Early Childhood Topics

• Head Start/Early Head Start
• Early Care & Education Settings
• Home Visiting
• Early Childhood Education Practices
• Studying Children in a Multicultural Society
• Clients

Getting Ready for Kindergarten: The Early Learning Initiative

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched an ambitious Early Learning Initiative (ELI) to increase the school readiness of children in the state of Washington. As part of this strategy, the foundation funded the development of an in-depth, communitywide early childhood initiative in two demonstration communities—White Center (just outside of Seattle) and East Yakima, a community in central Washington. 

Mathematica's evaluation of the demonstration (1) provided information for continuous improvement, (2) informed state policy and development of best practices, and (3) assessed the effects of long-term investment in early learning systems.

The evaluation included the following components:

• An in-depth implementation study to examine the characteristics of the ELI communities at baseline and after 1, 3, and 7 years of implementation. The analyses drew on multiple data sources—site visit interviews and focus groups, assessments of child care quality, network surveys, and service use data collected by service providers as available.
• A kindergarten readiness study to track communities' progress in preparing children for kindergarten. The study assessed the readiness of a representative sample of entering kindergartners in each ELI community at baseline and after 1, 3, and 7 years of implementation. Data sources included direct child assessments, teacher and assessor ratings, and parent interviews.
• Short-term impact studies to measure rigorously the impact of the most intensive, core ELI components—such as home visiting and child care quality improvement—on children's developmental outcomes.
• A long-term impact study to measure rigorously the impact of ELI on children's school readiness and their progress in elementary school. We compared the outcomes—at ages 2 and 5, as well as into early elementary school—of children born in the ELI communities and a matched sample of children born elsewhere in Washington state.

To conduct these analyses, the evaluation team collected a rich set of data on ELI implementation and child, family, and community outcomes. Data for the implementation study came from in-depth interviews and focus groups with service providers, parents, and other community members; network surveys of community service providers; and observations of child care quality. Data on child and family outcomes were derived from in-home child assessments, parent interviews, school-based kindergarten readiness assessments, teacher and parent ratings, and school records. Baseline data collection began in summer 2007.

Publications

"The Seeds to Success Modified Field Test: Impact Evaluation Findings" (July 2010)
"The Seeds to Success Modified Field Test: Implementation Lessons" (July 2010)
"The Seeds to Success Modified Field Test: Findings from the Impact and Implementation Studies" (June 2010)
"Better Beginnings: Developing Home-Based Early Learning Systems in East Yakima and White Center" (April 2010)
"Better Beginnings: Partnering with Families for Early Learning Home Visit Observations" (April 2010)
"Better Beginnings: The State of Early Learning and Kindergarten Readiness in East Yakima and White Center" English Version; Spanish Version (August 2008)
"Better Beginnings: The State of Early Learning and Kindergarten Readiness in East Yakima" English Version; Spanish Version (August 2008)
"Better Beginnings: The State of Early Learning and Kindergarten Readiness in White Center" English Version; Spanish Version (August 2008)
"A Profile of Kindergarten Readiness in East Yakima: Fall 2007" (July 2008)
"A Profile of Kindergarten Readiness in White Center: Fall 2007" (July 2008)
"Building a Community-Wide Early Learning System: East Yakima at Baseline" (May 2008)
"Building a Community-Wide Early Learning System: White Center at Baseline" (May 2008)