Closing the gap: How the Early Learning Challenge can advance education reform
Nina Rees
Elanna Yalow
Can $500 million invested in 20 million of America’s youngest learners help close the achievement gap? That is the aim of the new Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, the Obama administration’s first competitive grant targeted to improving the quality of early learning programs for children under age 5. While the dollar amount for the Early Learning Challenge competition is modest compared to the $4.3 billion K-12 Race to the Top fund, it has the potential to change the trajectory of education reform in the United States.
Why is the Early Learning Challenge significant far beyond its $500 million in funding? Most importantly, the competition takes aim at the achievement gap by giving states incentives—rather than sticks—to change the way they do business. From the list of 36 states that have indicated their
