey that is the focus of the current report, the survey was last conducted in 2005. The ECPP asks detailed questions about children's participation in relative care, nonrelative care, and center-based care arrangements. It also asks about the main reason for choosing care; what factors were important to parents when choosing a care arrangement; what activities the family does with the child, such as reading, singing, and arts and crafts; and what the child is learning, such as counting, recognizing the letters of the alphabet, and reading. As noted above, the ECPP asks detailed questions about children's participation in relative care, nonrelative care, and center-based care arrangements. However, children can have more than one care arrangement within a particular type of care (e.g., two relative care arrangements). Parents were instructed on the questionnaire to answer the detailed questions about the person or center that provided the most care. The tables in this report refer to these arrangements as "primary" arrangements. Children can have multiple primary care arrangements across arrangement types (e.g., primary relative care and primary center care). This report (NCES 2013-029.REV) is revised from an earlier version of the report (NCES 2013-029) that was released in August 2013. This updated version is based on estimates that utilize the final NHES:2012 data, for which survey weights have been corrected. The correction in survey weights has led to small changes in the estimates presented, typically of one to two percentage points. The revised report also revises the estimates related to children's parents so that they are more consistent within tables and so that the parent(s) reported by the survey respondent, regardless of whether a birth, adoptive, step, foster parent or a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or another guardian in the household, is counted as a parent/guardian.

Download or read book Early Childhood Program Participation written by U. S. Department U.S. Department of Education and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-01-16 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents data on the early care and education arrangements and selected family activities of children in the United States from birth through the age of 5 who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten in the spring of 2012. The report also presents data on parents' satisfaction with various aspects of these care arrangements and on their participation in various learning activities with their children. For each category of information included in the report, the results are broken down by child, parent, and family characteristics. The data in this report are from the 2012 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2012) Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) Survey. The ECPP survey is used to collect information on children from birth through age 6 who are not yet enrolled in kindergarten. Prior to the 2012 ECPP survey that is the focus of the current report, the survey was last conducted in 2005. The ECPP asks detailed questions about children's participation in relative care, nonrelative care, and center-based care arrangements. It also asks about the main reason for choosing care; what factors were important to parents when choosing a care arrangement; what activities the family does with the child, such as reading, singing, and arts and crafts; and what the child is learning, such as counting, recognizing the letters of the alphabet, and reading. As noted above, the ECPP asks detailed questions about children's participation in relative care, nonrelative care, and center-based care arrangements. However, children can have more than one care arrangement within a particular type of care (e.g., two relative care arrangements). Parents were instructed on the questionnaire to answer the detailed questions about the person or center that provided the most care. The tables in this report refer to these arrangements as "primary" arrangements. Children can have multiple primary care arrangements across arrangement types (e.g., primary relative care and primary center care). This report (NCES 2013-029.REV) is revised from an earlier version of the report (NCES 2013-029) that was released in August 2013. This updated version is based on estimates that utilize the final NHES:2012 data, for which survey weights have been corrected. The correction in survey weights has led to small changes in the estimates presented, typically of one to two percentage points. The revised report also revises the estimates related to children's parents so that they are more consistent within tables and so that the parent(s) reported by the survey respondent, regardless of whether a birth, adoptive, step, foster parent or a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or another guardian in the household, is counted as a parent/guardian.

