Youth who experience limited academic success as measured by grades starting in late elementary school are at higher risk of substance use, depression and anxiety, violence, delinquency, teen pregnancy, and dropping out of school. The evidence appears to show that the experience of failure, not any lack of intellect, increases the risk of these problem behaviors.
Quality early childhood education (ECE) has been proven to have lasting positive impacts on school readiness and future academic success among children. Research indicates that children who attend high quality ECE programs are more likely to arrive at kindergarten with social-emotional skills and academic experiences that put them on a path for success. Additionally, long-term benefits can include lower rates of juvenile arrests, felony arrests, and incarceration; lower rates of depressive symptoms; and, higher rates of high school completion, college attendance, and more years of completed education, and lower dropout rates., Studies also suggest that participation in such programs is especially beneficial for low-income students and students of color.
Despite the positive benefits associated with ECE, programs in the U.S. are not universally available or accessible. Barriers to enrollment include lack of quality public programs offered in local communities, high costs of private programs, and unclear and burdensome eligibility requirements. Additional challenges include significant variation in staff qualifications and utilization of formal curricula.
The federal government administers two primary programs with the goal of increasing access to high quality ECE programs: Head Start and Early Head Start. Head Start programs promote school readiness of children from birth to age five from low-income families by supporting their development in a comprehensive way. Early Head Start was created to provide early, continuous child development and family support services to low-income infants and toddlers and their families, and also to pregnant women and their families. Early Head Start programs are available to the family until the child turns three years old and is ready to transition into Head Start or another pre-K program. Delivered through 1,700 agencies in local communities, Head Start and Early Head Start programs provide services to over a million children every year. In order to qualify, families must fall at or below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, however families are automatically eligible if they are experiencing homelessness, receive public assistance such as TANF, SSI or SNAP benefits, or are in the child welfare system.
Learn about the ECE options available to families in your community and the local, state, and federal policies that may assist eligible families in accessing these options. Each community may have access to different options for ECE. To begin this work, your coalition should understand what options are available to families, as well as the policies and supports that may impact their ability to access certain options.
Resources:
Use the federal Head Start Center Locator to determine if Head Start and/or Early Head Start is available in your community. Additionally, use the federal Head Start website to locate the Head Start Collaboration Office in your state.
Learn about what “quality” early childhood education means. Higher-quality ECE programs are more likely to produce positive outcomes for youth. As your coalition begins this strategy, it is important to understand how quality is measured and defined.
Resources:
ChildTrends’ report “Understanding and Measuring Program Engagement in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS)” discusses QRIS initiatives, which are in place in 42 states.
Colorado communities can reference the Colorado Department of Early Childhood Quality Initiatives.
This Colorado Statewide Early Childhood Strategic Plan provides overarching goals and shared priorities for action to support the state’s youngest residents, their families, and the professionals who serve them.
In 2023, the Department of Early Childhood partnered with the Colorado Health Institute to examine how the early childhood system supports children from birth through age 5, and where there are gaps or opportunities to improve programs and services.The Colorado Birth through Five 2023 Needs Assessment outlines the results of these efforts.
The Early Childhood Colorado Framework is a guiding tool to build a strong and equitable early childhood system designed to provide a comprehensive range of high-quality supports. This newly revised Framework provides an up-to-date version of the document that takes into account the most recent advances, as well as some of the ongoing challenges, in the state.
Understand Head Start and Early Head Start eligibility requirements. As you begin this work, it will be helpful for your coalition to understand eligibility requirements and application process for Head Start and Early Head Start to better understand the availability, challenges, and potential barriers impacting your community.
Resources:
Learn how families access Head Start services here.
Identify and connect with other organizations and individuals working or interested in this area, as well as those that hold decision-making power. Working with other organizations and/or individuals is the best way to maximize your coalition’s power and allows for a greater influence. Before selecting implementation activities, your coalition should take time to understand who is already working in this space, who has power to influence decision making, and what efforts are already underway. Reaching out to these organizations and individuals can help you form partnerships and learn from current and/or previous systems-level work in this area.
Resources:
The National Academy of Community Organizers offers A Guide to Power Analysis in Community Organizing, which can help coalitions understand where power sits within a community around a particular issue.
