Early Childhood Education in California

Once a national leader in early childhood education, California faces unique challenges in addressing the educational and developmental needs of the nearly 24 million children ages five and younger. Compared to the rest of the United States, twice as many of these children live in families without a parent fluent in English, and an additional one in five live in poverty.

Providing these students and families with high-quality preschool lays the foundation for future learning and is shown to improve academic and life outcomes. The current early childhood education system consists of a dizzying array of underfunded and incoherent programs that under-serve children, families, and workers.

In this seminar Deborah Stipek highlights inefficiencies and potential areas of improvement within California's complex early childhood education system.

Speaker:

• Deborah Stipek, Judy Koch Professor of Education, Stanford University

Moderated by Heather J. Hough, Executive Director, PACE