Observational studies of early childhood and early elementary classrooms find that educators often do not spend enough time on mathematics instruction, do not use quality instructional methods, and do not teach appropriately challenging material. Not surprisingly, U.S. students fare poorly on national and international mathematics assessments in early grades and beyond. Those findings point to the need for greater attention to state policy strategies that can improve early mathematics education and yield long-term improvements in the skills of the U.S. workforce. As part of their larger education reform agendas, governors can lead the move to strengthen early mathematics education through three actions: Become a champion for improvements in the quality of early mathematics education with legislators, business leaders, educators, parents, and students; Align high-quality mathematics standards through the educational pipeline (from early education through high school), and support appropriate use of student assessment to measure results; Promote changes in policies to improve educator preparation and support their capacity to teach mathematics to young children. (author abstract)