Download or read book Early Childhood Program Participation from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2012 First Look NCES 2013 029 written by Saida Mamedova and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents data on the early care and education arrangements and early learning of children in the United States from birth through the age of 5 who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten in the spring of 2012. The report also presents data on parents' satisfaction with various aspects of these care arrangements and on their participation in various learning activities with their children. For each category of information included in the report, the results are broken down by child, parent, and family characteristics. The data in this report are from the 2012 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2012) Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) Survey. The ECPP survey is used to collect information on children from birth through age 6 who are not yet enrolled in kindergarten. However, 6-year-old preschoolers are atypical and too few in number to support separate estimates, and therefore they have been excluded from this report. The ECPP asks detailed questions about children's participation in relative care, nonrelative care, and center-based care arrangements. It also asks about the main reason for choosing care; what factors were important to parents when choosing a care arrangement; what activities the family does with the child, such as reading, singing, and arts and crafts; and what the child is learning, such as counting, recognizing the letters of the alphabet, and reading. Results presented in the tables within this report are weighted. All statements of comparison made in this report have been tested for statistical significance using two-tailed t-tests and are significant at the 95 percent confidence level. No adjustments were made for multiple comparisons. Some estimates that appear different may not be measurably different in a statistical sense due to sampling error. The purpose of this First Look report is to introduce new NHES survey data through the presentation of selected descriptive information. However, readers are cautioned not to draw causal inferences based on the results presented. Many of the variables examined in this report may be related to one another, but the complex interactions and relationships among them have not been explored. The variables examined here are also just a few of the variables that can be examined in these data; they were selected to demonstrate the range of information available from the study. The release of this report is intended to encourage more in-depth analysis of the data using more sophisticated statistical methods.The following are appended: (1) Technical Notes; (2) Glossary of Terms; and (3) Standard Error Tables. (Contains 15 tables.).

Download or read book National Household Education Surveys Program of 2012 written by C. McPhee and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2012 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2012) Data File User's Manual provides documentation and guidance for users of the NHES:2012 data files. The manual provides information about the purpose of the study, the sample design, data collection procedures, data processing procedures, response rates, imputation, weighting and standard error calculation and use, data considerations and anomalies, a guide to the data file structure, nonresponse bias analysis, data collection instruments, data file layout, comparisons of estimates from NHES:2012 to prior NHES administrations and other data sources, and tables of nonresponse adjustment cells and response rates. The NHES:2012 consists of two topical surveys--the Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) Survey and the Parent and Family Involvement in Education (PFI) Survey--that were last fielded in 2005 and 2007, respectively. The ECPP survey has a target population of children age 6 or younger who are not yet in kindergarten. The PFI survey has a target population of children and youth age 20 or younger who are enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade in a public or private school or who are being homeschooled for the equivalent grades. The NHES:2012 was a two-phase survey conducted primarily by mail. The first phase of the survey was the administration of a short household screener questionnaire used to identify households with children under age 20. A total of 159,994 households were selected, and the response rate was 73.5 percent. The second phase of the survey was the collection of topical survey data from households with eligible children. The topical response rate was 78.7 percent for the ECPP survey and 78.4 percent for the PFI survey. The overall response rates (the product of the screener response rate and the topical response rate) were 57.8 percent for the ECPP survey and 57.6 percent for the PFI survey. The following are appended: (1) Questionnaires; (2) Data File Layout and Position Order; (3) Comparison of Estimates; (4) Screener Nonresponse Interview Adjustment Cells; (5) ECPP Nonresponse Interview Adjustment Cells; (6) PFI Nonresponse Interview Adjustment Cells; and (7) Summary of Weighting and Sample Variance Estimation Variables.

