BUILD and FFYF Announce the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative

In May, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new $500 million state-level grant competition, the Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge that seeks “to encourage states to develop bold and comprehensive plans for raising the quality of early learning programs across America."

The Early Learning Challenge fuels the system building movement launched by the BUILD Initiative a decade ago and enables states to continue the work of the public-private partnerships that laid the groundwork for this historic federal program.

Build School Systems on a Solid Foundation

new!! December 20, 2011 by Gerrit Westervelt and Cassie Schwerner
Early-childhood education must promote opportunity for needy children, Gerrit Westervelt and Cassie Schwerner say. | View Article

To help states take maximum advantage of this pivotal opportunity, BUILD is partnering with the First Five Years Fund (FFYF) to form the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative. The partnership,supported by private foundation dollars, will work with and support states as they plan, apply for, and implement the Early Learning Challenge grants. The Collaborative will also seek to promote state systems-building by shaping and informing state and federal policy on early childhood systems, expanding the number of states that build effective early childhood systems, and working to sustain the Early Learning Challenge and federal investments for young children and state systems that support them.

Click here for more information on the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative and tools/materials available for states.

Recent Learning Community Events 

QRIS and P-3

A May 27 webinar explored the alignment of two emerging movements – Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) and P-3 (pre-school through 3^rd grade) – that present significant opportunities to improve the quality of children’s early experiences. Click here to view/hear the webinar.

Updating the Ovals

Since 2006 the Early Childhood Systems Working Group has been working on a graphic “language” to communicate the complexity of early childhood system building.  A May 20 webinar outlined recent revisions and updates. Click here to view/hear the webinar and here to see background materials and resources.

Early Childhood Data Systems: Linking School Readiness, Early Childhood Systems Building and Third Grade Reading

More than 240 people participated in the May 17 webinar discussing early childhood data systems and the relationship between birth to five policy agendas and early elementary reform efforts.

Click here to view/hear the webinar and here to see background materials and resources