Banner ad


Home

Universal Preschool Advisors Brainstorm New Research and Evaluation Strategies

March 10, 2006
 		 Printer-friendly version
What are the most effective ways to prepare children for kindergarten? How do we measure preschoolers' progress in programs? What would success look like?  These are some of the dozens of questions that the Universal Preschool Research Advisory Committee (RAC) wrestled with at its inaugural meeting in Los Angeles this week.

Composed of 20 of the nation's top early childhood research and evaluation experts, the RAC was convened by First 5 LA and Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) to develop leading-edge evaluation strategies for the most ambitious, and what will eventually be the largest, preschool program in the country.

LAUP is an independent nonprofit organization created in 2004 and funded by First 5 LA to implement the Universal Preschool Master Plan in Los Angeles County.  First 5 LA has committed $600 million over five years to LAUP to ensure that universal preschool gets off to a smooth start.  By 2014, LAUP-supported preschools will serve more than 100,000 4-year-olds in Los Angeles County.

"We were impressed to see how much research and evaluation has already been done prior to and in the first year of  this program," said John Love, Ph.D., RAC co-chair and a senior fellow at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. "Our committee got a good start in developing strategies for both the short and long-term."

RAC members formed eight working groups, which will develop advice on specific issues, such as child assessment measures and language/culture challenges.  The full RAC will meet again in Los Angeles this fall to further enlarge and refine its recommendations to First 5 LA and LAUP.  

First 5 LA is a unique child-advocacy organization created by California voters to invest tobacco tax revenues in programs for improving the lives of children in Los Angeles County, from prenatal through age 5. First 5 LA champions health, education and safety causes concerning young children and families.

Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) is an independent non-profit corporation created in 2004 and funded by First 5 LA. LAUP is guided by a 10-year plan to make high-quality, voluntary preschool accessible to every 4-year old in Los Angeles County, regardless of their family's income. For more information about LAUP, visit www.laup.net.