Good Start, Grow Smart
A Guide to Good Start, Grow Smart and Other Federal Early Learning Initiatives

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Good Start, Grow Smart (GSGS) is President George W. Bush's Early Childhood Initiative aimed at helping States and local communities strengthen early learning for young children. The goal of GSGS is to ensure that children enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed by partnering with States to improve early childhood education; strengthening Head Start (HS); and providing information based on scientific research to teachers, caregivers, and parents. Federal agencies encourage and support States to develop voluntary early learning guidelines that align with K through 12 standards, address professional development needs, and coordinate early childhood programs, such as the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF); Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Head Start; and Federal- and State-funded and locally funded early childhood public education programs (including Title I preschool; Early Reading First; Part B, Section 619; and Part C under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).

Good Start, Grow Smart Goals

Strengthening Head Start- Head Start developed an accountability system, known as the National Reporting System, to ensure that every Head Start program assesses student learning in language, early literacy, and premathematics skills. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented a national training program using a train-the-trainer and mentoring approach to reach all Head Start teachers with techniques to promote prereading skills for Head Start students.

Partnering With States To Improve Early Learning- The Child Care Bureau (CCB) partnered with States to improve early learning through the following:

- Early Learning Guidelines (ELGs)- The development of voluntary State early reading and premathematics guidelines on what children should know and learn at different ages. These guidelines are adaptable to various child care settings and align with State K through 12 standards so that young children are learning skills that will prepare them for school.

- Professional Development- The development of a State plan that aligns its early learning guidelines with its teacher and caregiver training and education system. Through these professional development activities, teachers and caregivers learn teaching practices that reflect the early learning guidelines developed and implemented by the State or local community.

- Program Coordination- The development of a State plan for an integrated system of early learning programs for children and families by coordinating at least seven early childhood programs, which may include the CCDF program, TANF program, Head Start, and public education programs, including Title I preschool; Early Reading First; Part B, Section 619; and Part C under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Providing Information to Teachers, Caregivers, and Parents- To close the gap between the best research and current practices in early childhood education, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) initiated a broad public awareness campaign for parents, early childhood educators, child care providers, and the public. In summer 2002, First Lady Laura Bush and ED officials hosted Early Learning Summits and Early Childhood Educator Academies . New publications were released for parents and caregivers. (See the Resources section.) In addition, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and Administration for Children and Families in HHS, and Institute of Education Sciences and Office of Special Education Programs in ED collaborated on a 5-year, multimillion-dollar research agenda to identify effective early childhood curricula and teaching strategies.

Good Start, Grow Smart Interagency Workgroup

The Good Start, Grow Smart Interagency Workgroup is the collaborative Federal effort to coordinate programs supporting children's early learning. Its goal is to develop a common early childhood message across Federal agencies and programs and to identify strategies for collaborating and coordinating resources to support the development of high-quality, coordinated State and local early care and education systems.  

To achieve this goal, the workgroup meets regularly to exchange information about new research evidence on effective approaches to fostering children's school readiness, coordinate research agendas, and share technical assistance resources and professional development opportunities. It has sponsored two roundtables of selected States demonstrating collaborative approaches to working across their child care, Head Start, and early education programs and professional development and research briefings to increase cross-agency understanding of programs. Members of the workgroup also have presented jointly at professional meetings and conferences.

Overview of Selected Federal Early Learning Programs

1. All funding reflects FY 2005 unless noted below.
2. Includes CCDF mandatory and discretionary spending, TANF transfers, and State matching and maintenance-of-effort funds for FY 2004 for children from birth through age 12.

Accomplishments to Date

GSGS has been a catalyst for broad coordination across early learning programs through activities that respond directly to and complement GSGS goals. Looking across Federal early learning programs, the following accomplishments have been achieved as of October 2005.

Strengthening Head Start

• Implemented the Head Start National Reporting System, including a training-of-trainers model for Head Start programs.
• Provided eight Innovation and Implementation grants to organizations for designing and implementing innovative programs to strengthen the early education experiences of Head Start children before they enter kindergarten.
• Developed the Head Start Mentor-Coach Instruction design, which consists of multimedia strategies for early literacy mentor coaches to use to work with classroom teams and home visitors.

• The 50 States, Washington, D.C., and the Territories are all actively engaged in developing or implementing Early Learning Guidelines applicable to all early care and education programs within their borders.
• More than 27 States are implementing their guidelines through dissemination, training, and/or the embedding of the guidelines in their professional development systems. (See the Child Care and Development Fund Report of State Plans FY 2004-2005 for further highlights of State accomplishments in meeting their GSGS goals and early literacy objectives. This report is available on the Web at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/stateplan/.)
• The 50 States, Washington, D.C., and the Territories all have partnerships with at least four key early care and education programs within their borders and are coordinating with these stakeholders to establish their professional development systems.

Providing Information to Teachers, Caregivers, and Parents

• Provided publications for parents and caregivers on child development. (See resource list at the bottom of this page.)
• Conducted research on effective early childhood interventions, professional development, and coordination among early childhood programs.
• Brought information based on scientific research to teachers through Early Childhood Educator Academies.
• Launched the Head Start Parent-Mentor training program, in which Head Start parents learn to help their own children with language and literacy skills and to mentor other parents on early literacy techniques.

Interagency Program Coordination

• Exchanged information among agencies on state-of-the-art research methods and on new evidence concerning effective approaches to foster young children’s school readiness.
• Coordinated agency research agendas.
• Through the Interagency School Readiness Consortium, jointly funded eight research projects to examine interventions that promote school readiness.
• Shared technical assistance tools and professional development opportunities.

