School Ready: changing early learning in Washington state

The goal of this series is to examine why Washington is behind in providing quality childcare and the consequences in terms of children's school readiness.

Part One of this series looks at why Washington is behind in the funding and quality of its early learning programs. It also looks at the potential of upcoming announcements by the state and the Gates Foundation to bring change.
Part Two examines the funding structure of childcare, and the potential of a new quality rating system to improve the funding structure as well as the quality of early learning programs.
Part Three looks at new attempts to reach young children cared for informally by family and friends, and to teach their caregivers about child development. Poor children rely disproportionately on these caregivers.