National Head Start AssociationLeadership Institute

January 29, 2009Presentation by Joan Lombardi, Ph.D.

Early Childhood Development:

At the dawn of a new era

Why this is such an important time A transforming moment for the nation and

the world The economic crisis is having a serious

impact on children and families Early childhood has more visibility than

ever Important reforms pending- health,

education and child care The potential for recovery and growth

Lets talk about…….. Where we have been

The new era in early childhood

Ringing in the next generation of Head Start

But first how are the children….

www.nccp.org

Source: National Center for Children in Poverty. (2006). Basic Facts About Low-Income Children: Birth to Age 18.

www.nccp.org

Variation by State: All Children

www.nccp.org

Variation by State: Children Under Six

www.nccp.org

An uneven startSES Difference at Start of K

-0.55

-0.22

0

0.25

0.69

-0.47

-0.17

0.27

0.7

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

lowest second third fourth fifth

Income Quintile

Stan

dard

Dev

iatio

n Un

its

Math

Reading

www.nccp.org

School readiness by mother’s education level

Percentage of First-time Kindergartners Demonstrating Positive Indicators of School Readiness by Mother's Education Level,

1998

3832

22

5750

31

69

61

39

8679

46

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Reading proficiency Mathematics proficiency Fine motor skills

Pe

rce

nt

Less than high school

High school diploma/GED

Some college, includingvocational/technicalCollege degree or more

Source: Child Trends and Center for Health Research. (2004). Early Child Development in Social Context. Data from K. Denton, E. Germino-Hausken, and J. West (project officer), America's Kindergartners, NCES 2000-070, (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics, 2000).

Ch

ild

ren

’s D

evel

op

men

t

Age0

Risk FactorsRisk Factors

Protective Protective FactorsFactors

A Child’s Developmental Trajectory Can Be A Child’s Developmental Trajectory Can Be Modified With Appropriate InterventionsModified With Appropriate Interventions

Optimal

Impaired

Slide by Ed Schor, Md

Looking back on policy….. Three trains Head Start 1965 Child Care grows in the 70’s, CCDBG 1990 Preschool emerges in the 80’s

State prek expansion Lasting Effects of Preschool (l979), Perry

Preschool Data (mid 80’s), Readiness Goal (l989)

Brain decade- mid 90’s Early Head Start l995, significant Federal

investments in child care and Head Start

Federal funding flattens, and state prek

grows Tracks start to come together in the late

90’s and early 2000– unifiers, system building

Governance Quality Rating Systems Early Learning Guidelines Prek and Head Start into Child Care

Focus on accountability

Early childhood at the turn of the century

More recently About mid decade 0-3 issues again

emerge driven by science and advocacy

2008 The election shines a light on early childhood

New era of early childhood dawning

Characteristics of a new era High quality programs for children prenatal to age five Continuity with quality early primary

Common infrastructure across all early childhood programs

Children Ready for Success

Monitoring standards and ongoing

technical support

Monitoring and Improvement

Programs

Guided by Program Standards and Early Learning and Development Guidelines

Programs

ProfessionalDevelopment

To consumers, public and private sector

Engagement & Outreach

Health, Nutrition, Mental Health, Disability Services

Parenting and Family Support

Comprehensive Services

Early Childhood Development System A sample format

Across programs and connected to other

systems

GovernanceAnd Financing

Core competenciesAccess to Training and

Higher Education

J Lombardi, Adapted from the Early Childhood Systems Working Group

Ringing in The Next Generation of Head Start

Investing in Early Childhood Helps America Recover and Grow!

1. Raise Head Start’s visibility in the recovery and document results How many more children? How many new jobs? How many better jobs? How much of a contribution to goods and services

in the community/state? How many parents helped to find and prepare for

new jobs? How many volunteers? How many lives changed……

Head Start Helps America Recover and Grow!

2. Promote Head Start as a concept of comprehensive services We must assure that young children from

low income families have access to more intensive and comprehensive services. Head Start partnerships with child care and prek are essential to this vision.

This means staying active at the state policy level.

Early Learning

Health, Mental

Health and Nutrition

Family Support

Special Needs/ Early Intervention

State Early Childhood Development System

Early Childhood Systems Working Group

3. Reinforce the principle that equality for low income children means starting early

Early Head Start should grow and serve as the model for state investments in prenatial-3.

Again, this means staying very active in state decisions about infant and toddler services for low income children.

4. Step up efforts to work with parentsHead Start should continue to play a central

role in supporting the parent child relationship and in promoting their continued involvement in the education of their children 0-8.

Need a new dialogue about how best to support families beyond parent information

Look for opportunities to build social networks of support

Promote family literacy Prepare parents for working with the school Get the word out about successes,

particularly with fathers

5. Focus on results and innovation Looking back on practice over the years - Socialization - Debate over direct instruction vs play - Developmentally appropriate practice - Basic skills - Outcomes

All of the above! Balance, individualization, intensity

Refocus on outcomes for low income children Build in time for rich experiences Promote dispositions and approaches to learning Joy Persistence Curiosity Order Language and literacy skills Build in coaching and continuous assessment to

improve practice

6. Play a role in moving from program to community-wide strategies Connecting programs across the

community

Developing community wide information systems

Looking beyond program outcomes to community wide outcomes

7. Build leadership in early childhood Emerging leaders Leaders who can mentor Leaders who can span borders Leaders who can talk research, policy,

practice Leaders who reflect the languages and the

cultures of the children and families Leaders who set round tables Leaders who work for the concept of a

Head Start for low income children

8. Encourage the voice of those most affected by poverty In the health care debate In the education reform debate In the child care debate In the welfare debate At the local, state and federal level

Stay healthy my friends and remember …

Be the change….