HEAD START, PRE-K AND PRIVATE PRESCHOOL TEACHERS AIDED

December 16, 2003

DECEMBER 16, 2003 Four educators get incentive grants to stay in early childhood ed

This quarter, Smart Start Georgia?s INCENTIVE$ program granted four eligible early childhood teachers, directors and family child care providers in Lamar County $1,700 to help foster quality early learning for children in the community.

Through INCENTIVE$, Smart Start Georgia rewards early care and education professionals for continuing their work in their current setting and increasing their levels of education. By supplementing teacher salaries, the program encourages those who work directly with young children to stay in the field and continue to gain knowledge and refine their skills.

"Smart Start Georgia strives to foster quality early learning experiences so that each child in Georgia is ready to succeed by the time he or she enters kindergarten," said director Sharen Hausmann. ?We encourage early learning providers to achieve higher levels of education which in turn helps our children achieve future successes in life."

Research from the National Center for the Early Childhood Work Force shows that every year 40% of child care workers leave their jobs. This turnover has a detrimental effect on children during the critical formative years up to age 3. Programs such as INCENTIVE$ have helped Georgia achieve a low 9% turnover rate among recipients.

Statewide, 2,040 early learning professionals in 124 Georgia counties collectively received nearly $1 million dollars from the program this quarter. Of those, 288 recipients are at Head Start centers and 726 are at Office of School Readiness pre-kindergarten centers.

Since its inception in April 2001, INCENTIVE$ has distributed nearly $3.5 million to more than 2,000 recipients in 124 Georgia counties. It helps professionals throughout the state but young children reap the rewards of its long-lasting impact.

?Research shows children who experience quality early learning are less likely to drop out of school, repeat grades, need special education, or get into future trouble with the law than similar children who didn?t have such exposure,? said Marsha Moore, executive director of the OSR. ?Initiatives such as this help promote high-quality, stable learning environments needed for children to succeed later in life.?

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, those who experience high-quality, stable child care engage in more complex play, demonstrate more secure attachments to adults and other children, and score higher on the measures of thinking ability and language development.

Smart Start Georgia, previously known as the Georgia Early Learning Initiative, aims to create and implement innovative programs and outreach initiatives to improve the quality of early care and education for all Georgia children ages birth through five, promoting lifetime learning and ensuring greater achievement throughout the child's education and beyond. It is a public/private partnership of Georgia, the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, United Ways of Georgia, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and more than 40 additional supporting organizations. 

â?? This article posted with permission from The Herald-Gazette.