Access to quality childcare is critical for Arizona’s children and their families. Early childhood educators in these settings build young brains by supporting children’s learning and development. Our goal is to ensure that 45 percent of our 3- and 4-year-olds can access quality early learning settings. Through the Arizona Education Progress Meter, we know this …
The regular Arizona legislative session has officially ended, after adjourning temporarily amid shelter-in-place orders. A group of Senate Democrats and Republicans moved to adjourn early this week without taking action on just under 30 noncontroversial bills – effectively ending session and killing those bills. As a reminder, emergency education legislation and a baseline budget bill …
As the coronavirus outbreak started to take widespread effect in Arizona, the importance of child care providers as crucial community assets became clear. For those workers who have no choice but to continue working outside their home, knowing that their children are cared for by skilled, trusted child care workers means one less worry on …
An estimated 5% of children under age 5 were not counted in the 2010 U.S. Census. That’s about 1 million young children, the highest of any single age group. This time around, U.S. Census officials are asking early childhood supporters to help close the gap and help ensure all infants, toddlers and preschoolers are counted. …
Local school officials know that the early years matter, especially when it comes to early literacy, which starts well before a child reaches a classroom. It begins before babies can talk and continues as they become toddlers and preschoolers. In fact, gaps in children’s vocabulary start to appear as early as 18 months. By the …
