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I always wanted to be a mom. When I was a little girl, I played house with my dolls. I would pretend to feed them and change their diapers. I would wrap them up in blankets and carry them around the house. When I got a little older, I would help our neighbors with their […]

  Research tells us that human interaction and connection between adults, babies, toddlers and preschoolers matter! The day-to-day interactions between adults and children are essential to their healthy growth and development. Dr. Junlei Li @ The Hunt Institute’s Prenatal to three Summit said, “When it comes to language development, focus on quality NOT quantity. Thirty […]

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-do-you-make-the-benefits-of-pre-k-education-last  Click the link above to read the PBS News Hour report entitled, How Do You Make the Benefits of Pre-K Education Last? A recent study from Vanderbilt University sparked debate in Tennessee and around the country about the benefits of pre-k.  The quality of early education and its’ long-term benefits are major issues in […]

Mixed-Income Models Work:  All Children Benefit Upon a recent loss of state funding, Norfolk district leaders are looking to open up some preschool classrooms previously set aside for low-income children, to any children in the city, creating more diversity in early education in this region. Superintendent Melinda Boone recognizes that all children benefit from early […]

It is a known fact that reading to children helps them develop the pre-literacy skills needed to be ready for school.  A new study proves, however, that reading can also help children develop positive social skills and prevent aggression, hyperactivity and attention deficit. A recent study looked at 675 families and showed that reading aloud […]

New Initiative Launched on May 1 with Goal of Cultivating, Igniting and Uniting Women Across Virginia as Advocates for Early Education Norfolk, Va. May 3, 2018 – E3: Elevate Early Education launched WE3: Women Elevating Early Education at an inaugural luncheon in Norfolk on Tuesday that was attended by First Lady of Virginia Pamela Northam […]

The Road to High-Quality Learning: Lessons from the States released by Learning Policy Institute describes and analyzes how four states—Michigan, West Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina—have built high-quality early education systems. It is based on reviews of policy documents, studies, and data in each state, as well as observations of programs and interviews with 159 individuals, […]

Highlights of the five outcomes associated with high-quality, birth-to-five early childhood education in infographic form from The Heckman Equation.

The largest study to date of publicly funded early education program shows a major, sustained educational boost. Recent research has offered renewed evidence that structured math and literacy practice in addition to regular parental involvement in school programs during the first eight years of life can have a major impact on a child’s future educational achievement. A […]

Research is clear that high quality matters and should be at the core of all early learning environments. A relentless focus on quality in the early childhood classroom leads to learning and increased success for children. When the quality of instruction and teacher-child interactions are strong, the readiness gap closes. It is time to reframe […]

As many of you know, E3 advocated for nearly three years for the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission(JLARC) to conduct a study on early childhood. Why did we advocate for this study? In 2011, many policymakers, business leaders and stakeholders were asking questions about how Virginia was currently spending dollars in this space and […]

Researchers followed 2,200 children from ethnically diverse, low-income families. They found that children who had a positive early learning environment—one that focuses on reading and storytelling, involves learning materials in the home, and includes parental interaction—performed better in the fifth grade than children from middle-income households.

A study of NC’s Smart Start & More At Four programs found that children in counties that spent more per child were two months ahead in reading and 1.5 months ahead in math by the fifth grade when compared with children in counties that sent less. High quality matters! And it has an impact on […]

A new study from Child Trends explains that involving children from low-income families in preschool programs that include music, dance and visual arts may reduce their stress levels. Children from low-income families are more likely to experience stressful family interactions that result from parents’ anxiety about trying to make ends meet, explained Eleanor Brown, PhD, […]

This fall marks the 3rd year of the voluntary statewide roll out of the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program (VKRP)—an initiative to expand our understanding of the early learning skills that young children display at the beginning of kindergarten.  Almost half of all school divisions are now participating, and almost 20,000 students. That’s a lot of […]