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A News Service from the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
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eNotes
The March 2011 issue of the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics includes an article that looks at the impact of race on receipt of early intervention (EI) services among children aged birth to 3. Using data from the Early Child Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, the authors found that at 9 months of age, of 1000 children eligible for EI services, only 9% received services and race was not a predictor of service receipt. At 24 months of age, 12% of eligible children received services and black children were 5 times less likely than white children to be in this group. An abstract is available at http://journals.lww.com/jrnldbp/Abstract/publishahead/The_Impact_of_Race_on_Participation_in_Part_C.99832.aspx
Citation: Feinberg, E., Silverstein, M., Donahue, S. (2011). The impact of race on participation in Part C early intervention services. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, March 8, 2011. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0b013e3182142fbd
The Early Childhood Data Collaborative has released an analysis of state data systems for early childhood care and education, which shows that states collect a significant amount of data on individual children, early care and education (ECE) program sites, and individual members of the ECE workforce. However, the data are mostly siloed by funding stream, incomplete, and unable to help policymakers answer basic policy questions about their state's ECE systems, support continuous improvement and determine whether their investments improve children's readiness for kindergarten and beyond. To learn more, go to http://ecedata.org/state-ece-analysis/
The National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices has published a new issue brief, Maximizing the Impact of State Early Childhood Home Visitation Programs (2011) that looks at how governors can better integrate home visiting programs into effective, comprehensive state early childhood systems. Strategies include: promoting shared accountability across state agencies, developing research-based quality standards and improving data linkages to track outcomes and better target services. It is available online at http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/1103HOMEVISIT.PDF
The Urban Institute recently published the following new briefs related to improving the lives of young children:
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has published a report that provides a recap of public policy developments in states for Fiscal Year 2011 in a number of early childhood areas, including for example: State Early Childhood Advisory Councils, Governance, Professional Development, Data Systems, Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, Child Care Subsidies and Regulations, Developmental Screenings, Early Intervention, Autism, Early Childhood Mental Health, Home Visiting and more. It is available online at http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/policy/state/State%20ECE%20Public%20Policy%20Developments%202_11_2.pdf
The latest issue of The Future of Children (Spring 2011) focuses on immigrant children. One article, Early Care and Education for Children in Immigrant Families, by Lynn A. Karoly and Gabriella C. Gonzalez, looks at the potential for early care and education (ECE) programs in promoting healthy development for immigrant children. Although early childhood education (ECE) programs have been shown to have substantial benefits to children as they go through school, immigrant children have lower rates of participation than their native counterparts. The article is available online at http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=541. To see the entire journal issue, go to http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/journal_details/index.xml?journalid=74
On March 11, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) posted the following notice inviting applications for new awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011: Personnel Development To Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities - Paraprofessional Preservice Program Improvement Grants - CFDA Number 84.325N. The deadline for applications is April 25, 2011. Additional information is available in the Federal Register notice at http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2011-1/031111b.html
The National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) recently published its 2011 report scoring and ranking the states on 10 program requirements and five oversight benchmarks for child care centers. Over 11 million children younger than age 5 spend an average of 35 hours a week in some type of child care setting. State child care licensing requirements govern the health, safety and learning opportunities for these children. State oversight requirements monitor compliance with state policies. Using a standard grading scale, no state earned an A. The Department of Defense earned a B, and only four states earned a C. To learn more, go to http://www.naccrra.org/publications/naccrra-publications/we-can-do-better-2011.phpf