Here’s a sampling of early childhood education in the news for the week of July 21-25:

TOP STORY

25th Annual KIDS COUNT Data Book Highlights Progress, Challenges for American Children. This week, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released the 25th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, tracking the health, education and well-being of our nation’s children. The report finds that while federal and state policies have helped make gains since 1990, the number of children living in poverty and the lingering economic effects of the recession make the need for early childhood education investments even more urgent.

Read More:

In 25 Years, U.S. Children Make Fragile Progress, Kids Count Analysis Finds – Education Week

Child Poverty Rates on the Rise – USA Today

These are the Best (and Worst) Places in America to Raise Kids – Huffington Post

OTHER NATIONAL NEWS

Continuing coverage of the bipartisan poll on early education. Read more at National Journal and Reuters.

The Senate Appropriations Committee released its fiscal year 2015 federal spending bill for education programs Thursday morning and early education is the big winner. Read more at Education Week.

Risk Factors Have Effect on Kindergarten Readiness A new study by the Sesame Workshop released this week examined how four key risk factors affect kindergartners’ academic abilities as they start school. The risk factors include: living in a home where English is not the primary language, living in a single-parent household, the child’s mother has less than a high school education and the child lives in a household with income below the federal poverty line. According to the report, 44 percent of kindergartners had more than one risk factor, and the more risk factors a child has, the more likely he or she will fall behind in kindergarten. Read More at the Huffington Post.   

Lessons From Early Education Joan Wasser Gish of the Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care shares four key lessons from early childhood education for educators and policymakers working to reduce the K-12 academic achievement gap. Read More at Education Week.

FROM THE STATES

TENNESSEE:  $3 Million for Pre-K Programs Approved by Shelby County Commission On Monday,Shelby County officials passed a bipartisan plan to expand Pre-K programs in the greater Memphis area Read More

SOUTH CAROLINA:  New Public-Private Partnership to Provide Early Childhood, Elementary Education The Charleston County School District has partnered with the private Meeting Street Academy to open a new free public Pre-K, Kindergarten and first grade school for children from low-income families in North Charleston.

IOWA:  Reauthorize Funding for Family Home Visits Lana Ross, Executive Director of the Iowa Community Action Association and Stephen Scott, Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse Iowa highlight the benefits of the state’s Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. The pair call on Congress to reauthorize funding for the successful initiative, which has promoted employment and education among Iowa mothers participating in the program. Read More