Hearing of the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee - Early Childhood Education

Hearing

Good morning. It is my pleasure to welcome our witnesses today to the Subcommittee on Labor,
HHS, and Education to discuss early childhood education. We are looking forward to hearing
your testimonies.

Research shows that quality early childhood education improves children's school readiness.
Evaluations of Head Start, state pre-K programs, and model early childhood programs have
shown positive impacts on cognitive skills for children entering Kindergarten through the early
elementary years. While the research is limited, there is some evidence of long-term positive
academic, economic, and social outcomes for some very high-quality programs. These impacts
are greatest among children from low-income families, suggesting the potential for early
childhood education programs to help close the achievement gap for disadvantaged children.
The availability of early childhood education programs has expanded in recent years, largely led
by the states. Currently 40 states and the District of Columbia have at least one publicly-funded
state preschool program. About 70 percent of 4-year-olds are enrolled in preschool, including 40
percent in publicly-funded programs. About 50 percent of 3-year-olds are in early learning
programs, with about 14 percent enrolled in publicly-funded programs. However, the quality of
these programs varies widely.

The Federal government has a significant investment in some of these efforts. The Head Start
program enrolls nearly one million children from low-income families. The Department of
Education provides early intervention services for children with disabilities under age five. More
recently, the Department of Education has begun to award competitive grants to states to
establish or expand universal preschool programs for children from low- and moderate-income
families. It is critical that we look closely at the results of our Federal investment so that we can
make wise choices moving forward about how to maximize the effectiveness of limited taxpayer
resources in this area.

Today, we look forward to hearing from our witnesses about what works in early childhood
education and what barriers exist in providing quality programs for children. We hope to learn
more about how we can improve and better target our Federal investment of funds in this area to
help the children who can most benefit from these services to receive them. Today I'm pleased
to welcome the following witnesses--

* Debra Anderson is the Executive Director of Smart Start Oklahoma and the Oklahoma
Partnership for School Readiness Foundation. Smart Start Oklahoma is dedicated to
improving early childhood policies that support all children being prepared when they
enter school. Prior to joining Smart Start, Ms. Anderson was employed by the Oklahoma
State Department of Health, providing State level leadership for the Child Guidance
program. Ms. Anderson has extensive experience in providing services to young children
with communication delays, program planning and administration, and community
coalition building.

* Walter S. Gilliam is the Director of The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and
Social Policy and Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology at the Child
Study Center, Yale School of Medicine. He is on the board of directors for the National
Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and is a fellow at Zero to
Three and the National Institute for Early Education Research. Dr. Gilliam's research
involves early childhood education and intervention policy analysis, ways to improve the
quality of prekindergarten and child care services, the impact of early childhood
education programs on children's school readiness, and effective methods for reducing
classroom behavior problems and reducing the incidence of preschool expulsion.

* Diana Rauner is the President of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a public-private
partnership dedicated to advancing program and policy efforts to prepare children for
success in school and later in life. Among many other initiatives, in partnership with the
Buffett Early Childhood Fund and other national philanthropies, the Ounce has built the
Educare Learning Network from one birth-to-five school on the south side of Chicago to
a growing network of schools across the country, and launched the First Five Years Fund,
a federally-focused advocacy and communications effort. Ms. Rauner is also the First
Lady of Illinois.

I look forward to hearing all of your testimonies.

I would like to yield now to my Ranking Member, the Gentlelady from Connecticut for her
opening remarks.

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