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Fairfax Futures
School Readiness Network News
Greetings!
Hard to believe summer has gone by so quickly. As many young children and their families are getting ready for kindergarten, we are busy getting ready for Fairfax Futures' Third Annual School Readiness Leadership Forum on September 22. This year's topic is Ready To Achieve: Investing Early in the Education of America's Workforce. Come join us. While a sagging economy has meant cuts in many pre-k programs this fall, we continue to see signs that government, business and community leaders recognize the importance of school readiness. Rhode Island now funds its first public pre-k program. Congress will likely enact the Early Learning Challenge Fund proposal. In Bremerton, Washington, a public-private alliance helps to align pre-k and early elementary programs. Even cash-strapped California has found a way to prepare children for kindergarten. This issue of SRN E-News also highlights recent studies on the importance of math in the pre-k classroom and the correlation between early education and later health. Interested in related research and other school readiness information? Click on the link we've provided to The Learning First Alliance. We look forward to seeing you on September 22. Don't forget to register, if you haven't already done so. Best wishes,  Vera Steiner Blore Executive Director
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Obama Backs Billions for Early Learning
 The Obama Administration supports efforts by Congress to answer the President's call to invest $10 billion in early learning reforms. Case in point: The Early Learning Challenge Fund, which is part of H.R. 3221 (bill) (summary). This House bill would encourage states to improve early learning settings for children 0 to 5 years and to increase disadvantaged children's access to high-quality early learning programs.
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Rhode Island Gets on Board with Pre-K
While many early education programs are suffering under the economic downturn, Rhode Island has invested in its first pre-K program. The state is budgeting $9,300 per child in twenty classrooms. Nearly half of Rhode Island's poor children live in extreme poverty, defined as a family of three with an annual income lower than $8,673. |
Let's Do the Math
 The National Research Council reports that the amount of time focused on mathematics needs to be increased in all public and private preschool settings. The report recommends that educators in these settings concentrate on basic operations, number counting, relative quantitites, and other skills that support a young child's later mastery of mathematics.
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Coordination Is Key
Alignment is the watchword for a school readiness initiative in Bremerton, WA, in which public schools work in partnership with community-based preschool providers. "Preschools need a consistent curriculum that is aligned with K-3," notes program director Linda Sullivan-Dudzic. "And K-3 needs to align with preschool."
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Practicing for Kindergarten
 This past summer, Stretch for Kindergarten, a pilot program in several California communities,served children whose families didn't qualify for government subsidies but couldn't afford preschool. Using volunteer support from youth in the community, the program provided both standards-based curricula and enrichment activities, such as art, free play, field trips and recreation. |
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Preschool Now, Better Health Later
Researchers at Columbia University followed children between the ages of 3 and 4 years and through the age of 40 years in a study to explore the link between early education programs and adult health. "[R]esearch indicates that prekindergarten programs targeting children from low-income households produce lifelong improvements in schooling, income, family stability and job quality," says principal investigator Peter Muennig. "These intertwined improvements may, in turn, improve health." |
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Fairfax Futures' 3rd Annual School
Readiness Leadership Forum
Ready To Achieve
Investing Early in the Education of America's Workforce
Tuesday, Sept. 22 8:30 - 9 a.m. Breakfast
9 a.m. - Noon Program
Capital One Conference Center
McLean, Virginia
Speakers:
The Honorable Jim Moran U.S. House of Representatives
Dr. Jacqueline Jones Senior Advisor to theSecretary for Early Learning, U.S. Department of Education
General Hugh Shelton
(retired)
Former Chairman,
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Dr. Derek Cabrera
President and Founder,
ThinkWorks, Inc.
Our rapidly-changing
world requires an agile workforce able to solve complex problems using
technologies that are yet to be invented.
Join other business,
government, military and education leaders to learn what we can do to ensure
children's readiness for the 21st century.
RSVP online or by calling
703.324.3076
This event is made possible
through a generous contribution from Capital One. To
see all our corporate and philanthropic partners, visit Fairfax Futures'
School Readiness Network.
Not yet a member of the
School Readiness Network?
Join us!
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