Start Early’s vision is for every child in the City of Chicago to have access to a continuum of high-quality early childhood services before birth and through age five that is equitable and culturally, linguistically and ability- responsive. Our work is cemented in our commitment to advancing racial equity and heavily informed by research, practice and the lived experiences of the families and professionals we serve at Start Early. Our latest Chicago policy agenda, covering city fiscal years 2024 through 2027, lays out our vision for policy and systems change that will promote access to quality early care and learning programs and services and effectively meet the needs of the children and families who need them most.
Our Goals
Start Early organizes its work in Chicago toward a sustainable, equitable, and accessible system of high-quality early care and learning around four primary systems-level goals. These goals include:
Strong Infrastructure
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Promote state-level policies and regulations that promote an inclusive, well-resourced early childhood system in Chicago.
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Grow city funding for Chicago’s early childhood programs, system infrastructure and supports.
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Deepen city investment in an early childhood local collaboration system with defined functions connected to aligned, effective regional and state council infrastructure.
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Establish a coherent, consolidated early childhood administrative/governance structure in the city of Chicago, centering the experiences of families and providers, especially those families furthest from opportunities and with the most complex circumstances.
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Strengthen the Every Child Ready Chicago public-private advisory and other policy making tables to improve bi-directional communication across families, communities and system leaders.
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Promote early childhood, bilingual, and special education expertise on public policy-making bodies, including the Chicago Board of Education and City Council.
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Improve the mechanisms by which providers receive public funds to preserve the mixed-delivery system of school- and community-based programs and provide greater stability and adequacy.
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Establish a system to provide inclusive special education services to children with disabilities in early care and learning programs across all settings.
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Work with Chicago Public Schools to ensure delivery of special education services in community-based early childhood programs.
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Promote the sustainability and expansion of a city-wide system for Universal Newborn Screening and Support services.
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Identify public and private funding for and ensure integration of Family Connects Chicago into broader prenatal-to-three health and early learning services.
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Strengthen early childhood data systems, capacity, and the utilization of data in policy/decision making.
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Promote sustainability of the Chicago Early Childhood Integrated Data System (CECIDS) and the Early Childhood Research Alliance of Chicago (EC-REACH).
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Well-designed and administered programs and services
Early Intervention
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Increase number of Chicago children served in the Early Intervention program, with a focus on children under age 1 and children who meet automatic eligibility criteria.
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Improve the process of transitioning children from Early Intervention to Special Education.
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Strengthen direct communication with providers and families to increase active engagement in improving the system and their ability to advocate for their children.
Early Childhood Block Grant
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Ensure the supply of adequately funded early childhood slots in a range of settings (including full-day, full-year), particularly in areas of highest need.
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Increase equitable distribution of funds and program slots across Chicago Public Schools, community-based programs, and family child care.
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Increase supply of adequately funded center-based slots for children birth-three.
Child Care
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Improve supply and quality of center- and home-based child care, with a focus on infant-toddler slots and inclusion of children with delays or disabilities.
Home Visiting & Doula Services
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Raise the profile of and strengthen the role of home visitors and doulas in the broader mixed delivery system of early care and learning.
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Improve family participation rates in home visiting and doula programs through increased public awareness of the program and supporting the development of new models or promising practices to better meet family and community needs.
Head Start & Early Head Start
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Increase family enrollment and participation in Chicago’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
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Increase the availability of center-based Early Head Start slots.
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Improve alignment, collaboration, and cohesion across Chicago’s Early Head Start and Head Start grant recipients.
Thriving, representative workforce
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Increase recruitment and retention of early childhood professionals, including those with specialized skills in bilingual and special education.
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Increase compensation with a focus on pay parity and competitive benefits between community-based providers and Chicago Public Schools teachers.
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Strengthen opportunities for professional development, reflective supervision, and infant and early childhood mental health consultation.
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Strengthen the perception and reputation of the early childhood field by partnering with city agencies to promote early learning careers as desirable for youth.
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Increase credential, degree, license, and endorsement attainment for the early childhood field, including in bilingual and special education.
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Expand access to the Chicago Early Learning Workforce Scholarship and other supports for candidates.
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Healthy, safe and economically secure families
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Strengthen the alignment and integration of the health and early care and learning systems.
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Inform and support policies and initiatives that promote safe and healthy early care and learning environments.
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Increase access to culturally and linguistically responsive health care for families with young children and pregnant people, including preventive and specialty care, mental health and substance use recovery care.
