New grants totaling $9.6 million will help states and districts improve training and professional development for early childhood educators and caregivers in eight states, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced today.

Educators who work in early childhood programs located in high-poverty urban or rural communities and serve children from low-income families are those slated for targeted training to improve children's early reading and language skills—with a goal of preventing reading difficulties when they enter and progress through school. Projects in Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas received funding.

"Because of the limited formal education and insufficient preparation of many early childhood providers, too many children in preschool and other programs are not engaged in activities that help them build language and reading skills-particularly those whose homes may present relatively deprived language and early reading environments," Paige said. "But if we provide early childhood educators, caregivers and families with solid information about how to engage young children in the use of language and the joy that books and reading can bring, we can head off academic failure. It is critical that schools and educators understand early reading and language development and work rigorously with young children to develop these skills."

In July, Laura Bush hosted a two-day White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development with Paige and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson, bringing together leaders, advocates and policy makers in the field of early childhood cognitive development. The summit exposed participants to the latest scientific research on cognitive development, the use of which is critical to realizing the president and Mrs. Bush's goals for enhancing the early reading and language skills of preschool children.

Research indicates that children from poor families are much more likely to enter school with limited vocabularies, weak early reading and other pre-academic skills, and less motivation to learn. The National Research Council's 1998 report, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, concluded that most reading problems faced by today's adolescents and adults could be avoided or resolved in early childhood with higher quality child care. Other research supported by the U.S. Department of Education found that the cognitive and social skills of second graders could be predicted by their early childcare experiences, even when kindergarten and first grade classroom experiences are factored in. The same research shows that children who are at risk of school failure are more affected by the quality of child-care experiences than other children.

The grants are from the new Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program. Institutions of higher education and school districts are among those who will provide the training. The projects will provide professional development that improves the knowledge and skills of early childhood educators and caregivers, with a focus on furthering children's language and pre-reading skills.

Educators who work in urban and rural communities with high concentrations of young children living in poverty—such as those who work in Title I preschool programs, Head Start, Even Start Family Literacy programs, and public day care programs—are the targets of the training grants.