Download or read book Early Childhood Program Participation from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2012 First Look NCES 2013 029 Rev written by Saida Mamedova and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents data on the early care and education arrangements and selected family activities of children in the United States from birth through the age of 5 who were not yet enrolled in kindergarten in the spring of 2012. The report also presents data on parents' satisfaction with various aspects of these care arrangements and on their participation in various learning activities with their children. For each category of information included in the report, the results are broken down by child, parent, and family characteristics. The data in this report are from the 2012 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2012) Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) Survey. The ECPP survey is used to collect information on children from birth through age 6 who are not yet enrolled in kindergarten. Prior to the 2012 ECPP survey that is the focus of the current report, the survey was last conducted in 2005. The ECPP asks detailed questions about children's participation in relative care, nonrelative care, and center-based care arrangements. It also asks about the main reason for choosing care; what factors were important to parents when choosing a care arrangement; what activities the family does with the child, such as reading, singing, and arts and crafts; and what the child is learning, such as counting, recognizing the letters of the alphabet, and reading. This report (NCES 2013-029.REV) is revised from an earlier version of the report (NCES 2013-029) that was released in August 2013. This updated version is based on estimates that utilize the final NHES:2012 data, for which survey weights have been corrected. Findings include: (1) Approximately 60 percent of children 5 and younger not enrolled in kindergarten were in at least one weekly nonparental care arrangement, as reported by their parents. Among children in a weekly nonparental care arrangement, 56 percent were attending a day care center, preschool, or prekindergarten (center-based care); 42 percent were cared for by a relative (relative care); and 24 percent were cared for in a private home by someone not related to them (nonrelative care) (table 1); (2) Among children with relative care, the primary caregiver for 78 percent of children was a grandparent in the primary relative care arrangement, compared to 11 percent who were cared for by an aunt or uncle and 10 percent whose care was provided by another relative (table 2); (3) Among children who were one to two years old, the mean length of time that they had been in their primary care arrangement was longer for children in their primary relative care arrangement (18 months) compared to their primary nonrelative care (15 months) or center-based care arrangement (13 months) (table 3); (4) Among families with any out-of-pocket costs for care using the primary care arrangement in each category reported, the per child out-of-pocket costs for center-based care were higher for children in families with incomes at or above the poverty threshold ($6.96 per hour) compared to children in families with incomes below the poverty threshold ($3.53 per hour) (table 4); (5) The most common location for children's primary center-based care arrangement, as reported in the survey, was a building of its own (46 percent). Other reported locations were a church, synagogue, or other place of worship (20 percent); a public school (20 percent); and various other types of locations (14 percent) (table 5); (6) Among children in a weekly nonparental care arrangement who had a parent that reported trying to find care, 81 percent of children had parents who reported that the learning activities of the child care arrangement were very important to them when they chose the arrangement where their child spends the most time. This percentage varied by parental education level, as a higher percentage of children whose parents/guardians had less than a high school credential (92 percent) or a high school diploma or equivalent (91 percent) had parents/guardians who reported that the learning activities at the care arrangement were very important in their choice compared to children whose parents/guardians had a vocational/technical degree or some college education (81 percent), children whose parents/guardians had a bachelor's degree (79 percent), and children whose parents/guardians had a graduate or professional degree (71 percent) (table 6); and (7) Approximately 98 percent of children ages three to five who were not yet in kindergarten had parents who taught them letters, words, or numbers in the past week; 95 percent had parents who read to them; 94 percent had parents who sang songs with them; 86 percent had parents who worked on arts and crafts with them; and 83 percent had parents who told them a story (table 7). The following are appended: (1) Technical Notes; (2) Glossary of Terms; and (3) Standard Error Tables.

Download or read book Early Childhood Program Participation Results from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016 First Look NCES 2017 101 written by Lisa Corcoran and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents findings from the Early Childhood Program Participation Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016 (NHES:2016). The Early Childhood Program Participation Survey collected data on children's participation in relative care, nonrelative care, and center-based care arrangements. It also collected information from parents about the main reason for choosing care, what factors were important to parents when choosing a care arrangement, and parents' participation in various learning activities with their children.

