As part of President George W. Bush's commitment to strengthening the nation's early childhood education programs, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced two new projects to support early childhood educators and recognize exemplary early childhood education initiatives throughout the country.

Throughout this year, the secretary will host regional Early Childhood Educator Academies to share research on early childhood cognitive development and spotlight the ways that state and local pre-kindergarten administrators can best use that knowledge.

The Education Department will also sponsor an annual Sunshine Schools and Initiatives recognition program that, for the first time, will draw attention to highly effective state and local preschool programs and initiatives. By publicizing outstanding state, district, city, county and campus models, the program will promote strong content as well as effective use of funds.

"We know that significant investments in early childhood programs have resulted in more access to childcare," Secretary Paige said. "Our goal now is to make sure that children's early childhood care also focuses on learning and cognitive development—to ensure that they are prepared to start school. These two new projects will help us meet this goal."

Paige noted that putting clear and explicit scientific research in the hands of state and local education leaders will help build consensus among early childhood educators on the value of important pre-reading and language development in the pre-kindergarten years. Early intervention programs and services that prevent academic difficulties, and increased public awareness about quality programs shared through this effective preschools initiative can really make a difference at the start—when it counts most, he said.

The early childhood educator academies will feature researchers and experts on early childhood cognitive development and educators who have designed high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. Dates for the academies will be announced by the department in the coming weeks. Participants will learn about:

• Developmentally appropriate strategies and approaches based on scientific research;
• Programs that promote cognitive development, pre-reading and numeracy skills, and language acquisition;
• Instructional leadership and creative partnering;
• Intensive, systematic and high-quality professional development; and,
• Techniques for screening and gathering data to ensure success for all children.

An upcoming guide on early childhood research will be provided to participants and will also be shared with others involved in early childhood education, Paige noted.

Under the Sunshine Schools program, ED will spotlight and share information on what is working in early childhood education. The components ED plans to look for include:

• The use of approaches and strategies based on scientific research;
• Attention to all areas of development, including cognitive development, school readiness, and social and emotional development;
• Explicit preparation so that children will meet state content and performance standards once they enter formal schooling;
• Strong continuity between early childhood programs and the K-3 education system;
• Intensive, systematic and high-quality professional development;
• Creative partnering with corporate and community-based organizations for maximum utilization of financial resources and support;
• Unique efforts to use multiple government funding streams in highly cost effective ways;
• Results that measure learning and growth in valid and reliable ways; and,
• Screening to identify those at risk for academic difficulties.

Results of the Sunshine Schools & Initiatives program will be offered to the public through a variety of resources.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of President Bush's two-day focus on early childhood education.

President Bush on Tuesday announced a new initiative - Good Start, Grow Smart - to improve early childhood education for millions of America's youngest children. The president's initiative will strengthen Head Start to improve the quality of experiences for young children, including: training the nearly 50,000 Head Start teachers in the latest and best techniques; ensuring that pre-school programs are more closely coordinated with state K-12 education goals; and improving the information available to parents and caregivers about the best practices in early childhood development, together with an unprecedented research effort to identify effective early literacy programs and practices.

The president also introduced a new guide, Teaching Our Youngest, a publication of the Early Childhood-Head Start Task Force, which was formed following the July 2001 White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development. The guide focuses on the important role preschool teachers and childcare and family providers play in the lives of young children. The guide also provides concrete examples for caregivers to use in their daily interactions with children.

For more information, visit www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/ or the U.S. Department of Education's web site at: www.ed.gov.

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