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 purpose of the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program is to improve the quality of early learning and development and close the achievement gap for children with high needs. The RTT-ELC grant competition focuses on improving early learning and development for young children by supporting States' efforts to increase the…

This is the central document of the fourth series of annual reports to measure progress toward the National Education Goals through the year 2000; goals which set high expectations for education performance at every stage of a learner's life, from preschool through adulthood. The report focuses on 16 core indicators that are: comprehensive across…

This factbook presents the second comprehensive look at the conditions of children and families in Maryland. It can be used as an important tool in measuring how well or how poorly children are doing in 15 baseline outcome measures, organized in four basic sections: economic well-being, good health, safety, and preparing for adulthood. The data…