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Improve access to public and private health insurance for families with young children and pregnant people.
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Increase economic supports for families with young children, including paid family and medical leave, access to public benefits and tax credits.
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Inform and support policies and initiatives that promote safe and healthy neighborhoods, housing and environments and positive social and community supports.
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released its next installation of Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) data, providing a snapshot of the skills young children had as they entered kindergarten in the 2022-2023 school year. The COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to implement the tool and collect the valuable information it provides, but the data the state gathered makes it plain that while COVID-19 disruptions have had an impact, we are heading back to pre-pandemic readiness levels.
As noted in the recent KIDS report, 30% of all students in Illinois demonstrate Kindergarten readiness in all three developmental areas (social and emotional development, language and literacy development, and math), a steady increase that puts the state slightly above pre-pandemic levels. Indeed, since the launch of KIDS in 2017-2018, and despite pandemic challenges, the percentage of students rated “Kindergarten ready” in all three developmental areas has increased by 6 percentage points, reflecting a positive upward trend over time.
While state-wide numbers reflect improvement over time, the percentage of students demonstrating Kindergarten readiness in all three domains varies widely across lines of income, language and learning style. Persistent early gaps between student groups underscore the need for targeted support both during the early years, and in the early primary grades – particularly for students identified as English Learners. Currently implementation challenges exist to assess and identify English Learners but this implementation issue is being addressed by the KIDS Advisory Committee.
Other researchers are beginning to investigate whether and how KIDS relates to later academic performance. A new report from the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) concludes that KIDS scores are predictive of 3rd grade test scores in Math and English language arts (ELA). Yet, even with similar Kindergarten Readiness scores, Black and Latinx students are less likely to be proficient in 3rd grade math and ELA compared to White students.1
Some of these upward trends are encouraging, but persistent gaps require further work and study in the next few years. To address these gaps, assessment directors and school and district leaders should support administrators and teachers by reducing the amount of costly and redundant kindergarten readiness assessments, promoting the importance of a play-based environment in kindergarten, refering districts to KIDS coaches so they can acquire resources for implementing play-based learning, and ensuring there is an appropriate and full implementation of KIDS. It is too soon to draw any connections or conclusions, but we will note that these recent, modest increases coincide with the first year of Governor Pritzker’s Smart Start IL plan – a multi-year effort to increase funding for early childhood over a period of four years. The administration also plans to create a new Department of Early Childhood, which provides an opportunity for the state to create transformational changes that will benefit the early childhood workforce, young children and their families. This transformational work should be paired with sustainable investments and improved data collection, and we will all be watching to see if these coordinated efforts benefit our youngest learners.
1Kiguel, S., Cashdollar, S., & Bates, S. (Forthcoming). Kindergarten readiness in Illinois: Trends and disparities in readiness using the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS). Chicago, IL: Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC), Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois.
Start Early is pleased to introduce our Chicago Policy Agenda for 2024-2027. Chicago is positioned to make great strides toward a higher-quality, more equitable early care and learning system over the next three years and this policy agenda outlines key levers for achieving that kind of systems change.
Awareness of Chicago’s early learning issues among City leadership will be one of those key levers. After advocates in Chicago successfully garnered attention for early learning issues during the 2023 elections, Mayor Johnson outlined goals for early learning in his administration’s transition plan and has since embraced and revived the Every Child Ready Chicago initiative, which was launched under the Lightfoot administration just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The recently elected City Council has also seemingly made a renewed commitment to issues impacting Chicago’s young children with the revival of the Education and Child Development Committee, which now holds regular meetings under the leadership of Alderwoman Jeannette Taylor.
Leadership changes within Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have also resulted in continued commitments to early learning, including furthering the expansion of universal full-day pre-k for every four-year-old in Chicago. In addition to hiring a new CEO in 2021, CPS is facing an unprecedented expansion of their Board of Education over the next four years that will open opportunities to expand the Board’s expertise and further democratize the range of issues it considers.
As CPS receives increased funds from the state’s Early Childhood Block Grant under Governor Pritzker’s Smart Start plan, their leadership will need to contend with how to build on the progress that has been made to expand access to pre-k and do so in such a way that preserves and promotes equity within the mixed delivery system of school- and community-based early childhood education that gives families in Chicago the ability to choose the program that works best for their child. Doing so will require partnership with Chicago’s six federal Head Start grant recipients and the broader early childhood provider community in Chicago. Our hope is that this Chicago Policy Agenda will provide guidance on where to focus efforts and resources as the city embarks on this collaborative work.
