Target: Ready for the Common Core and Arizona’s Future Workforce

1. Target: Ready for the Common Core and Arizona’s Future Workforce Building the Foundation for Success Through a Strong Birth to 8 System

2. Workforce Challenges • More than 50% of current high school students lack the written, verbal, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills employers need. • Twenty percent (20%) of today’s workforce is functionally illiterate. • By 2020, analysts predict that the majority of available jobs will require skilled labor, even as fewer and fewer skilled workers enter the job market. Meeting workforce needs today and in the future…

3. College and Career Ready Students • Demonstrate independence • Have strong content knowledge • Respond to varying demands of audience, task and purpose • Comprehend as well as critique • Understand other perspectives and cultures • Use technology and digital media strategically and capably • Lead with confidence Our Aspiration…

4. Arizona’s Common Core Standards Focus: • Real World Application • In-depth Content Learning • Relevant to College and Career • Consistent Learning Targets Skills: • Critical Thinking • Problem Solving • Effective Communication Skills Our Method

5. Strong System(s) that Support Children from Birth through Age 8 Our Foundation

6. State Education Status 2011 State Education Goals 2020 Increase to 94% the number of 3rd graders reading at or near grade level. (ADE Statewide Literacy Plan) Implementation of Move on When Reading Legislation 2013-2014 Full implementation of Common Core (2013-2014) and new assessment (2014-2015) • AIMS 2011: • Reading: 77% of third graders at or near grade level. • Math: 68% of third graders at or near grade level. The children who are tasked with meeting the state 2020 education goal are being born NOW! The opportunity is TODAY to ensure their success! The URGENCY to ACT

7. Why Birth to Age 8? An Introduction…

8. Students who cannot read by the end of 3rd grade (age 8) are four times more likely to drop out of high school. • 88% of students who failed to earn a high school diploma were struggling readers in 3rd grade. Why Birth to Age 8?

9. What Happens Early Matters Most 80% of a child’s critical brain development happens by age 3, and about 90% by age 5. Early advantages accumulate; so do early disadvantages. Resource:http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/threecore_concepts/brain_architecture/ Why Birth to Age 8?

10. Early Learning Predictors: High Quality Early Education Why Birth to Age 8?

11. Early Grade Predictors Why Birth to Age 8?

12. Return on Investment Every $1 invested in quality early education saves $7 dollars in special education, public assistance and lost taxes. The rate of return for quality early childhood education is 10% per year. http://www.heckmanequation.org/content/resource/why-early-investment-matters Long-Term Benefits of 0-8 Why Birth to Age 8?

13. Return on Investment of Early Childhood Education Studies show early learning influences long-term success: Special Education Costs School Success Grade Repetition Graduation Crime Workforce Readiness Teen Parents Job Productivity Welfare Dependency Community Engagement Job Training Costs Competitive Arizona Sources: Schweinhart, 2005; Bruner, 2003 Slide from Nebraska’s Early Childhood Business Roundtable

14. Arizona Context AZ’s Children and System Status

15. Arizona’s Children 0-8

16. Implications of Poverty – Achievement Gap Starts Early 1,116 words (Children inprofessional families) 749 words (Children in working class families) 525 words (Children inwelfare families) Graph adapted from Hart, B. & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful Difference in the Everyday Experiences of Young Children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. Researchers grouped children into three socioeconomic status groups based on occupation: “Professional” “Working Class” and “Welfare”. Groups strongly correlated with parents education levels and family income.

17. Creation of First Things First, a dedicated, voter approved funding source for young children. FTF is funding many key programs/projects to support and enhance the early childhood system. • Implementation of a system to improve the quality of child care/early learning programs (Quality First). • Statewide literacy Initiative, READ ON Arizona, developing a community-based collaborative approach to create a continuum of supports to improve literacy outcomes for young children. • Arizona has secured some federal and philanthropic support to expand critical programs. • Governor’s Arizona Ready Council is integrating early learning as a component of 2020 goals. Progress to Date in AZ

18. Scale: Access to High Quality Early Learning Experiences • Arizona ranks 49th in the nation on the percentage of children ages 3 to 5 that attend early education/ preschool. • Data from NIEER shows decline in funding in recent years. • https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0ApWD2cb39EW9dGZLZDZjSG5PcnlIVXlCT0l6UzJ0OEE&output=html The Challenges

19. The Challenges

20. Linking and Strengthening Systems • Develop culture/infrastructure that supports early childhood as part of Arizona’s education continuum • Protect/expand/leverage resources allocated for proven 0-8 practices • Expand to scale high quality early care and education programs for children and families • Support capacity building/professional development for birth to 8 educators/ providers • Leverage support and position AZ to benefit from potential federal/national early learning resources. Arizona’s Opportunities

21. “If anyone is talking about education, birth to age 8 should be a part of the conversation.” • Educate your colleagues about the importance of birth to 8 • Stay apprised of policies and legislation impacting young children at the federal, state and local level • Schedule an informational visit with a legislator • Write, talk and question candidates for office • Write an opinion piece for the local paper • Share Your VOICE and INFLUENCE for Arizona’s children Next Steps – What You Can Do

22. BUILD Arizona Membership • Arizona Business Education Coalition (ABEC) • EMPACT • DMB Associates Inc. • Raising Special Kids • Family Involvement Center • Southwest Human Development • Winslow and Partners • AZ-NAEYC • Central Arizona College • University of Arizona • Arizona Department of Education/Head Start State Collaboration • Arizona Child Care Association • Governor’s Office of Education Innovation – AZ Ready • City of Phoenix • State Board for Charter Schools • AZ Hispanic Chamber of Commerce • Expect More Arizona • Association for Supportive Child Care • Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust • Steele Family Foundation • Department of Economic Security • Maricopa County Department of Public Health • AHCCCS • AZ-Academy of Pediatrics/Best Care for Kids AZ • Arizona Department of Health Services • Children’s Action Alliance • READ ON Arizona • Greater Phoenix Leadership • Bank of America Merill Lynch • First Things First • United Ways (Tucson, Maricopa, Flagstaff, Yuma) • Tucson Unified School District • Univision 33, Telefutura Phoenix • Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Foundation • Balsz School District • Flagstaff Unified School District • Arizona Community Foundation • Helios Education Foundation • Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce • Desert Schools Federal Credit Union BUILD Arizona is a coalition of children’s champions who are working together to enhance opportunities for all young children in Arizona. We are business leaders, nonprofit executives, public sector representatives, educators, health and other practitioners working toward making and keeping Arizona competitive in the years ahead.