As part of President George W. Bush's commitment to strengthening the nation's early childhood education programs, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced in April two new projects to support early childhood educators and recognize exemplary early childhood education initiatives across the country.

Throughout this year the secretary will host regional Early Childhood Educator Academies to share research on early childhood cognitive development and spotlight practices for state and local pre-kindergarten administrators that are based on that knowledge.

In addition, the Education Department will sponsor an annual Sunshine Schools and Initiatives recognition program that, for the first time, will draw attention to highly effective state and local preschool programs and initiatives.

The early childhood educator academies will feature researchers and experts on early childhood cognitive development and educators who have designed high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. Participants will learn about:

• Developmentally appropriate strategies and approaches based on scientific research;
• Programs that promote cognitive development, pre-reading and numeracy skills and language acquisition;
• Instructional leadership and creative partnering;
• Intensive, systematic and high-quality professional development; and
• Techniques for screening and gathering data to ensure success for all children.

Under the Sunshine Schools program, the Department will recognize and share information on model programs that demonstrate the following:

• The use of approaches and strategies based on scientific research;
• Attention to all areas of development, including cognitive development, school readiness, and social and emotional development;
• Explicit preparation so that children will meet state content and performance standards once they enter formal schooling;
• Strong continuity between early childhood programs and the K-3 education system;
• Intensive, systematic and high-quality professional development;
• Creative partnering with corporate and community-based organizations for maximum utilization of financial resources and support;
• Unique efforts to use multiple government funding streams in highly cost-effective ways;
• Results that measure learning and growth in valid and reliable ways; and
• Screening to identify those at risk for academic difficulties.

In early April, the president announced a new early childhood initiative called "Good Start, Grow Start" to help States and local communities strengthen early learning for young children. As part of this effort, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will develop a new accountability system for Head Start to ensure that every Head Start center assesses standards of learning in early literacy, language and numeracy skills. HHS will also implement a national program with the goal of training nearly 50,000 Head Start teachers in early literacy teaching techniques.

President Bush also introduced a new guide, Teaching Our Youngest, a publication of the Early Childhood-Head Start Task Force, which was formed following last July's White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development. The guide focuses on the important role preschool teachers and child-care and family providers play in the lives of young children and provides concrete examples for caregivers to use in their daily interactions with children.

For a schedule of upcoming academies and more information on these projects, visit http://www.ed.gov or call 1-800-USA-LEARN.