Download the Chicago Policy Agenda
Resources
Watch the recording of our April 23, 2024 webinar linked below and explore resources to create more equitable and inclusive early childhood systems for young children with disabilities and delays and their families.
The data is clear. While all children benefit from high quality inclusive early learning opportunities, less than half of children with disabilities and developmental delays actually access inclusive early learning opportunities . For children of color, this data is worse. TheU.S. Department of Education (ED) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have a “renewed commitment and urgency” in supporting equity and inclusion for young children with disabilities and developmental delays in early childhood programs.
In response, we hosted a discussion to dive deeper into this issue with a focus on the role of policy advocates. Our federal agency partners from the Administration for Children and Families in HHS and the Office of Special Education Programs in ED shared the federal government’s vision for inclusion and the important role advocates play to advance a more inclusive early childhood system. We also heard from parents impacted by this issue, Danielle and Ebonii, who highlighted the importance of inclusion for their young children and elevated the disparities families face. Lastly, we reviewed key elements of the federal Policy Statement: Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs and discussed various ways advocates can push for inclusion. The discussion featured a story from our partners at Early Choices and the Governor’s Early Childhood Transition who, in collaboration with Start Early, are standing up a new early childhood agency. They shared a unique approach to advance an inside-outside systems change for inclusion. Check out the resources linked below for more information.
Start Early Consulting
Learn more about accessing tailored consulting from Start Early to advance a high-quality, equitable and inclusive early childhood system in your state or community.
Watch in English
Watch the recording of our webinar Moving the Needle: How States Can Support More Inclusive Early Childhood Systems.
Ver en Español
Mira la grabación de nuestro webinar Haciendo una Diferencia: Cómo los Estados Pueden Apoyar Sistemas de la Primera Infancia Más Inclusivos. Para ver este video en español, haga clic en el ícono “Configuración/Settings” en la parte inferior derecha del video, luego haga clic en “Audio”, y seleccione español. (To view this video in Spanish, please click the “Settings” icon on the bottom of the video, then click on “Audio”, and select español.)
Resources
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education, “All young children with disabilities should have access to high-quality inclusive early childhood programs that provide individualized and appropriate support so they can fully participate alongside their peers without disabilities, meet high expectations, and achieve their full potential.” The purpose of this paper is to describe how school districts around the country support inclusion in all settings including in community-based early learning programs using different models and to share their key considerations and lessons learned to inform more communities about how to make this critical shift.
Key Recommendations
As reiterated by the federal government, not only is inclusion a human right, it also supports positive outcomes for children with and without disabilities and developmental delays. However, inclusion is not yet a reality for many and inequities are pervasive. This report emphasizes that inclusion in all settings is possible, it describes different models of inclusion, and it highlights lessons learned and key considerations from other districts providing inclusive early childhood special education services in community-based early care and education settings.
The findings are as follows:
- Engage families as essential partners
- Develop a shared vision and increase leadership commitment
- Build relationships and connections
- Start slowly and intentionally
- Support collaborative professional learning and continuous improvement
- Increase resources for both early childhood special education services and community-based early care and education.
Contributors
Through just this one simple act you are bonding with your child, inspiring a love of reading—and are helping them develop strong early language and literacy skills that will become the foundation for their future learning and success. In fact, studies show that reading aloud is a primary driver of young children’s early language development.
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To help you and your child get the most out of your storytime while celebrating National Library Week at home, here are 12 early literacy tips from our early learning experts at Start Early and our Educare Chicago school:
- Start early. Reading to babies is important for healthy brain development and lays the foundation for language and writing skills.
- Make reading a part of your daily routine. Establishing a routine helps ensure that reading is part of your daily schedule, such as at naptime and bedtime. It also creates times during the day that both of you can look forward to.
- Try board and cloth books for babies. By age 1, babies can grab books. Board and cloth books are great options for babies who like to touch things and put everything in their mouths.
- Take turns with your toddler. By age 2, toddlers can hold a book and point at the pictures. Let your toddler turn the pages of a board book and respond to her when she points or reacts to the story.
- Ask your child questions. As you read to your child, make the experience interactive by asking him questions, such as “What do you think will happen next?” “What was your favorite part of the story? Why?”
- Reread your child’s favorite books. By age 3, children can complete sentences in familiar stories. Read her favorite books over and over to help her learn through repetition.
