The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, authorized by Congress in 2011, is designed to improve the quality of early learning and development programs for children from birth through age 5. This discretionary grant program is administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services…

The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

The nature of educational evaluation and its interaction with policy in six state departments of education is examined. Case reports of research and evaluation units are presented for Virginia (by Gerald W. Bracey), Michigan (by David L. Donovan and Stanley A. Rumbaugh), Washington (by Alfred F. Rasp, Jr.), South Carolina (by Paul D. Sandifer),…