For the Toddlers

Investing in the little ones ensures that children in our community have access to high-quality early education. 

We will make sure that:
	Language-rich home environments. The achievement gap is evident well before children enter school. Home visiting and family education programs that stress early language and emerging literacy skills are critical to children’s school readiness.
	High-quality infant/toddler supports. The first three years of life are a crucial time for acquiring language and building vocabulary. High-quality early education and care programs (e.g., center-based, family child care, Early Head Start, etc.) that expose infants and toddlers to language-rich activities have been linked to higher academic achievement in later years.
	High-quality pre-kindergarten. Pre-kindergarten is an early childhood intervention that, according to decades of research, leads to better educational, health, economic and life outcomes.
	High-quality full-day kindergarten. Children attending full-day kindergarten programs exhibit greater gains in reading, math and science achievement and lower rates of grade retention than children in half-day programs.
	PK-3 systems alignment and support. Elementary education requires a comprehensive set of strategies from pre-kindergarten through third grade in order to maximize early learning success. Effective PK-3 alignment creates linkages around curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development.
	High-quality instruction and professional development. Research emphasizes the critical role of teacher quality in both K-12 and early education settings. It is the most important school-based determinant of student achievement. Likewise, the education, training and compensation of early educators are the main determinants of program quality, which has a direct impact on children’s learning and healthy development.