California Supt. of Education Jack O’Connell to Address Value of Learning Pre-K
Los Angeles – Superintendents and school board members from all 81 school districts in Los Angeles County today will convene in downtown Los Angeles to discuss the importance of school readiness. The goal of the gathering – entitled, "2005 L.A. County School Leaders Summit: Raising Student Achievement by Investing in School Readiness"– is to impress upon school leaders the value of school readiness programs to the success of their future students K-12.
The School Leaders Summit, funded by First 5 LA and hosted by Children’s Planning Council, will also provide district administrators with practical tools and strategies to create school readiness programs, at a time of increasing performance demands and tightening budgets in Los Angeles public schools. Early learning advocate, State Superintendent Jack O’Connell, is keynote speaker.
"School readiness,"a concept first developed in 1989 at the National Education Summit to denote the need for young children to be prepared for formal education before entering kindergarten, has since expanded in meaning to reflect the many aspects of the lives of pre-kindergarten children that contribute to their ability to succeed in school – such as early learning, health, economic and safety issues.
First 5 LA has invested $67 million in its School Readiness Initiative, which allocates funds to early learning programs in LA County that also address the needs of young children and their families in the areas of health care, parent literacy, economic viability and parenting training. The School Readiness Initiative is one of a number of programs implemented by First 5 LA to promote the value of early learning for children 5 years and under, during the years when children’s brains are developing the most. Since 1998, First 5 LA has provided more than 100,000 children in L.A. County with some form of quality early education, and has promoted the value of early learning through a variety of means. |
