Definitions

• Early care and education (ECE): Nonparental care and education for children from birth to third grade that occurs outside a child’s home
• Early childhood educators: Adults who work for pay with young children from birth to third grade in roles focused on teaching and caregiving
• Early childhood settings: The various settings in which ECE is delivered to young children, including Head Start, family and center-based child care programs, public schools, and community-based organizations
• Head Start: Federal program established in 1965 that provides high-quality early childhood education and health, nutrition, and family engagement and support services to three- to four-year-old children living in poverty
• High-intensity transition activities: Transition activities that involve individualized contact with parents, encourage teacher communication between grades/settings, and occur before the first day of school
• Low-intensity transition activities: Transition activities that do not involve individualized contact with parents/teachers and are often one-time activities
• Pre-K: Educational programs designed to serve three- and four-year-olds that occur in a variety of settings
• Transition: A year-long, systemic process that includes actions at the state and local level to support the process of moving from one grade level or school setting to another, such as moving from parental care to pre-K or pre-K to kindergarten; a key focus of the transition process is ensuring that curriculum, instruction, and assessment are aligned

Acronyms

• ARP: American Rescue Plan
• CARES: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
• CCDBG: Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
• CCDF: Child Care Development Fund
• CRRSA: Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act
• ESSA: Every Student Succeeds Act
• ESSER: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
• LEA: Local Educational Agency
• MIECHV: Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting
• MOU/MOA: Memorandum of Understanding/Memorandum of Agreement
• PD: Professional development or professional learning
• SEA: State Educational Agency
• TANF: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families