Download or read book Child Care and Early Education Program Participation of Infants Toddlers and Preschoolers written by Jerry West and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Characteristics of Children s Early Care and Education Programs written by Sandra Hofferth and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1999-10 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Early Childhood Assessment in School and Clinical Child Psychology written by Adrienne Garro and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-27 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents an integrated and coordinated framework for assessing developmental, psychological, and behavioral disorders in early childhood. Expert contributors advocate for natural-environment methods in addition to standardized measures in assessing academic and social skills as well as age-specific behavior problems in young children. Chapters model collaborations between clinicians, family, and daycare and school personnel, address diagnostic and classification issues, and conceptualize assessment as flexible, ongoing, and, as necessary, leading to coordinated services. The book gives practitioners and researchers critical tools toward establishing best practices in an increasingly complex and important area, leading to better prevention and intervention outcomes. Included in the coverage: Standardized assessment of cognitive development. Authentic and performance-based assessment. The use of Response to Interve ntion (RTI) in early childhood. Collaboration in school and child care settings. Anxiety disorders, PTSD, OCD, and depression in young children. Sleeping, feeding/eating, and attachment problems in early childhood. Early Childhood Assessment in School and Clinical Child Psychology is an essential resource for clinicians and related professionals, researchers, and graduate students in child and school psychology; assessment, testing, and evaluation; occupational therapy; family studies, educational psychology; and speech pathology.

Download or read book Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012 written by U S Census Bureau and published by . This book was released on 2011-11 with total page 1032 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The statistical abstract of the United States, published since 1878, is a comprehensive collection of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States--Preface, p. v.

Download or read book Family Involvement in Early Education and Child Care written by John A. Sutterby and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2016-11-21 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume encourages reflection on previous volumes. Family involvement has been an issue in early education going back to Pestalozzi almost two centuries ago. This book looks at what advances in the area of family involvement in early education have been made since the publication of the previous volume.

Download or read book Digest of Education Statistics 2012 written by Thomas D. Snyder and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2014-04 with total page 842 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Digest of Education Statistics 2012 is the 48th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education--from pre-kindergarten through graduate school--drawn from government and private sources, but especially from surveys and other activities led by NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) part of the Institute for Education Sciences (IES). The digest contains data on the number of schools, students, and teachers, as well as statistics on educational attainment, finances, libraries, technology, and international comparisons. Details on population trends, education attitudes, labor force characteristics, and federal aid supplies helpful background for evaluating the education data. This statistical reference could be helpful to parents choosing schools for their children as well as for teachers, librarians, and public administrators as it tracks enrollment, population trends and key areas of studies with student progress. It also tracks the post-secondary/college level detailing undergraduate tuition and room/board ESTIMATE costs at private nonprofit institutions, private for profit institutions and public institutions. It also tallies the number of postsecondary degrees and provides some gender demographics in this area. The Digest contains seven chapters: All Levels of Education, Elementary and Secondary Education, Postsecondary Education, Federal Programs for Education and Related Activities, Outcomes of Education, International Comparisons of Education, and Libraries and Adult Education. Preceding these chapters is an Introduction that provides a brief overview of current trends in American education, which supplements the tabular materials in chapters 1 through 7. The Digest concludes with three appendixes. The first appendix, Guide to Sources, provides a brief synopsis of the surveys used to generate the Digest tables; the second, Definitions, is included to help readers understand terms used in the Digest; and the third, Index of Table Numbers, allows readers to quickly locate tables on specific topics. In addition to updating many of the statistics that have appeared in previous years, this edition contains new material, including: Percentage distribution of 6- to 18-year olds, by parent''s highest level of educational attainment, household type (either two-parent or single-parent), and child''s race/ethnicity (table 12); Enrollment and percentage distribution of enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity and region (table 44); Number and percentage of public school students participating in programs for English language learners, by state (table 47); Children 3 to 21 years old served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, by age group and race/ethnicity (table 49); Percentage of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children enrolled in preprimary programs, by attendance status, level of program, and selected child and family characteristics (table 57); Number and enrollment of public elementary and secondary schools that have closed, by school level and type (table 109); Number and percentage distribution of public school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, by school level, locale, and student race/ethnicity (table 112); Public elementary and secondary charter schools and enrollment, by state (table 117); First-time kindergartners'' reading, mathematics, science, cognitive flexibility, and approaches to learning scale scores in fall and spring of the kindergarten year, by selected child, family, and school characteristics (table 135); Number and percentage distribution of kindergartners, by kindergarten entry status (i.e., early entrant, on-time entrant, delayed entrant, or kindergarten repeater) and selected child, family, and school characteristics (table 136); Kindergartners'' reading, mathematics, science, cognitive flexibility, and approaches to learning scale scores in fall and spring of the kindergarten year, by kindergarten entry status (table 137); Percentage of 9th-grade students participating in various school-sponsored and non-school-sponsored activities, by sex and race/ethnicity (table 183); Percentage of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-graders absent from school in the last month, by selected student and school characteristics and number of days absent (table 187); Total and current expenditures per pupil in fall enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by function and subfunction (table 214); Total fall enrollment in all postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV programs, by degree-granting status and control of institution (table 222); Percentage of recent high school completers enrolled in 2-year and 4-year colleges, by income level (table 236); Number of postsecondary students who entered the student loan repayment phase, number of students who defaulted, and 2-year student loan cohort default rates, by level and control of institution (table 400); Number and percentage of persons 16 to 24 years old who were neither enrolled in school nor working, by educational attainment, age group, family poverty status, and race/ethnicity (table 429); Employment to population ratios of all persons, males, and females 16 to 64 years old, by age group and educational attainment (tables 431, 432, and 433); Unemployment rates of all persons, males, and females 16 to 64 years old, by age group and educational attainment (tables 434, 435, and 436); Percentage of high school students age 16 over who were employed, by age group, sex, race/ethnicity, family income, nativity, and hours worked per week (table 441); and Average reading literacy scale scores of fourth-graders and percentage whose schools emphasize reading skills and strategies at or before second grade or at third grade, by sex and country or other education system (table 462).

