Vision

We want America’s children to become lifelong learners who are able to think critically and inventively, regulate their emotions and impulses, and make smart decisions by drawing upon a rich knowledge base about how the world works. Realizing this goal begins with ensuring a seamless continuum of high-quality, easily accessible early education for all families. Here is what our vision looks like in practice, from the years of infancy and toddlerhood through pre-K and the early elementary grades:

Family support

• Paid family leave for all parents
• Evidence-based home visiting programs for eligible caregivers
• Families as partners in children’s child care, pre-K programs, and elementary schools
• Families empowered to facilitate positive interactions with their children and supported to ensure their economic security

Comprehensive services

• Children’s basic needs met, including stable housing, nutritious food, and physical and mental health care

Children age 0–2

• Free early care and education for families living in poverty and a sliding scale of affordable access for others
• High-quality early care and education in all settings, including center-based child care, home-based child care, and informal arrangements

Children age 3–4

• Universal, voluntary, and high-quality public pre-K opportunities for three- and four-year-olds in diverse settings
• Implementation of 3 practices and 3 policies indispensable for high-quality teaching and learning in pre-K:
  • Practices
    • Engage in positive interactions with children and their families, recognizing the strengths and diversity of their backgrounds
    • Use learning trajectories in subject areas and domains, supported by effective curricula, to help meet learning and development goals
    • Promote social development and self-regulation in ways that reflect an understanding of the multiple biological and environmental factors that affect behavior
  • Policies
    • Allocate increased, predictable, and sustainable funding to establish the conditions necessary for high-quality teaching and learning
    • Provide educators with professional learning (pre-service and in-service) based on the 3 indispensable practices and aligned with those outlined in the Every Student Succeeds Act
    • Use high-quality data to promote continuous quality improvement and better continuity from ages 0–3 to pre-K and pre-K to grades K–3

Children age 5–8

• Smooth transitions from pre-K to kindergarten and each grade thereafter, including coordination of standards, curricula, assessments, data, learning environments, and professional development for teachers
• Universal full-day kindergarten, with length of day equivalent to first grade

All children in early and elementary learning settings

• Research-based practices that recognize the importance of emergent literacy skill-building and encourage students’ growth in content knowledge, oral language development, and early media literacy skills
• Greater access to high-quality STEM learning, including math instructors trained to build children’s and parents’ confidence in early math (while avoiding gender and racial stereotyping), as well as regular science courses and science practices designed for young children
• Attention to social-emotional development, executive function, and self-regulation
• Attention to individual needs, including dual language learners, children with disabilities, children from historically underserved populations, children from families with low incomes, and children who have experienced multiple traumas
• Appropriate and supportive discipline strategies
• Educators who understand how young children learn best and who create joyful learning experiences; have appropriate expectations; use strategies, materials, and assessments that best meet developmental needs; have access to instructional leadership that supports developmentally appropriate instruction
• Educators—teachers, caregivers, and program leaders—who reflect the diversity of the children and families they serve

The workforce

• High-quality degree programs and alternative pathways for early childhood educators that incorporate findings from the learning sciences and provide strong practical experiences
• Academic and social supports for early childhood educators pursuing credentials or degrees, including but not limited to courses offered in languages and at times based on their needs, supported by scholarships, mentors, tutors, child care, and transportation
• Well-prepared leaders—directors and principals—who promote appropriate learning environments and teaching
• Compensation on par with elementary school peers and supportive working conditions that provide time for planning and collaboration, professional learning, paid time off, and a culture of continuous improvement