State Policies and the RTT-ELC Program

The Zero to Three website has a Select a Topic section on the upper right of the home page.  In this section, select Federal Policy to learn more about legislation and policies created by the administration and Congress.  The Federal Policy Resources tab takes you to a page with many related topics.  One to note is the Race to the Top (RTT) Early Learning Challenge (ELC).  The RTT-ELC is a four phase program, with the four phases, or criteria being 1) Successful State Systems 2) Promotion of Child Outcomes 3) High Quality Programs and 4) Qualified Workforce.  The RTT-ELC is a comprehensive program that urges states to support early learning from birth to age five, inclusive of the four criteria, and emphasizes the importance of early learning support.  

To assist states in early child learning program planning and implementation, the RTT-ELC has created a set of checklists.  These can be found on the Zero to Three website, also under Federal Policy Resources, the RTT-ELC Resource Check List.  These checklists were created for use by state governments.  They include creative state financing, health issues, training, language and literacy, home visits, and of course, a guide detailing why such a program is necessary!  The long selection of checklists are divided by topic, and include directions for use.  They are all written by qualified, educated persons approved by the Zero to Three staff.  State governments are invited to use these checklists to develop and implement a state early learning policy.

With the current economic downturn, it is now more important than ever to have a credible, quality, working system of child education in place at the state level.  The process of educating our young children will help the state balance the budget.  We all realize that money spent on a child’s education creates jobs.  Parents with quality early child care can be responsible employees, spend money at stores, and help the economy.  Business benefits when child care centers spend money on items from accountants to cleaning supplies, from toys to playground equipment.  Children benefit from the educational and social learning. Given today’s recession and state budget deficits, state planning needs the support of groups like Zero to Three.

Reference

Zero to Three Federal Policy Resources. Retrieved from

http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/federal-policy/federal-professional-resources.html