Early Learning Program and Research Offices

Federal Contacts
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• Child Care Bureau
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/
  
  
• Head Start Bureau
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/
  
  
• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
  http://www.nichd.nih.gov
  
  
• Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
  http://www.aspe.hhs.gov; click on "Early Childhood and School Readiness"
  
  
• Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation at the Administration for
  Children and Families
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/index.html

• Institute for Education Sciences
  http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ies/index.html
  
  
• Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
  http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/index.html
  
  
• Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
  http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/index.html

Other Federal Agencies

• National Institute for Literacy
  http://www.nifl.gov

• State Child Care and Development Fund Contacts
  http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/statedata/dirs/display.cfm?title=ccdf
  
  
• Head Start State Collaboration Offices
  http://www.hsnrc.org/content/index2.cfm?DocumentID=6566&z=99
  
  
• National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education
  http://naecs.crc.uiuc.edu/
  
  
• State Early Childhood Special Education Contacts
  http://www.nectac.org/contact/contact.asp
  
  
• State Early Care and Education Professional Development Web Sites
  http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/topics/topic/index.cfm?topicId=10

Resources and Information Related to Early Learning

• Healthy Start, Grow Smart: Newborn-12 months (English and Spanish)
  A Child Becomes a Reader
• 7 Super Things Parents and Caregivers Can Do: 7 Cosas Geniales Que Los Padres Y Los Cuidadores Pueden Hacer (English/Spanish Bookmark)
  Order from ED Pubs at http://www.edpubs.org/webstore/Content/search.asp
  or call (877) 4ED-PUBS
• Learning To Read & Write Begins at Birth: A Guide to Early Literacy in Child Care (English/Spanish)
• Making the Transition From Child Care to Kindergarten: Working Together for Kindergarten Success (English/Spanish)
  Available at http://www.childcareaware.org/en/resources/pubs.php#113e
• Transitions From Infant Toddler Services to Preschool Education
• Assuring the Family's Role on the Early Intervention Team:
  Explaining Rights and Safeguards
  Available at http://www.nectac.org/pubs/pubs.asp

• Teaching Our Youngest: A Guide for Preschool Teachers
  and Child Care and Family Providers
  Available at http://www.edpubs.org/webstore/Content/search.asp
• What Works Brief 3: Helping Children Understand Routines
  and Classroom Schedules
• Training Module 1: Classroom Preventive Practices-
  Promoting Children's Success
  Available at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/
• Emerging Literacy: Linking Social Competence to Learning
  Linguistic Diversity and Early Literacy: Serving Culturally Diverse
  Families in Early Head Start

• Good Start, Grow Smart: The Bush Administration's Early Childhood Initiative (announcement from April 2002)
  Available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/toc.html
  
  
• Good Start, Grow Smart: Training and Technical Assistance Materials
  Available at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/goodstart/index.html
  
  
• Status of State Efforts To Develop and Implement Early Learning Guidelines
  Available at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/topics/topic/index.cfm?topicId=61
  
  
• Report of Child Care and Development Fund State Plans for FY 2004-2005
  Available at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/stateplan/
  
  
• A Tribal Guide to the Good Start, Grow Smart Early Learning Initiative
  Available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/initiatives/gsgs/tribal_gsgs/gsgs1.htm
  
  
• Selected Resources on Financing Early Childhood Systems To Support Inclusive
  Options for Young Children With Disabilities
  Available at http://www.nectac.org/pubs/pubs.asp

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Early Learning Guidelines?

Early Learning Guidelines, or content standards, describe what children need to know, understand, and be able to do at certain ages or developmental stages. Selected State Early Learning Guidelines documents are available on the Web at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/goodstart/elgwebsites.html

How can I find out what my State is doing related to early learning programs?

Each State and Territory submitted a Biennial Child Care and Development Fund State plan to the Administration for Children and Families, HHS, in July 2005 that described what they were doing or planned to do in the three priority areas of GSGS for the next two years. Many of these State plans are available on State child care agency Web sites, and a 50-State summary will be available in 2006 from Child Care Bureau. A summary of the CCDF State plans for FY 2004-2005 is available on the Web at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/stateplan/index.html.

Do Early Learning Guidelines only address early literacy and early mathematics concepts?

GSGS asks States and Territories to specifically address early literacy and early mathematics concepts of children ages 3 through 5, but almost all States have developed guidelines that address other domains of development, such as social-emotional development and physical development. Some States also have developed guidelines for children from birth through 5 years of age.

Are Early Learning Guidelines voluntary?

All States and Territories have been asked to develop Early Learning Guidelines for children ages 3 through 5, but the use of Early Learning Guidelines at the program level is voluntary, unless required by a State or Territory.

What is the definition of a professional development plan?

Professional development plans are defined as systems of training and instruction developed for the purpose of improving the preparation and ongoing development of early care and education providers. States and Territories receive information and technical assistance to develop a comprehensive system of professional development that is built on Early Learning Guidelines, which are aligned with States academic achievement standards for K-12. In addition, States are encouraged to offer training that is scientific, research-based, ongoing, intensive, and accessible to early care and education practitioners in all settings. Information on State early care and education professional development Web sites is available at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/topics/topic/index.cfm?topicId=10.

The information in this booklet is in the public domain and can be used or reprinted without permission.

A publication of the GSGS Interagency Workgroup
Printed August 2006

This publication contains hyperlinks and URLs created and maintained by outside organizations and provided for the reader's convenience. The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services are not responsible for the accuracy of the information in them.