Early Childhood Councils can also be a resource to coalitions addressing these issues.
Understand the connection between equity and quality ECE. Despite the strong research supporting the importance of ECE for children and families, deep inequities remain regarding access to and outcomes from these programs. As a coalition, you should seek to understand the connection between equity and quality ECE in order to dismantle systems that perpetuate disparities properly.
Resources:
“Equity Starts Early” from CLASP discusses how child care and education policies have been shaped by a history of systemic and structural racism.
“Conceptualizing and Measuring Access to Early Care and Education” from ChildTrends includes information on how disparities can be measured.
As a part of their ‘Five Building Blocks for Racial Equity’, the Race Matters Institute of JustPartners, Inc. offers a free guide on conducting
a Racial Equity Backmap, which helps groups and individuals consider and identify the various drivers of a given inequity.
Consider using an Equity Impact Assessment to better explore and understand such consequences. Both the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Race Forward offer free resources.
The Government Alliance on Race and Equity offers Racial Equity Toolkit An Opportunity to Operationalize Equity.
The Children’s Equity Project (CEP). The CEP works at the intersection of research, practice, and policy and focuses on a range of equity issues in the early years and the early grades. Also see CEP’s Reports and Resources including their Start with Equity Report.
It is important to note that the uniqueness of your community, its resources, and its needs will ultimately determine what implementation of this strategy will look like. Additionally, it is important for your coalition to approach this strategy in a way that is aligned with your overarching goal(s). The list below offers suggestions and ideas of evidence-informed actions your coalition can consider taking as part of your implementation of this strategy.
Understand the current state of accessible quality ECE options for all families. Understanding the existence and locations of ECE programs within your community is the one of the first steps in understanding the need and appropriate solutions that will best support families. Ideally, there will be sufficient availability of ECE options near families’ homes and/or parents’ workplaces. Additionally, talking to families to understand the challenges, barriers, concerns, successes, strengths, and opportunities for child care options within your community can help guide future implementation activities.
Resources:
Defining and Measuring Access to Child Care and Early Education with Families in Mind, a report from ChildTrends, offers a suggested method for measuring access within communities that centers families.
“Conceptualizing and Measuring Access to Early Care and Education” from ChildTrends discusses five dimensions that can be used to understand and measure a community’s access to early childhood education. Additionally, “Defining and Measuring Access to Child Care and Early Education with Families in Mind”, offers a suggested method for measuring access within communities that centers families.
Support and amplify public education initiatives that disseminate information about available ECE options and subsidies in your community. Families within your community may be unaware of information sources and/or services available to help them choose ECE providers. Efforts to spread information should be tailored to reach all populations in your community, therefore requiring consideration of cultural and language barriers that may need to be addressed. If Early Head Start and Head Start programs are available in the community, coalitions can educate families about eligibility requirements and support efforts to assist families with the enrollment process.
Resources:
Strategies used to educate community members about eligibility for other assistance programs and resources (e.g., SNAP, EITC) may also be effective to spread information about ECE options and available subsidies. See the Make Community Assistance Programs and Resources More Accessible to Eligible Families strategy page for more ideas.
For communities with no Head Start or Early Head Start options, assist partners with identifying alternative, quality options. Identifying opportunities to ensure alternative, quality options may include legislation, such as funding to develop preschool programs and/or universal preschool programs, which your coalition can educate local stakeholders on. Universal Preschool Colorado allows families to choose the right setting for their child, whether it is in a licensed community-based, school-based or home-based preschool setting.
Resources:
Learn how to locate your Universal Preschool Local Coordinating Organizations (LCO) here.
Colorado also recently passed legislation to provide universal preschool starting in 2023.
The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program supports eligible families with paying for child care options.
Educate stakeholders on the importance of retaining early childhood educators. Low retention among the child ECE workforce is a common challenge in communities across the country.
Resources:
The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment offers an Early Childhood Workforce Index State Explorer, which includes information for each state on ECE educator wages and policies. Additionally, they detail recommended state policies that can improve ECE jobs.
The Center for American Progress discusses policies to support the early childhood workforce here.
The CO Comprehensive Early Childhood Workforce Plan was finalized in 2024 providing a variety of recommendations to support the various roles within the early childhood system.