Delaware won a $4.2 million federal grant to strengthen its early childhood system.
The grant will help the state better prepare children from all backgrounds to enter kindergarten ready to learn and will improve their transition between early childhood programs and the K-12 system, according to a release from the state Department of Education.
The Delaware Department of Education’s Office of Early Learning – in partnership with the Governor’s Office and other state agencies – applied for the one-year Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5).
The grant will fund a needs assessment and creation of a strategic plan focused on four priorities:
- Coordinated services for children birth through age 5 and their families
- Integration of data to influence early childhood policy decisions
- Tools to foster family knowledge-building and choice
- Professional learning across sectors using a shared whole-child development language
“This grant will help us improve the design of our early childhood system to help all children receive the highest quality early learning experiences and be ready for a successful transition to kindergarten,” Gov. John Carney said.
“Delaware must understand the experiences of families as well as early childhood professionals as they navigate our current system, which crosses state agencies and the public and private sectors,” Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said. “This needs assessment will allow subsequent policy and process solutions to be grounded in an analysis of the true needs of Delaware’s children and families.”
Improved early childhood education is widely viewed as a key to improving academic performance in later grades.