Progress Report on Early Start Act Released

The Department of Early Learning (DEL) has released its first annual progress report following the passage of the Early Start Act in July 2015.

The report is a comprehensive view of how the Early Start Act will enhance school readiness for Washington’s youngest learners. The act, which has garnered bi-partisan support in the state legislature and national recognition by former secretary of education, Arne Duncan, has developed key, achievable targets that will increase access to high quality early learning opportunities for all children.

The report was prepared by the Department of Early Learning in collaboration with Child Care Aware of Washington and the Early Achievers Review Subcommittee of the Early Learning Advisory Council.

Governor Inslee signs
the Early Start Act on July 6, 2015

“As a signatory of the bill that created the Early Start Act, I’m proud and excited to be able to sign on to this, the first formal report of DEL’s progress towards implementing the ESA,” said DEL Director Ross Hunter.

Director Hunter included ambitious goals to be implemented by the Department of Early Learning in the coming years. These goals are for:

• Ninety percent of the children DEL serves are “Kindergarten ready” by 2020 and
• To eliminate race as a predictor of “Kindergarten readiness” by 2020.

The report features data and demographic information about Washington children of various age and race in regard to their development and “Kindergarten readiness.”

You can also find information about the demographics of the state's littlest learners and information about "Kindergarten readiness," as seen in the graph below.

Part of DEL's initiative to improve quality revolves around participation in the state's quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) - Early Achievers. Within the report, you can find data on Early Achiever participation (chart below). 

To view the full report, please visit del.wa.gov/government/EarlyStartAct or search “Early Start Act” on DEL’s website.