- Point out similar words. By age 4, children begin to recognize letters. You can point out words in a book that begin with the same letter to your preschooler to help him become familiar with the letter and begin to associate certain words with that letter.
- Count objects on the page. As you read to your child, count objects on the page together to help her also strengthen her early math skills.
- Have your preschooler tell you the story. By age 5, children can sit still for longer books and can create their own stories based on the pictures. Ask your preschooler to tell you the basic plot of the book or to make up stories based on what he sees on each page.
- Read with passion! Using inflection and maintaining the same highs and lows in your voice at the same point in a story helps your child begin to remember the words.
- Set an example. Let your child see you reading your books to help her develop her own love of reading.
- Just keep reading. Reading to your child helps him develop a habit of listening to stories and loving books. One the most important pieces of advice is to make sure you are reading to him early and often.
No matter how old your child is — from babies to toddlers to preschoolers — these tips will help you capitalize on this valuable time with your child, making reading a fun, educational and memorable experience for both of you.
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“One… two… three…” you say as you count your baby’s toys for them. Even though your baby can’t solve equations, let alone speak, they are building early math and language skills with each number they hear.
And you don’t need to stop at numbers — there are many early math concepts that you can introduce to your young child, simply through language, play and reading books.
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Here are some fun activity ideas to help introduce early math concepts to your child:
- Discover geometry: Shapes are a big part of geometry. Labeling different shapes — from squares to circles to stars — will help your child start to associate the words with the shapes, setting the early foundation of geometry. With toddlers and preschoolers, look at two- and three-dimensional shapes, so they can see how each object looks and functions. Blocks in different shapes are a great tool to use for this.
- Play with volume: If you cook in the kitchen, you are already using volume. For babies and toddlers, start by using words like teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, pint and quart while you are cooking to get them familiar with the terms. Preschoolers can help you measure out ingredients using measuring cups and spoons. You can play fun games that teach incremental volume: how many tablespoons does it take to fill a quarter cup? How many cups go into your quart measuring cup?
- Use comparisons: Many math lessons will involve word problems and comparisons as early as kindergarten. The more familiarity that your child has with comparison terms, the easier it will be for them to understand the word problems. You can create opportunities for your child to learn to compare by using toys of different sizes and words like more, less, lighter, heavier, bigger and smaller.
- See how tall they are: By the time they are preschoolers, most children become interested in how tall and how heavy they are. One idea to help talk about height is to chart their growth on a wall, showing how tall they are each year. For preschoolers, you can also begin to introduce units of measurement like inches and feet by helping your child use a ruler to measure how much they have grown.
- Reading books: Reading is an excellent way of introducing math language and concepts to your child. Books are a natural entry point that make learning math fun in the early years. Engaging your child in the math in storybooks build on their interest, discoveries and questions. Here are some great children’s book recommendations that are full of wonderful math concepts:
- More, Fewer, Less by Tana Hoban
- Uno, Dos, Tres / One, Two, Three by Pat Mora
- Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
- The Napping House by Audrey Wood
Through simple language and play, young children will start to learn essential early math and STEM skills. And remember, especially for babies and toddlers, just hearing these words early and often helps plant the seed for your future mathematician.
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While the idea of “history” may be outside the understanding of a very young child, we can still celebrate Women’s History Month with them by reading books together that celebrate the potential and achievements of girls and women.
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Young children are constantly learning about the world and what is possible for them. Themed history months offer a wonderful opportunity to take stock of your home or classroom library and ask yourself: am I presenting a rich view of the world? Am I offering children ideas and possibilities? Am I fostering a strong sense of self, and an openness towards difference? Books are windows and mirrors, they can reflect children’s own lives, and they can offer glimpses into the lives of others. Women’s History Month presents us with a wonderful opportunity to explore the infinite paths a child might choose to pursue, regardless of gender.
When you select a new book to read with your child, choose something you think you will also enjoy. Your enthusiasm will be catching! Look for books with features that appeal to young children’s imaginations—not too many words on each page, rhythmic or rhyming text and illustrations that invite wonder. The books below are chosen for their appealing texts, rich illustrations and simple—but not simplistic—concepts. While the titles are sorted by age, all the books for the youngest readers will work with preschool-aged children also, and some, (like I Am Enough,) are books you might want to read even without a small child at your side! A high-quality picture-book with beautiful illustrations works for every age, (including adults!) because images are texts that foster meaning-making.
