Contact Preschool Advocacy Initiative Field Director Melina Sanchez today at (213) 413-4130 to learn more about this topic.

The California Community Foundation (CCF), in partnership with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, launched the Los Angeles Preschool Advocacy Initiative (LAPAI), a multi-year effort to increase access to quality preschool education for underserved communities in Los Angeles County.

CCF is leading a countywide grassroots campaign to build public support for quality preschool.We seek to build a diverse stakeholder-based coalition, raise public awareness about the shortage of quality preschools and facilities and develop a policy agenda to increase funding and support for high quality preschool education.

Over the next few years, CCF will engage policymakers, civic leaders and others to champion the cause of improved access to quality preschool.CCF will also inform key organizations and constituents about the latest research and legislative proposals on preschool as well as highlight local exemplary preschool programs.

In the long-term, the initiative will ensure that: children entering K-12 are ready for school; parents engage in their children’s development and educational success throughout the K-12 years; and underserved communities have access to preschool facilities.

Click on your desired section:

• Grants to Support Parent Engagement and Public Policy Advocacy Activities
• RAND California Preschool Study *NEW*
• Preschool Reports
• Additional Resources
• Upcoming Events

Grants to Support Parent Engagement and Public Policy Advocacy Activities

June 6, 2008 - CCF awarded $340,000 in preschool grants to 10 nonprofit organizations as part of the Los Angeles Preschool Advocacy Initiative. Grants will support parent engagement and public policy advocacy for preschool care and education. The grants are for 12-month projects from Spring 2008 to Spring 2009. Read the press release for more information.

RAND's California Preschool Study

RAND's California Preschool Study was requested by the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence, the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Speaker of the California State Assembly, and the President pro Tempore of the California State Senate to help them consider options for reforming and expanding preschool education.

Read the pdf version of each report by clicking on the links below.

RAND Study 1 - " Who Is Ahead and Who Is Behind?: Gaps in School Readiness and Student Achievement in the Early Grades for California's Children" (November 2007)

RAND Study 2 - "Early Care and Education in the Golden State: Publicly Funded Programs Serving California's Preschool-Age Children" (November 2007)

RAND Study 3 *NEW* - “Prepared to Learn: The Nature and Quality of Early Care and Education for Preschool-Age Children in California” (June 2008)

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Preschool Reports

Click on each report title to learn more about issues pertaining to quality preschool programs.

Buenos Principios: Latino Children in the Earliest Years of Life (PDF)
National Council of La Raza

California Early Care and Education Workforce Study (PDF)
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment
Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California at Berkeley

California's Preschool Space Challenge (PDF)
Advancement Project

A Critical Policy Imperative: Making Preschool Education Work for Latinos in Illinois (PDF)
Latinos United

The Effects of New Jersey’s Abbott Preschool Program on Young Children’s School Readiness (PDF)
National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University

The Effects of Oklahoma’s Early Childhood Four-Year-Old Program on Young Children’s School Readiness (PDF)
National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University

Why Early Care and Education Deserves as Much Attention, or More, than Prekindergarten Alone (PDF)
Taryn Morrissey and Mildred Warner, Cornell University

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Additional Resources

National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University

Pre-K Now

Preschool California

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Upcoming Events

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