Early Childhood & School Readiness
You are in the Family and Community Involvement section of the Casey Foundation Knowledge Center, which offers resources that are either published or funded by the Casey Foundation. Resources address the importance of empowering families and communities actively engaged in schools and school systems.
See also the Our Work: Education, an overview of the Casey Foundation's investments in this issue.
See also all Education resources in the Knowledge Center.
Featured Publications
Present, Engaged, and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades
2008
Although students must be present and engaged to learn, thousands of this country’s youngest students are academically at-risk because of extended absences when they first embark upon their school careers. Nationally, an estimated one in ten kindergarten and first grade students are chronically absent (i.e., miss nearly a month or more of school over the course of a year). This report, commissioned by Casey, raises awareness of this issue, presents data on the scope of the challenge, and shares emerging insights about how to address it. The good news is that chronic early absence can be significantly reduced when schools, communities, and families join together to monitor and promote attendance, as well as to identify and address the factors that prevent young students from attending school every day.
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Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers
2007
The authors of this report highlight how communities benefit when workers join unions. The report focuses on three states where home-based child care providers have joined unions, and have used their political power to advocate for increased wages and improved working conditions.
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Close to Home: State Strategies to Strengthen and Support Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care
2007
In this report the authors highlight a variety of policy options that offer opportunities to strengthen the early learning experiences of this country’s poorest children who receive child care provided by family, friends, and neighbors.
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Executive Summary - Present, Engaged, and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in Early Grades
2008
This executive summary highlights the Casey-funded report from the National Center for Children on how schools and communities can work together to reduce chronic absenteeism among young school-age children.
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Demographics of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care in the United States
2008
This research brief, which summarizes a larger literature review, focuses on the proportion of employed parents who use family, friend, and neighbor care; the patterns of family friend neighbor care used; and the various characteristics of caregivers who provide family, friend, and neighbor care.
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(Executive Summary) Present, Engaged, and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in Early Grades
2008
This executive summary highlights the Casey-funded report from the National Center for Children on how schools and communities can work together to reduce chronic absenteeism among young school-age children.
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Increasing State Investments in Early Care and Education: Lessons Learned from Advocates and Best Practices
2008
This report, prepared by Voices for America’s Children for the Casey Foundation, profiles efforts in 10 states to increase investments in early childhood. These states -- Alabama, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming -- differ widely in size, political dynamics, budget resources, and in demographics of the under-five population. Despite the range in circumstances and experiences, some key common threads existed in the advocacy strategies applied, and these proven strategies for success are detailed in this report.
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Common Vision, Different Paths: Five States’ Journeys toward Comprehensive Prenatal-to-Five Systems
2007
This report looks at strategies for effectively building the systems and providing the high quality programs infants, toddlers, and young children need to thrive and succeed. It builds on the work of other initiatives, early childhood professionals, and institutions.
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