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Early Childhood Focus provides parents, early childhood professionals, policy-makers, and advocates with the latest early childhood news from around the country. Subscribers receive weekly news alerts on hot topics in the early childhood field.

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Alabama sees Pre-K success

Posted in: Preschool

EXCERPT FROM: WRBL
By Liz Buckthorpe
PHENIX CITY, Ala. -- Pre-K programs are said to be suffering across the nation. However according to Phenix City schools superintendant Dr. Larry DiChiara that is not the case across Alabama and certainly not true for Phenix City Schools.


Smart Horizons Institute Offers Florida Child Care Professional Credential (FCCPC) Program Online in English and Spanish

Posted in: Florida

EXCERPT FROM: PRWeb
By PRWeb
Smart Horizons Institute now offers the Florida Child Care Professional Credential(FCCPC) online for both English and Spanish speakers. The Florida Child Care Professional Credential (FCCPC) certificate focuses on the competencies required by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) for early childhood professionals seeking a Florida staff credential. The program provides early childhood professionals the skills and knowledge necessary for working with young children.


House panel unveils proposed education budget

Posted in: Florida, Preschool

EXCERPT FROM: The Florida Times-Union
By Matt Dixon
The panel tasked with crafting the House's education budget unveiled their first proposal.


Why Family Meals Matter in Early Learning. Plus, The State of the Union and Early Education

Posted in: Quality

EXCERPT FROM: Birth to Thrive
By Paul Nyhan
We spend a lot of time writing about the importance of early intervention, research-based practices, proven curriculums, and public policies. But, there is another building block of early learning: the family dinner.


Apples and Oranges: Comparing the House and Senate ESEA Proposals

Posted in: Preschool

EXCERPT FROM: New America Foundation
By Laura Bornfreund
Both the House and Senate are currently considering proposals to reauthorize No Child Left Behind, the 2001 iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It is unlikely that either of these will actually become law; the Senate education committee’s comprehensive bill and the House education committee’s package of five bills have little in common and, in the House’s case, no bipartisan support, leaving few opportunities for compromise. It’s worth taking a close look at the proposals on the table, however, to get a feel for how each Congressional delegation is thinking about education policy. The bills take different paths in several areas, and below we highlight five: early learning, federal funding, school improvement, teacher and leader quality, and the future of Race to the Top and the Obama administration’s other education reform grant programs.


New Autism Definition Could Exclude Many From Diagnosis

Posted in: States

EXCERPT FROM: Education Week
By Nirvi Shah
A proposed new definition of autism could exclude many people now classified as having the disorder.


Expansion in pre-K programs curtailed in recession

Posted in: Preschool

EXCERPT FROM: Boston.com
By Kimberly Hefling
The expansion in public prekindergarten programs has slowed and even been reversed in some states as school districts cope with shrinking budgets. As a result, many 3- and 4-year-olds aren’t going to preschool.


Child Care Centers Adapt to Round-the-Clock Demand

Posted in: Ohio

EXCERPT FROM: The New York Times
By Sabrina Tavernise
ELYRIA, Ohio — Dinner (chicken and mashed potatoes) was long over, teeth were brushed, and a rousing game of Monopoly had come to a close. It was 9 p.m., and the children nestled into bed under blankets emblazoned with superheroes.


Federal Funding, Child Care and Jobs

Posted in: Impact of the Economy on Child Care

EXCERPT FROM: Huffington Post
By David Gray
Even as our nation's unemployment rate has fallen to 8.5%, unemployment remains stubbornly high in many areas. States like California, Nevada and Mississippi, in addition to Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, experience unemployment rates significantly above the national average.


Economy forces cutbacks at Clearfield emergency child care nursery

Posted in: Impact of the Economy on Child Care, Utah

EXCERPT FROM: The Salt Lake Tribune
By Brooke Adams
Clearfield • As the “for sale” sign in front of the Family Connection Center’s respite and crisis nursery buildings in Clearfield signals, it is not just the center’s clients that are in need of help.