Birth to 5 and Beyond: A Growing Movement in Early Education

This policy paper indicates that interest in early childhood development continues to grow across the United States. Recently, there has been an effort to develop more unified and comprehensive early education systems. A comprehensive early childhood development system can take many forms as it reflects the needs and nature of each State. The following features can be designed to connect the various programs across a State: (1) supportive governance structure, (2) public–private partnerships, (3) professional development, (4) quality rating systems, (5) early learning guidelines, (6) prekindergarten funding, and (7) infant and toddler initiatives. Some of the State initiatives that support infants and toddlers include: family and parental leave policies, Early Head Start, Infant–Toddler Specialist Networks, and Beyond 5. The convergence of the science of early childhood development with the momentum of school readiness efforts has created new opportunities for States and communities.