Download or read book Physical Activity and Health Promotion in the Early Years written by Hannah Brewer and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-06-19 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on improving well-being among young children. It provides a theoretical base explaining why physical activity is important, and offers practical strategies for increasing health and well-being in early childhood settings. It takes ancient wisdom on the mind and body connection, applies it to the youngest children, and supports it with current empirical and international evidence—all with an eye toward improving wellness across the lifespan. The many topics discussed in the book include children’s motor skills, movement, interaction, physical literacy, the use of video games, dog ownership, developmental delays, as well as strategies to improve physical activities in the classroom and broader contexts. In recent years, children’s health has become a priority worldwide. Topics such as “screen time” “sedentary behavior” and “childhood obesity” have become important issues everywhere- in the news, in schools, in community and commercials settings, and among health care providers. Limiting sedentary behavior, increasing physical activity, and maintaining a nutritious diet are three fundamental needs during early childhood. Preschool years are a time when children begin to explore the world around them, and develop more vivid understandings of their surroundings. As this book shows, the early years may be the best time to teach wellness concepts and assist young children in establishing healthy lifestyle habits.

Download or read book Health Promotion Programs written by Carl I. Fertman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-10-17 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comprehensive coverage, real-world issues, and a focus on the practical aspects of health promotion Health Promotion Programs combines theory and practice to deliver a comprehensive introduction to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion programs. Presenting an overview of best practices from schools, health care organizations, workplaces, and communities, this book offers clear, practical guidance with an emphasis on hands-on learning. This new second edition has been updated to include discussion on today's important issues, including health equity, the Affordable Care Act, big data, E-health, funding, legislation, financing, and more. New coverage includes programs for underserved priority populations at a geographically-diverse variety of sites, and new practice and discussion questions promote engagement on highly-relevant topics. Public health is a critical aspect of any society, and health promotion programs play an important role. This book provides clear instruction, practical guidance, and multiple avenues to deeper investigation. Plan health promotion programs from the basis of health theory Gain in-depth insight on new issues and challenges in the field Apply what you're learning with hands-on activities Access digital learning aids and helpful templates, models, and suggestions Designed to promote engagement and emphasize action, this book stresses the importance of doing as a vital part of learning—yet each step of the process is directly traceable to health theory, which provides a firm foundation to support a robust health promotion program. Health Promotion Programs is the essential introductory text for practical, real-world understanding.

