Crafting Early Learning Standards for a Multi-Ethnic Society: Lessons Learned from Washington and Alaska
Early learning standards or benchmarks are at the core of society’s defining how and what children need to learn, what is expected of them at different developmental stages, and what caregivers and educators are expected to do in helping them learn. This policy brief describes the experiences in Washington and Alaska so that other states can learn from and build upon their pioneering and important efforts to address language and cultural issues in the development of guiding frameworks and expectations for how young children grow and acquire knowledge.
Explore More
BUILD23 JEDI Leaders
Fact Sheet November 22, 2023
The document summarizes the work being done by organizations focused on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Career Pathways
Report November 15, 2023
This brief focuses on the ways that states are using PDG B-5 grant funding to create and sustain career pathways in the early care and education field. “Career pathways” are broadly defined here, referring to a wide range of activities that support prospective and current early educators in advancing in the profession. States’ initiatives span an early educator’s complete career trajectory, from strategies to recruit new candidates into the profession to initiatives that create new specializations for educators who want to propel their careers further.
Financing Highlights
Report November 1, 2023
PDG B-5 Planning and Renewal Grants are being used by states across a wide range of content areas in the early childhood care and education system, and in a variety of ways. The federal funding provides a systems framework and seeks to offer flexibility within that framework. States are using the federal funding to build capacity, create infrastructure, provide direct services, and pilot work that is new for them. This work is occurring within a broad framework provided by the federal government. This brief explores the choices that PDG B-5 grantees plan for the use of the financing provided, which has impact on the overall ECCE systems that they are building and implementing. Within PDG B-5, states had to demonstrate how they would allocate the financial resources available across required and discretionary activity categories. We can learn about their priorities from a look at the choices that they made.