Two of our six New England States, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, were among the 9 States who will receive grant awards from the $500 million Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge fund, a competitive grant program jointly administered by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services.  Other states receiving awards are California, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington.
The Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge will support the work of State grantees in developing new approaches to raising the bar across early learning centers and closing the school readiness gap. Awards will invest in grantees' work to build statewide systems of high-quality early learning and development programs. These investments will impact all early learning programs, including Head Start, public pre-K, childcare, and private preschools. Key reforms will include: aligning and raising standards for existing early learning and development programs; improving training and support for the early learning workforce through evidence-based practices; and building robust evaluation systems that promote effective practices and programs to help parents make informed decisions.
The Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge is a key part of the Obama Administration's comprehensive early learning agenda. Alongside improvements in childcare and strengthening of the Head Start program, the agenda aims to guide all children down a path of success in kindergarten and beyond.
To learn more about the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, visit, http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-earlylearningchallenge.