Download or read book Early Childhood Policies and Systems in Eight Countries written by Tony Bertram and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-07-29 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report provides an overview of policy strategies on early childhood education settings (from birth to primary schooling) in eight countries. Data were collected using a policy questionnaire addressed to and completed by the National Research Coordinator(s) (NRC) of Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Poland, the Russian Federation and the United States. The countries that participated provide interesting illustrations of early childhood education policy in action in a range of diverse contexts. Analysis of the systemic and structural results of ECE policy at national and, where necessary, subnational levels, enables transnational comparisons in policy and systems. Key policy changes, both underway and planned, are documented. These data reveal key findings in each of the five policy areas as covered in the questionnaire and this report: public policy; delivery models and providers; participation and enrollment; quality assurance systems; and expectations for child outcomes. In particular, the study aims to provide meaningful information for countries, states and jurisdictions across the world in relation to early childhood education, mapping the systems, structures and user pathways in place, along with the perceptions of stakeholders about the system, its functioning and impact. This comprehensive assessment of the wider policy contexts and settings for early childhood education includes teacher/practitioner qualifications, pedagogy approaches, and opportunities for professional development. Such information will enable countries to review their early childhood education systems in an international context.

Download or read book The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education written by Donna Couchenour and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 1567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The general public often views early childhood education as either simply “babysitting” or as preparation for later learning. Of course, both viewpoints are simplistic. Deep understanding of child development, best educational practices based on development, emergent curriculum, cultural competence and applications of family systems are necessary for high-quality early education. Highly effective early childhood education is rare in that it requires collaboration and transitions among a variety of systems for children from birth through eight years of age. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education presents in three comprehensive volumes advanced research, accurate practical applications of research, historical foundations and key facts from the field of contemporary early childhood education. Through approximately 425 entries, this work includes all areas of child development – physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional, aesthetic – as well as comprehensive review of best educational practices with young children, effective preparation for early childhood professionals and policy making practices, and addresses such questions as: · How is the field of early childhood education defined? · What are the roots of this field of study? · How is the history of early childhood education similar to yet different from the study of public education? · What are the major influences on understandings of best practices in early childhood education?

Download or read book Cradle to Kindergarten written by Ajay Chaudry and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2021-03-25 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early care and education for many children in the United States is in crisis. The period between birth and kindergarten is a critical time for child development, and socioeconomic disparities that begin early in children’s lives contribute to starkly different long-term outcomes for adults. Yet, compared to other advanced economies, high-quality child care and preschool in the United States are scarce and prohibitively expensive for many middle-class and most disadvantaged families. To what extent can early-life interventions provide these children with the opportunities that their affluent peers enjoy and contribute to reduced social inequality in the long term? Cradle to Kindergarten offers a comprehensive, evidence-based strategy that diagnoses the obstacles to accessible early education and charts a path to opportunity for all children. The U.S. government invests less in children under the age of five than do most other developed nations. Most working families must seek private childcare, which means that children from low-income households, who would benefit most from high-quality early education, are the least likely to attend them. Existing policies, such as pre-kindergarten in some states are only partial solutions. To address these deficiencies, the authors propose to overhaul the early care system, beginning with a federal paid parental leave policy that provides both mothers and fathers with time and financial support after the birth of a child. They also advocate increased public benefits, including an expansion of the child care tax credit, and a new child care assurance program that subsidizes the cost of early care for low- and moderate-income families. They also propose that universal, high-quality early education in the states should start by age three, and a reform of the Head Start program that would include more intensive services for families living in areas of concentrated poverty and experiencing multiple adversities from the earliest point in these most disadvantaged children’s lives. They conclude with an implementation plan and contend that these reforms are attainable within a ten-year timeline. Reducing educational and economic inequalities requires that all children have robust opportunities to learn, fully develop their capacities, and have a fair shot at success. Cradle to Kindergarten presents a blueprint for fulfilling this promise by expanding access to educational and financial resources at a critical stage of child development.