The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a total of $13.3 million to four organizations to help them fund professional development programs for early childhood educators, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced today.

The three-year grants were awarded under the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program, which aims to enhance the school readiness of young children by improving the knowledge and skills of educators who work in high need communities that serve low-income families.

"The earlier we prepare our children for a life of learning the better," Spellings said. "These grants will make sure teachers have the training they need to help serve our youngest students."

The grants were made to partnerships lead by Georgetown University ($4.2 million); Zero to Three ($4.5 million); the South Carolina Department of Education ($2.4 million); and the Georgia Head Start Association ($2.2 million). The partnerships are comprised of one or more institutions of higher education, or one or more public agencies that have demonstrated experience in providing training to educators in early childhood education programs.

For example, the Zero to Three (ZTT) partnership is comprised of ZTT, Save the Children, and the Eastern Kentucky Child Care Coalition. This group will work together on Project Click (Cradling Literacy in Children in Kentucky) to provide intensive evidence-based early language and literacy training to 160 educators in seven high-need counties in eastern Kentucky.

All of the projects being funded are based on the best available research on effective adult professional development approaches to early childhood teaching and learning. The Early Childhood Educator grant program was first funded in 2001 and made permanent by the No Child Left Behind Act, which puts special emphasis on determining what educational programs and practices have been clearly demonstrated to be effective through rigorous scientific research.

The Early Childhood Educator grant program is housed in the Department's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. For more information about the program, funding history, and grantees' projects, visit http://www.ed.gov/programs/eceducator/awards.html

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