Early Learning

how to give your child a running start on success

Public policies that support high-quality early learning programs lay the foundation for childrens' academic success, improve our business climate and promote broad-based economic opportunity.

Children with access to high-quality early learning and care (from birth to five years of age) do better in school, are more likely to graduate from high school and go on to college, and are less likely to commit crime.

Experience and evidence both highlight the importance of these early years to a child’s emotional, social and cognitive development. The quality of these early experiences is directly related to future social and academic success.

Featured Publications

Training Makes a Difference: The Experience of Unionized Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care Providers in Washington State

02.07.2012 | When local “family, friend and neighbor” (FFN) child care providers collectively bargained for access to training, it measurably improved their knowledge and skills, and supported their work caring for children. And without collective bargaining, it is highly unlikely these opportunities would have been available to them.

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First Class in Learning – First Class in Life: How Washington’s Early Childhood Education Career and Wage Ladder Delivers First-Class Care

01.06.2010 | A suspension of the Wage Ladder would jeopardize the professional and educational progress of over 800 early learning teachers across the state. These early learning teachers will lose critical supports necessary to sustain their participation in the early care and education field – and the children in their care will suffer the consequences.