What is the Kansas Coalition for School Readiness?

• Early stakeholders include members of the business community and statewide organizations– Kansas Action for Children– Kansas Head Start Association– Kansas Association of Child Care Resource and

Referral Agencies

• The Coalition was created to build a grassroots movement to advance an early childhood agenda

The Vision:• Make high-quality, early

childhood programs available on a voluntary basis for all families with children under five

• Make sure the services are a part of a comprehensive system which is evaluated to ensure children have access to high-quality environments from birth to the day they start school

The Mission

• To support increased investment in early learning programs so that Kansas children are better prepared for success in school and beyond.

Goals:

• Our goals for the next two years are to:

o Increase the number of children who have the opportunity to participate in early childhood programs

o Improve quality and hold programs accountable to make sure every dollar is being maximized to provide the greatest impact

Source: Carneiro, Pedro & Heckman, James J., 2003. "Human Capital Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 821, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

Why is early investment more effective?

Brain Development• Ninety percent of children's brain development occurs before age

five, but kindergarten starts after a child turns five. By making early childhood education available to all children, we take advantage of a crucial period in their development

Improve K-12• Studies show that high-quality early childhood programs are the

BEST way to support improved academic outcomes in K – 12 education. Children who attend early childhood programs are far more likely to enter kindergarten ready to learn, read at grade level by third grade, and graduate from high school and even college

Return on Investment• Decades of research proves that for every $1 invested in early

childhood programs, the state saves $7.

Brain Development

• Synapse Development

– Synapses:

• 50 trillion at birth

• 1000 trillion at 1 year

• Pruned in adolescence

• 500 trillion at 20 years• Synapses are created at an

astonishing speed in the first three years of life.

• Until they are about 10 years old, children’s brains have twice as many synapses as adults’ brains.

Brain Development

Positive and Healthy Environments – such as those found in quality early learning settings - greatly impact brain development

Healthy Child Neglected Child

Images courtesy of Harry Chugani, MD, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University

Brain Development

*SES: Socioeconomic Status

Brain Development

Source: The RAND Corporation

•The Light Blue Line equals brain development by year

•The Dark Blue Line equals total public investment by year

Improve K-12

• Early learning increases high school graduation rates– Chicago children who attended a pre-k program were 29 percent more likely to

graduate from high school than their peers who did not have pre-k. (Source: Chicago Longitudinal Study)

• Early learning helps children do better on standardized tests– Michigan fourth graders who had attended pre-k passed the state's literacy and

math assessment tests at higher rates than their peers who had no pre-k. (Source: "State Efforts to Evaluate the Effects of Pre-Kindergarten", Yale University Child Study Center)

Improve K-12

• Early learning reduces grade repetition– Maryland fifth graders who attended pre-k were 44 percent less likely to have

repeated a grade than their peers who did not attend pre-k. (Source: "State Efforts to Evaluate the Effects of Pre-Kindergarten", Yale University Child Study

Center)

• Early Learning reduces the number of children placed in special education

– Among Chicago children, those who attended pre-k were 41 percent less likely to require special education services than their peers who did not attend. (Source: Chicago Longitudinal Study)

Perry Preschool Program

Educational effects by treatment group

Source: James J. Heckman, University of Chicago citing Barnett (2004).

Notes: * High achievement defined as performance at or above the 10th percentile on the California Achievement Test (1970)

Perry Preschool Program Social Effects at Age 27 by Treatment Group

Source: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 1999. High-Quality Preschool Program Found to Improve Adult Status. Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. Retrieved March 13, 2000, from the World Wide Web:http://www.highscope.org/research/Perry%20fact%20sheet.htm. Reprinted with the permission of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.

Perry Preschool Program

Economic effects at age 27 by treatment group

Source: James J. Heckman, University of Chicago citing Barnett (2004).

Notes: * Updated through Age 40 using recent Perry Preschool Program data, derived from self-report and all available state records.

Perry Preschool Program Arrests per person before age 40, by treatment group

Source: James J. Heckman, University of Chicago citing Perry Preschool Program. Juvenile arrests are defined as arrests prior to age 19.

Perry Preschool Program

Arrests by treatment group

-- Arthur J. Rolnick, Senior Vice

President & Director of Research,

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

“Early childhood development programs are rarely portrayed as economic development initiatives, and…that is a mistake.”

Return on Investment

$17.00

Source: Born Learning

Early learning

School success

High school graduation

+ College attendance

_____________________________

Well-trained, well-educated workforce

The Argument:Return on Investment

Source: Born Learning

Current ContextLegislative Victories

Passed in 2006

• $2 million to establish Pre-K Pilots in six counties

• $1.8 million to expand Kansas Early Head Start

• 800 additional children are now being served as a result– Evaluation of Pre-K Pilots by Rutgers/NIEER and KU, paid for by

philanthropy and business

Passed in 2007

• $3 million for expanded Pre-K Pilots around the state

• $1.6 million for expanded Early Head Start

• $500,000 in expanded funding for child care quality initiatives

Current Context2008 Legislative sessionGovernor Sebelius proposes:

• $ .5 million for Collaboration between child care subsidy and Head Start/preschool

• $1.2 million additional for preschool• $2.3 million additional for newborn screening• $23.0 million for a Early Childhood Block Grant

• $27 million new dollars proposed

• Tell your legislator to support the block grant and creation of a Kansas Preschool Program• USD 501 will be able to apply for grant funds• USD 501 was a Pilot PreK grantee and therefore is

well positioned to get additional PreK expansion money

• Join the Coalition and use our collective strength to advocate for expanded funding for early learning

• Encourage and support increased collaboration between school districts and community based providers, like in the Prek Pilot Program

What Can You Do?

The vision cannot happen without your energy and support

www.KansasSchoolReadiness.org