Office of Early Learning (OEL) | Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
 Hello, Early Learning Leaders!
We hope you enjoy March's resource-packed Early Learning newsletter. You will note that much of the information and many of the resources we share this month are related to the importance of research and evaluation, including how they can be used to both develop early learning programs, and inform program improvement and policy decisions along the way.
We've highlighted lessons learned from states that have been awarded Early Learning Challenge grants, including Georgia's Department of Early Care and Learning, which places much emphasis on its research and evaluation unit. We have also shared resources specifically for states serving our nation's early learners with disabilities, including a new infographic from OSEP's network of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) technical assistance (TA) centers.
Finally, be sure to check out the new literacy resources we shared below, from the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) Institute of Education Sciences (IES). They include information on how the evidence base in this field informed the approaches laid out in these latest tools from IES.
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 Georgia’s Department of Early Care
and Learning (DECAL) was the recipient of an Early Learning Challenge (ELC) grant in 2013. The grant has allowed DECAL to focus on
building a stronger early care and education system in the state. DECAL has used its ELC funds for projects including
- improving the
quality of early learning programs in four Early Education Empowerment Zones
(E3Zs), geographic areas with large numbers or high percentages of children with
high needs;
- validating the state's quality rating and improvement system (QRIS), Quality Rated;
- expanding the Georgia home visiting program by creating home visiting and family
engagement hubs in each E3Z;
- improving Georgia's early learning workforce by
engaging institutions of higher learning to increase the success of their early learning-focused students, and
helping them to achieve advanced credentials in early childhood education; and
- expanding research and data activities
that inform program improvement and policy decisions.
We invite you to read more about
this work in the "Voices From the Field" article below. You can sign up here to receive updates from DECAL's ELC program, and view other breaking news about DECAL here, including the first report of four from the external validation study of its Quality Rated system.
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 OSEP funds a network of centers tasked with providing resources and TA around the implementation of IDEA. Six of the centers work with state agencies responsible for implementing IDEA's early childhood provisions, IDEA Part C and Part B Section 619. These centers have recently collaborated to develop an easy-to-use infographic outlining their services. As you will see from the infographic, each center focuses on distinct content areas within its work scope. The centers also collaborate closely to ensure states receive the TA and resources necessary to meet their specific needs.
 Capacity Assessment Tool for Child Care and Development Fund Lead Agencies
 Research and evaluation play an important role in helping government agencies make optimal policy, programmatic, and operational decisions. The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS') Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) has
released a new tool to support agencies in doing just that. It helps lead agencies under the Child Care and
Development Fund to strengthen their capacity, and carry
out and use research in their decision-making.
The tool guides users through a process of 1) reflecting on their agency’s
specific strengths and weaknesses related to organizational research capacity, 2) setting
priorities for their capacity-building efforts, and 3) articulating outstanding
questions the agency has about strengthening organizational research capacity.
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On Financing Accessible, Affordable, and High-quality Early Education and Care
The National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine's Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) has recently studied how to fund early care and education for
children from birth to kindergarten-entry. Specifically, care and education that are accessible and affordable to
families, of high quality, and include a well-qualified and adequately
supported workforce, consistent with the vision outlined in this 2015 joint report from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.
BCYF's findings on financing are detailed in a new report, Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education. It concludes that
transforming the financing structure for early care and education to meet the
needs of all children and families will require greater coordination among
financing mechanisms, as well as significant mobilization of funding and
other resources across the public and private sectors.
The report offers
specific recommendations for 1) making early childhood education and care more affordable
for families, 2) linking funding to high-quality standards, and 3) financing the
transformation of the early education and care workforce.
The redesign of CPQ&R makes it easier to use and adapts to specific user questions, with more ways to customize, compare alternatives, and calculate both costs and funding options. Earlier this month, CEELO hosted a related webinar, Financing Quality Preschool. It provided a virtual tour of the redesigned CPQ&R, including a live demonstration of how to use the tool to answer questions on projecting costs and revenue.
Featured Webinar: On ELC State Workforce Support Systems
We invite you to view a webinar hosted by the HHS-funded National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning, Transforming State Workforce Support Systems: Innovations and Lessons Learned from Early Learning Challenge States.
It explores how ELC states have used 1) professional development; 2) credentials for specific topics, techniques, and focus areas; 3) workforce data collection; and 4) other supports to improve early childhood education workforce knowledge. This presentation is geared toward state early care and education administrators, Head Start and Early Head Start leadership, and TA managers and providers.
IES' What Works
Clearinghouse (WWC) recently released a practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading
for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade. It is divided into four recommendations for improving
students’ literacy skills in the early grades. WWC also published two accompanying resources, listed below, that can help parents and caregivers put the guide's recommendations into
action outside of the classroom.
This month, we had the opportunity
to interview Bentley Ponder, the director
of research and evaluation for Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL). In the interview, available on the OSERS Blog, Ponder shares his experiences connecting the evidence base with program and policy
decisions, and how this can benefit any early childhood system.
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