Description:
This report documents the need for dual-generation strategies to provide high-quality early educational experiences spanning the PreK-3rd years for poor, low-education families, to assure strong educational outcomes and upward economic mobility--necessary to fulfill the promise that all Americans who work hard and play by the rules have the right to a decent life for themselves and their children. The report begins by briefly describing an innovative, comprehensive dual-generation strategy with three tightly linked components: (1) high-quality early childhood (PreK-3rd) education, (2) sectoral job training leading to a certificate, credential, or degree for high-wage/high-demand jobs, and (3) wraparound family and peer support services. Then the report presents results from the first-ever analysis of 13 economic, education, and health indicators, which highlight the urgent need for comprehensive dual-generation strategies by focusing on the enormous disparities in well-being experienced by children with four different levels of mother's education: (1) mother has not graduated from high school, (2) mother is a high school graduate, (3) mother has completed some college, or (4) mother has completed a bachelor degree. Turning to policy structures to support dual-generation strategies, the report summarizes the national economic, education, and health picture for children with mothers who have not graduated from high school and presents four key indicators for these children for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia: the rates of (1) secure parental employment, (2) child poverty, (3) reading proficiency, and (4) mathematics proficiency. Finally, this report presents changes in federal and state policies that could foster the development and implementation of effective dual-generation strategies throughout the nation. (author abstract)
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