Early Childhood Education

Birth to Five

Quality early childhood learning and development set our future workforce on a trajectory to become successful, productive members of society. A powerful body of research shows that investing in quality early education is highly effective in increasing high school graduation and college attendance, decreasing crime, and building a stronger economy and middle class.

Chambers Invested in Early Childhood Education

• The Birmingham Business Alliance (Ala.) is a member of the Birmingham Pre-K Collaborative, a partnership of organizations committed to ensuring all children in the greater Birmingham area enter school ready to learn and thrive by increased access to high quality pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds.
• The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, the Main Line Chamber of Commerce (Pa.) and the African American Chamber of Commerce of PA, NJ & DE, and Pennsylvania businesses and military leaders are calling on state policymakers to put an additional $90 million towards quality pre-K, an investment they say will eventually help bridge a STEM workforce skills gap in the state. (June 2016)
• Nearly two-thirds of Pennsylvania eighth graders are not proficient in math and science and more than a quarter of students entering the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education require remedial education in math and English, according to STEM and Early Childhood - When Skills Take Root, a report released by Mission: Readiness and ReadyNation in June 2016.
• Chamber RVA (Va.) facilitates the Smart Beginnings Program in partnership with the Richmond United Way. The Program recently published a Regional Plan for Children’s School Readiness.
• The Conway Area Chamber of Commerce (Ark.) won an award for its commitment to pre-K education. The chamber is a founding partner of Arkansas Preschool Plus, an early childhood success collaborative and also hosts a fundraising festival that has contributed over $100,000 to local early childhood education initiatives.
• The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce (Ohio) serves as a founding partner in Ready Set Soar, a community collaborative that seeks to ensure all children are kindergarten-ready.
• The Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce (Ala.) aims to raise public awareness about the need for pre-kindergarten education through Morgan Starting Strong Pre-K, a community-wide initiative focused on expanding access to quality Pre-K programs.
• The chamber’s CEO penned a blog post titled Why the Chamber is Interested in Pre-K Education to further validate the chambers investment in early education.
• The chamber hosted a State of Pre-K address to inform members and community officials on the progress of Morgan Starting Strong Pre-K.
• The chamber's Starting Strong Pre-K initiative celebrates Gov. Robert Bentley’s announcement about the awarding of three new First Class Pre-Kindergarten program classrooms to communities in Morgan County.
• The Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation convenes business leaders from around the state through its Business Alliance for Early Learning. The Alliance serves as a forum for members to discuss and tackle a number of issues impacting children ages 0-8.
• The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce (Mo.) recently announced its Big 5 focus on Early Childhood Education, a community-wide kindergarten readiness initiative aimed at improving grade level reading proficiency.
• Kansas City Big 5: Building Kansas City’s Workforce of Tomorrow - video announcing announcing early childhood education as a pillar of Big 5.
• The Greenville Chamber (S.C.) was an advisory partner in Child Care GPS, a publication aimed at assisting parents in navigating through the childcare landscape and choosing a quality provider.

Early Childhood Education Resources

• The Business Case for Early Childhood Investments - by John Pepper, Chamber Executive magazine (Fall 2014)
• Committee for Economic Development (CED) Podcasts: Conversations on Advancing Early Learning - This podcast series examines how high-quality child care and pre-K programs are essential to the healthy development and school readiness of young children, and vital to the nation’s economy.
• First Five Years Fund provides talking points for why investment in early education matters.
• Fixing the Cracks in America’s Workforce Pipeline Through Investments in Early Childhood Development (PDF) - Actions and steps for "Starting Smart & Finishing Strong" from the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW); includes ways businesses can impact the economic future for our nation's children.
• The Heckman Equation is a powerful body of resources compiled by researcher James Heckman that is used to promote the value of investing in early childhood development. The Heckman Curve is a widely cited graph illustrating the ROI of childhood investment.
• The Ounce of Prevention Fund seeks to ensure that all children have quality early childhood experiences in the crucial first five years of life.
• Birth to College Collaborative Toolkit provides support to collaborative efforts engaged in early childhood and K-12 alignment. Resources include downloadable case studies, template meeting agendas, sample action plans, and a comprehensive database of reference materials to help make the case.
• Ready by 21 increases the capacity of leaders to achieve collective impact for children and youth by providing standards, proven tools and solutions, and ways to measure and track success.
• ReadyNation is a business organization that supports executives to advocate for improving the economy through effective state and federal investments in children and youth.

Webinars & ACCE U Resources

• Healthy Employees, Healthy Communities, Healthy Economy - Webinar presented to the EAD Council
• Traverse City Great Start Collaborative - highlights the Traverse City Chamber's vision for childhood wellbeing and its investment in early health as indicator of economic success. Presented by Mary Manner, Traverse City Chamber
• Culture of Health outlines how Greater Spokane Incorporated and its affiliate, Priority Spokane, forged community partnerships in support of health and education for Spokane's future workforce. Presented by Alisha Benson, Greater Spokane Incorporated, and Alisa May, Priority Spokane
• Invest Early and Often: The Economic Case for Early Childhood Education - ACCE University webinar (free) and presentation slides.

Related Chamberpedia Pages

• Early Childhood Policy
• Health and Wellness Resources and the Ready to Learn section

Please email Alysia Bell at abell@acce.org or Michelle Vegliante at mvegliante@acce.org to learn more about early childhood education/birth to five resources.

To highlight your organization's work, please submit a sample here. For more information about the Education Attainment Division, visit www.acce.org/ead or email ead@acce.org.


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Last Updated: 10/9/2017