2006 Florida Children's Summit
Compilation of Commitment Issues
| Click here to see the Summit recommendations for this issue. |
Have access to quality early childhood education and development involving parents and families as essential partners.
The first five years of life provide foundations for later school success. Yet more than 30% of Florida's children begin kindergarten without the readiness skills to succeed in school. Children who start behind tend to stay behind, and the achievement gap is unlikely to close. More than 65% of parents with children under the age of 5 are working outside the home, and the demand for child care has more than doubled in the last 40 years. However, the quality in a majority of the child care programs is considered mediocre, and parents have few choices with limited budgets.
The teacher is the strongest predictor of quality in the classroom. Evidence links teacher training and education with positive child outcomes but a turnover rate of 30% - 40% annually makes retaining a qualified early childhood workforce challenging. Our challenge is to design a system affordable for families at a level of quality necessary to prepare children for success.