Early Childhood Race To The Top Is On
Hawaii can join the starting lineup for the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge now that the application has been posted for the federal grant competition.
The challenge encourages states to develop strategies to educate children between birth and five years old so they enter kindergarten or first grade prepared to learn and succeed. Civil Beat reported earlier this year that U.S. Congresswoman Mazie Hirono was instrumental in getting the Obama Administration to launch the Early Learning Challenge.
Hawaii Department of Education officials have indicated that the state plans to apply. Education for tots was one of Gov. Neil Abercrombie‘s key campaign issues, after all, and he has already taken steps to improve services for young keiki by appointing a statewide early childhood coordinator.
The 123-page application posted on the U.S. Department of Education’s outlines the five key areas the feds expect to see states tackle and reform:
- A successful state system of programs that will live long after the grant funding is exhausted
- High-quality, accountable programs
- Promoting early learning and developmental outcomes for children
- A great early childhood education workforce
- Measuring outcomes and progress with things like the longitudinal database Hawaii is working to give teachers access to this year
States will be eligible to receive between $50 million and $100 million, depending on population size, according to from the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday.
The goals align closely with the goals of the initial Race to the Top competition, in which Hawaii won $75 million. Hawaii schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi has emphasized that funding from these competitions is designed to give states starting capital to make broad changes that will both improve the entire educational system and be sustainable long after the funding has expired.
Click here to view the application Hawaii will likely fill out. It is due Oct. 15.
