Nevada is one of six states awarded a National Governors Association grant and technical assistance to improve early childhood education.  The state will receive $25,000 and have access to education experts who will discuss ways to improve.

According to the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, about one-third of students enrolled in state-financed preschool programs attend classes conducted outside the public schools.

The North Dakota Legislature passed a measure allowing local districts to create preschool using funds from the school budget, provided funds are not removed from the kindergarten program, said Tara Bitz, state administrator for the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction Early Childhood Education.

The bill, the Early Care and Education Initiative, would provide $75 billion over the next 10 years to expand pre-kindergarten to all 4-year-olds, fueled by the theory that better performance in school over the long run is a smart investment in any child's future.

In the U-S, 40 states offer pre-kindergarten programs.  Idaho is not one of them.  Here, about one third of three and four year olds attend a public or private preschool.  But none attend one that’s funded or sanctioned by the state. However, that does not stop some school districts from offering pre-k programs of their own.

The $65 million increase in funding for the Great Start Readiness Program, allowing at least 10,000 more 4-year-olds to attend high-quality, publicly funded preschool, is the biggest increase in the nation this year and leads an emerging trend to invest in children before kindergarten.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appeared Tuesday before the House Education and Workforce Committee to promote what he called the “centerpiece” of the administration’s 2014 education budget proposal, the $75 billion plan to expand public preschool through a funding initiative that would encourage states to offer preschool to low-income and middle-class children.

Early-learning programs offer a cost-effective way to prepare young learners for success in school and in life.  Preschool is a benefit that trickles up. Research shows high-quality preschool saves school districts about $3,700 per child over the K-12 years.

Twenty states now use student performance in the early grades to assess teachers, yet current evaluation systems don't provide an accurate picture of what's happening in the classroom, asserts a study released today by the Washington-based New America Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to promote equity, access and excellence in education.