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Community Approaches to Four-Year-Old Kindergarten:
Early Education Matters (EEM)
The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (WCCF), and its partners
Milwaukee Public Schools, the Wisconsin Child Care Research Partnership
at UW-Extension, and the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA) received
a $1.3 million grant from the Joyce Foundation in May 2004 for a two-year
project to expand the quality and quantity of early education experiences
available to Wisconsin's 4-year olds. Other unfunded partners involved
in the project include representatives from the Wisconsin Child
Care Resource and Referral Network, Wisconsin Head Start Association, and the Department of Public Instruction.
Organizations in 21 Wisconsin communities received up to
$10,000 each to initiate collaborative, community-based 4-year-old kindergarten
program from WCCF. The grants were used in communities
planning to develop community-based, collaborative 4-year-old kindergarten.
Grant funds covered start-up costs including feasibility studies, program
planning and modeling, early learning standards training, location planning,
consensus building, site visits, public awareness activities, and community
surveys. This project ends in May 2006.
NEW!!!
Year II EEM Final Reports by the Wisconsin Child Care Research Partnership (WCCRP)
As part of its second year activities for the EEM project, the Wisconsin Child Care Research Partnership conducted extensive research among all elementary school districts. The Year II final reports (below) increase knowledge about the value of collaborations between child care, Head Start, and public school 4-year-old kindergarten programs to families, teachers, and communities. The research adds to the Research Partnership's current research work on early care and education, especially for low-income children. These reports constitute major efforts to obtain responses from collaborative community approach 4K and comparison sites across the state. The reports contain information from 300 parents, 73 teachers, and 175 4K sites in 65 districts. Questions about the data or reports may be addressed to Diane Adams, 608-263-4361, or by e-mail (dadams@wisc.edu).
Assessing the Value of 4K in Wisconsin: A Study of 4K Community Approach Districts (2005-06)
Also from the Wisconsin Child Care Research Partnership for the EEM Project -
Other Useful Resources for Communities Implementing Collaborative 4K Programs:
- Flynn, M. and Hayes, C. (2002). Partnering schools,
communities and Proposition 10: Financing considerations for early childhood
initiatives. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families,
and Communities (http://healthychild.ucla.edu/)
- Duran, F., and Wilson, S. (2004). Keeping children
on the path to school success: How is Connecticut doing? Hartford, CT:
Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc. (http://www.chdi.org/)
- Schumacher, R., et al. (2004). All together now: State
experiences in using community-based child care to provide pre-kindergarten.
Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution (http://www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/es/research/projects/wrb/200409Lombardi.pdf)
- Haskins, R. and Rouse, C. (2005). Public Policy Brief:
Closing achievement gaps. The future of children. (http://www.futureofchildren.org)
- Select Reports and/or
Research Related to Pre-Kindergarten and 4-Year-Old Kindergarten Economic
Investment and Impact (from DPI)
- Select Reports and/or
Research Related to Benefits of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten/Prekindergarten (from DPI)
Links to Partners in the Early Education Matters Project:
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