Arkansas Prekindergarten Research Alliance, REL Southwest
This research alliance brings together early childhood educators, policymakers, researchers, and other interested stakeholders to examine the needs of early childhood education programs in Arkansas. The alliance seeks to increase state and local capacity to use data to plan, support, and monitor critical factors that affect programs, enrollment in preK, educator quality, and programmatic policy decisions.
Bridge Event: Unlocking Key Challenges Facing Arkansas' Schools, September 14, 2016
Bridge Event: Preschool to Kindergarten: Successfully Navigating the Transition, August 2, 2016
Bridge Event: Teaching Math to Young Children Practice Guide: Hands-On Workshop, November 16, 2015
Bridge Event: Teaching Math to Young Children Practice Guide: Introduction, April 15, 2015
Bridge Event: Engaging Families in the Assessment Process and Use of Data: An Early Childhood Example (Cohosted with REL Northeast & Islands), August 12, 2014
Bridge Event: Building Early Childhood Data Systems, April 17, 2014
Other Alliance Work:
Workshop: Maintaining Quality Control in Data Requests and Responses, April 9, 2015
Workshop: Using Arkansas Data to Support Data-Driven Practices, September 11, 2014
Workshop: Framing Your Research Agenda Using a Research Continuum, October 29, 2013
Research Questions:
- Data Availability and Use
- What extant data relevant to prekindergarten programs in Arkansas are available at the federal, state, and local levels to help the Arkansas Prekindergarten Research Alliance members focus their research agenda and inform their study designs? And what are the gaps in the existing data?
- Program Quality
- What is known about the characteristics, preparation, certification, and licensure of effective prekindergarten teachers?
- What is the relationship between participation in a high-quality birth-five program and student outcomes in kindergarten through grade 3?
- Program Participation and Student Success
- What proportion of 3- and 4-year-olds who are eligible to participate in early childhood education in Arkansas participate in a state-funded Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) preK program? To what extent have ABC preK participation rates changed over the last five years?
- To what extent do ABC preK program participation rates vary by geographic region?
- To what extent are students enrolled in high-quality early childhood programs as measured by the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS)?
Geographical Areas Served:
Arkansas
Member Organizations:
- Arkansas Bureau of Legislative Research
- Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education
- Arkansas Head Start Association
- Arkansas Research Center
- Booneville School District
- Cross County Schools
- Crowley's Ridge Educational Service Cooperative
- North Little Rock School District
- Paragould School District
- Rogers Public Schools
- Russellville Public Schools
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Contact Information:
Janice Keizer, MA Ed
Alliance Liaison
jkeizer@air.org
(800) 476-6861, ext. 6552
External Website
http://relsouthwest.sedl.org/research-alliances/arkansas_prek.html