Key Issues in Connecticut
Despite its current budget challenges and its lack of investment during the state’s boom years, Connecticut is well-positioned to address the critical early care and early education needs of its young children.
Education Pressures. Federal No Child Left Behind accountability requirements coupled with Connecticut’s nagging achievement gap among its low-income children create substantial pressure for a plan to address the state’s "preparation gap" in which too many children arrive at kindergarten "unready" for school success.
Early Education Expansion. The Connecticut State Board of Education has endorsed a policy calling for universal access to quality half-day preschool programs, by the end of this decade, for all of the state’s three- and four-year olds whose families request it. At the same time, some 15,000 three- and four-year olds in our most economically-challenged communities await access to full-day, full-year school readiness programs.
Reports
| [1] A Policy Primer: Quality Pre-Kindergarten (2004) |
| [2] A Stitch in Time: Calculating the Costs of School Unreadiness (2002) |
| [3] All Children Ready for School: The Case for Early Care and Education (February 2003) |
| [4] An Overview of School Readiness |
| [5] Choosing Child Care: A Report on Parent Preferences for Child Care in Bridgeport (December 2002) |
| [6] Closing the Achievement Gaps: Removing the Barriers to Preschool in Connecticut. A Report of the State Board of Education (November 2003) |
| [7] Promoting the Well-Being of Children and Families: Policy Series (January 2002) |
| [8] Quality Counts 2002: Building Blocks for Success. School Readiness and Assessment (January 2002) |
| [9] The State of the Child in Bridgeport 2003 |
| [10] Universal PreK Can Learn Lessons from Special Ed. Facts in Action (June 2002) |
Resources
| [11] All Children Ready For School Success: A Partnership Because Family Matters (November 2004) |
| [12] Care 4 Kids: Connecticut's Child Care Subsidy Program |
| [13] Early Childhood Matters (July 2003) |
| [14] Education Commission of the States Early Learning Issue Site |
| [15] First-Ever Study Examines School Readiness of Hartford Children (May 2003) |
| [16] In Middletown, School Readiness Bridges the Achievement Gap (April 2002) |
| [17] National Conference of State Legislatures Child Care Newsletter |
| [18] National Governor’s Association |
| [19] National Institute for Early Education Research |
| [20] School Readiness Newsletters |
| [21] Stamford Achieves: Stamford Commission on Education Achievement |
[1]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_103.html
[2]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_37.html
[3]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_19.html
[4]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_20.html
[5]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_26.html
[6]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_23.html
[7]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_16.html
[8]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_50.html
[9]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_29.html
[10]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_53.html
[11]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_98.html
[12]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_35.html
[13]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_24.html
[14]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_43.html
[15]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_30.html
[16]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_32.html
[17]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_47.html
[18]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_48.html
[19]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_49.html
[20]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_25.html
[21]: http://www.readysetgrowctkids.org/resource_33.html