Each Child. Every Community.

Step Up and Act for Children event highlights the needs of North Carolina's children and calls on lawmakers to invest in children. Advocates, parents, children, service providers and concerned community members will call on lawmakers at the local, state and...

Each week during the month of October, First Focus will release a selection of papers from its new series entitled, Big Ideas: Game-Changers for Children. In an effort to generate new and innovative ideas to improve child well-being in the...

Governor Jim Hunt participated in NBC's Education Nation panel, A Fresh Start: Leveling the playing field before school begins. "I'm proud of Smart Start which begins at birth," the Governor emphasized! (We are too!) Education  Nation noted, "The Federal government invests...

Smart Start featured in U.S. Chamber of Commerce report! From the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website: "Ready, Set, Go! Why Business Should Support Early Childhood Education,” sheds light on the tremendous impact that early childhood education has on the national economic security and the...

The Washington Post just completed a week-long series on early childhood issues. Dylan Matthews, a student at Harvard and a researcher at The Washington Post, interviews some of the leading national early childhood policy experts, including: Danielle Ewen, director of child...

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education announced the Investing in Innovation Fund (I3) recipients. According to the Department, "A cross-section of 49 school districts, nonprofit education organizations and institutions of higher education have been selected from among nearly 1,700...

A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) released last year, ranks the U.S. the fourth worst in infant mortality rates among 30 member countries in the OECD.  The report also ranked the U.S.: 23rd in material well-being, 25th...

The Obama Administration's blueprint for revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) includes supporting early learning. The report begins with this quote: "It will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a...

In addition to leading The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., Stephanie Fanjul is the new president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Her first column in NAEYC's magazine, Young Children, looks at how progress in...

Governor Bev Perdue has announced the creation of the North Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC). The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 required governors to designate or establish a State Advisory Council on Early Childhood...