Children’s Books to Read During Women’s History Month
Whether your child is a toddler, in pre-K or on their way to kindergarten, here are some great book recommendations from Anne-Marie Akin, our Educare Chicago librarian to read during this month and beyond:
Books recommended for infants:
- I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont
- Maya Angelou (Little People, Big Dreams) by Lisbeth Kaiser
- Frida: A Bilingual Counting Book by Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein
Books recommended for toddlers:
- A is for Awesome! 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World by Eva Chen
- I Am Enough by Grace Byers
- ABC What Can She Be? by Jessie Ford and Sugar Snap Studio
Books recommended for children in pre-K or kindergarten:
- Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise
- Like a Girl by Lori Degman
- Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed
- Women Artists A to Z by Melanie LaBarge
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The 2024 National Home Visiting Summit brought together over 1,300 systems leaders, researchers, practitioners, policy advocates, key partners and decision makers in a collaborative pursuit to advance the home visiting field and systems of care to increase service quality and improve child and family outcomes. Attendees joined in-person in Washington, D.C. and virtually from across the globe participated in workshops, communities of practice and plenary sessions that discussed issues facing the home visiting field today.
Intersectional Professionals: Integrating Lived Experience in the Workplace
This plenary explores the practicalities and promise of bringing lived experience into human services work. Participants are introduced to the Center for Behavioral Design & Social Justice; explore the concept of Intersectional Professionals (people with lived experience of the work they do); get an overview of research evidence examining the effects of lived experience on policy and program design; and learn a set of evidence-informed best practices for leveraging lived expertise in the workplace.
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Join our mailing list to learn more about the National Home Visiting Summit and to be notified when registration and call for proposal opens for the 2025 conference.
Parent-focused, Culturally Responsive Programming for Refugee and Displaced Populations
This plenary session focuses on international research conducted by Dr. Hirokazu Yoshikawa within the Middle East, Bangladesh, and Latin America and will outline learnings from developing, implementing, evaluating, and scaling culturally responsive early childhood programs with refugee, displaced and host community families. Each research project partnered with NGOs based in these regions, aimed to center the voices of the community, and created connections between families, community members, and early childhood professionals. Attendees will leave with information applicable to early childhood systems in the United States, including improved outcomes in program retention, father involvement, child social-emotional development and learning, parental mental health and well-being, and parenting/co-parenting skills.
Advancing Maternal Health Equity in the Era of Climate Change
Join Dr. Tyra Gross (PhD, MPH), Associate Professor of Public Health at Xavier University of Louisiana, for an exploration of the physical health, mental health, and cultural shifts that pregnant people will increasingly experience in years ahead as climate change progresses. Participants will be invited to envision their role – as home visitors and systems builders – in ensuring that home visiting services and systems reflect the lived experiences of those directly experiencing climate change as well as the latest research about its effects. Learn how home visitors and other birthworkers are already innovating and working to support clients and communities in building climate resiliency. Leveraging her experiences as a maternal and child health equity researcher, a partner to maternal health providers and advocates, and a mom, Dr. Gross urges the home visiting field to “answer the call” to climate action and adaptation. Dr. Gross will be joined in her presentation by RH Impact Senior Program Associate Zainab Jah.
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Community of Practice (CoP) posters from the 2024 National Home Visiting Summit are available below as a resource. These include a poster from the Advocacy & Policy CoP highlighting their work from the previous year, as well as posters from two Professional Development Project Teams on this year’s research projects.
Professional Development CoP
Career Pathways Posters
These posters represent the collaborative exploration of key issues related to career pathways for the home visiting workforce as studied by a project team comprised of members of the Community of Practice-Professional Development. A series of posters summarize an exploration of today’s challenges and identification of ways to make a difference at every level of the field to promote stabilization of a diverse workforce and career long engagement.
Professional Development CoP
Establishing Coaching Behaviors for Home Visitors
Start Early’s National Community of Practice (CoP) for Home Visitor Professional Development has developed and begun conducting an eDelphi study to conceptualize the behaviors and beliefs that comprise current approaches for coaching home visitors. This poster will present the survey as well as an overview of the study’s methods, progress, and expected benefits.
Advocacy & Policy CoP
This poster is intended to provide high-level information about the membership, activities, and key lessons learned from the National Home Visiting Summit Advocacy & Policy Community of Practice. This poster describes key advocacy strategies, public financing tools, and state home visiting policy wins as covered in the 2023 CoP cycle.