Louisiana’s increased focus and investment in early childhood education appear to be yielding high dividends, according to a study released today by Education Weekly.
As The News-Star of Monroe reports, Louisiana is ranked No. 4 in the nation in the Quality Counts study, behind the District of Columbia, Hawaii and Mississippi, for the success of its early childhood efforts.
The Quality Counts report rates each state in eight areas of early childhood education; those areas include preschool enrollment, preschool enrollment gains, preschool poverty gaps, preschool poverty gap changes, full-day preschool, Head Start enrollment, kindergarten enrollment and full-day kindergarten.
In Louisiana, 51.2% of 3- and 4-year-olds were enrolled in preschool programs in 2013, with 75% of those enrolled in full-day preschools. Of the 78% of kindergarteners enrolled in school, 92% attended full-day programs, the report says.
While Louisiana scored a B-minus overall, the national average score was D-plus.
Maureen Gallagher, Coalition for Northeast Louisiana early childhood director, credits the passage of an early childhood education law by the 2012 Louisiana Legislature with propelling the state toward a more unified early childhood education system under the state Department of Education.
“This has put the onus on local communities to look at the services we have available in communities and to look for ways to fill gaps in those services to provide for as many children as possible in quality early childhood education programs,” she says
Although early childhood education was the special focus of this year’s study, Quality Counts also ranked states in three other areas of education. Louisiana ranked 44th overall in the nation with an average score of 68.5 points for the three remaining categories: chance of success, school finance and K-12 achievement. Read the full story.
