The Early Childhood Funders Affinity Group is a new group being convened by the Center in 2012. It is being created to help those who are interested in supporting early learning find out more about worthy initiatives, research findings, best practices, and advocacy tools. Group meetings provide learning opportunities for grantmakers and allow them to share educational grant-making experiences with others. (Open to Full Members and Nonmember Grantmakers)
Future convenings will feature:
- An overview of the early childhood issues grantmakers have invested in over the past few years and exploration of ideas for collaborating on specific initiatives.
- Advocacy as it relates to early childhood education. How can you as funders become better advocates in this area?
- Early learning as an economic development tool.
Upcoming Meetings:
Links
- Now for Later
The purpose of the Now for Later campaign, sponsored by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, is to help raise awareness among parents, professionals and community leaders of the importance of school readiness, the need for quality early learning opportunities, and the role of family and early childhood programs.
- The Campaign for Grade Level Reading
The Campaign is a collaborative effort by dozens of funders across the nation to: close the gap in reading achievement that separates many low-income students from their peers; raise the bar for reading proficiency so that all students are assessed by world-class standards; and ensure that all children, including and especially children from low-income families, have an equitable opportunity to meet those higher standards.
- National Association for the Education of Young Children
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8. NAEYC is committed to becoming an increasingly high performing and inclusive organization.
- Parents as Teachers
Through advocacy and outreach, Parents as Teachers serves as a voice for early childhood education and champions the critical role of parental involvement and early intervention in the education continuum. Parents as Teachers raises awareness and works to shape policy around the importance of enhancing school readiness by reaching children during the critical, formative years of life.
- St. Louis Public Schools Early Childhood Education Proposal 2011
SLPS is proposing 25 additional Early Childhood Education Classrooms (ECE) classrooms and two additional Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) classrooms. Under this proposal, approximately 350 children can be served in these classrooms at no cost to parents, and accommodate most children and families on the district’s current waiting list for early childhood education. Simultaneously, the district is assessing the demand, cost and feasibility of adding even more ECE classrooms in current schools or opening a building as a dedicated early childhood center.
- St. Louis Regional Early Childhood Council
The purpose of the Council is to develop a shared community vision for a comprehensive, coordinated system that addresses the full range of early childhood needs for all St. Louis area children. The Early Childhood Council will establish a data system to track early childhood indicators, assess service gaps and policy needs, and identify and work to implement evidenced-based strategies to promote early childhood development across all domains.