Pre-K Now 2008 National Conference
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
More than 2,000 pre-kindergarten advocates gathered in 35 states for Pre-K Now's 2008 conference to share and learn lessons about professional development, collaboration between early childhood programs, and partnering with home-based care providers.
We thank all participants for their tremendous energy and dedication, especially the hundreds of volunteers who hosted more than 180 conference viewing events! The results of their hard work are obvious in our map of viewing events below.
This year's topic was "Breaking Down Barriers to Quality Pre-K." We featured success stories from communities where pre-k advocates are conquering common implementation challenges that can impact the quality of programs. Here are some of the major lessons pre-k champions shared with us:
How state-funded pre-k programs can partner with home-based child care providers to make quality early learning accessible to some of the hardest to reach families. A success story from Illinois was featured.
How early childhood programs, Head Start, and schools can collaborate to
provide all families with high-quality pre-k options. A success story from Wisconsin was featured.
How states can build professional development systems that help pre-k teachers in all classroom settings improve their skills and advance their careers. A success story from North Carolina was featured.
What an early childhood education agenda in the Obama administration and 111th Congress could look like and how advocates can influence it. Policy advisers to Democratic and Republican leaders participated in a roundtable discussion.
And, how we can make the case to policymakers that these vital investments in children must be made despite the tough economic climate. A message from Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell was featured.
We thank our national conference sponsors for their generous support!
Fifty years of evidence shows that high-quality, voluntary pre-k is among the best strategies for education reform. Our brief highlights findings from the latest state pre-k program evaluations that continue to document gains in key measures of student learning, including early literacy, math and vocabulary; reduced need for special and remedial education; and lower incidences of grade retention.
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