The Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition (TECEC) along with other educational partners hosted an early childhood summit across Texas on May 4th. The Texas School Ready! Summit brought together early education thought-leaders, policymakers, and researchers to highlight achievements, explore current issues, and raise awareness of many of the wonderful school readiness efforts & partnerships formed in local communities throughout Texas. Summit participants were able to view the event in their community as the summit was hosted at KLRU studios in Austin, Texas and could be viewed through a free live webcast.
Summit Speakers included:
• Chairman Mark Strama, Texas House of Representatives
• Robert Scott, Texas Education Agency, Commissioner
• Dr. Grover “Russ” Whitehurst, Brookings Institution
• Dr. Bob Pianta, Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning
• Dr. Bruce Fuller, University of California at Berkeley
• Dr. John W. Gasko, Children’s Learning Institute
• Kara Johnson, Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition
Supporters of early education point to numerous benefits of pre-k programs including the reduction of child abuse and neglect. “High-quality early education is one creative method that has been proven to reduce the rates of child abuse and neglect,” Kara Johnson, Executive Director of the TECEC, stated, “Even better, these programs have been proven to help all parents improve their parenting skills and interact more positively with their children.”
TECEC, Children’s Learning Institute, Child Care Associates, Texas Education Agency, and Texas PBS partnered together to bring “The State of School Readiness” into local Texas communities.