The early learning world is full of shiny new studies, proposals and expanding ambition. But Washington State’s own city of Bremerton offers a reminder that success is often built on what exists in child care and preschools rather than on completely new models and mindsets.

The Bremerton School District has made stunning progress getting kids ready for kindergarten. The percentage of kindergarten students requiring specialized services has dropped to 2 percent from 12 percent, while the percentage of first grade students able to read at their grade level has jumped to 73 percent from 52 percent, according to Public School Insights.

Bremerton’s story may be known to some, but what isn’t as well known but arguably much more important is its 5,500-student school district scored these successes by working with what many schools and teachers were already doing, Insights reports.

 “So instead of saying we need to go do our own preschool, we got our partners together to look at the data and ask what we could do about this. And we made an effort to say we want to increase the quality and services for children in all preschools in Bremerton, not just in special ed or blended preschools. So instead of reaching a few kids, we now reach 570 kids before they come into kindergarten,” Linda Sullivan-Dudzic, the Bremerton School District’s head of special programs told Public School Insights in a question and answer.  “We wanted to value what people were already doing. If you have a childcare in Bremerton or a preschool and you feed into our schools, we wanted to support you.”

Check out the extensive interview. It is well worth reading.

Bremerton’s success also offers hope to the rest of Washington because one of its architects, Bette Hyde, is now one of the leaders building a statewide early learning plan as head of the Department of Early Learning.

Vaccination News: Despite the apparent hysteria over vaccine safety, more U.S. kids received all of their shots in 2008, the Centers for Disease Control found in a new study, Reuters reports.

Washington State News

• Ready by Five secures $50,000 grant – 10/8/09, Yakima Herald-Republic
• Teachers Come to Bremerton to Study Early Learning – 10/7/09, Kitsap Sun
• Letter to the Editor: Professional preschool staff a true godsend – 10/3/09, Everett Herald

National News

• Opinion: Fund Early Learning Education – 10/7/09, Forbes Magazine
  

Policy

• After school programs and early childhood: Lessons from a changing landscape  – 10/8/09, Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media Blog: Early Stories
• Early Education Program Growth + Waiting Lists = Mixed Results – 10/7/09, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
• Very Early Learning: Ways to Reach the Littlest Learners – 10/5/09, Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media Blog: Early Stories

Washington State News

• Early learning meetings wrap up Thursday – 9/23/09, Walla Walla Union Bulletin
• U.S. Senate OKs Funding for Two Bremerton Projects – 9/21/09, The Kitsap Sun

National News

• Early Childhood Investment and the Private Sector – 9/9/09, BusinessWeek
• Fixing Our Broken Economy – 9/24/09, Telluride Watch (CO)
• Editorial: Doing more than talk about putting kids first – 9/20/09, The Oklahoman (OK)
  
• Fighting for an Early Edge – 9/19/09, The Times-Picayune (LA)
• Don't quit on kids to balance state budget – 9/22/09, The Detroit News (MI)
• Initiative Focuses on Early Learning Programs – 9/19/09, The New York Times
• Atlanta poised to lead early learning – 9/18/09, The Atlanta Journal Constitution (GA)
• State preschool expansion boosts grade – 9/21/09, The Oregonian

Policy

• New Analysis Points to Size of Early Literacy Gap – 9/21/09, The New American Foundation: The Early Ed Watch Blog

I didn’t have to look far for today’s news because Bremerton, Wash., is gaining national kudos for its early learning success, including its ability to integrate pre-k and kindergarten.

Bremerton’s strategy is both simple and comprehensive. It crafted partnerships with the region’s preschools, child care providers and Head Start centers, according to Public School Insights, and narrowed the achievement gap.

The results were impressive.  The percentage of kindergarten students who knew the alphabet jumped from 4 percent to more than 50 percent over the last seven years, the Web site said. (Read Insights for the full story.)

But, the bigger news is that last month Gov. Christine Gregoire asked former Bremerton school chief Bette Hyde, now head of the state’s Department of Early Learning, to work on a plan to ensure all Washington children have access to quality learning as they prepare for kindergarten, and her letter includes a call to include community groups and non-profits.

“I am asking you to work on a proposal about the state’s role in providing early learning opportunities to all children birth to five, their families, early learning caregivers and educators. I believe children should have early learning opportunities from birth,” Gov. Gregoire wrote in the letter sent to Hyde and Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn in June.

Since she picked Hyde only four months before sending the letter, it’s obvious she wants Hyde to draw on her experience and success in Bremerton.

It is also clear Gov. Gregoire isn’t wasting much time. She wants Hyde and Dorn to send her a plan by December 1.

Finally, for budget hawks out there, Bremerton’s success offers another lesson in the economics of early learning.

According to [Linda] Sullivan-Dudzic [Bremerton School District’s director of Special Programs], while a set of curriculum materials costs the school district $2,000, the district saves $2,500 for every kindergartener who does not need remedial reading services. “All I need is one kid coming out of that preschool who does not need remedial help to make up that first year’s investment,” she says. – Public School Insights, Jan. 13, 2009.

(Thanks Early Ed Watch Blog for picking up this news and Public School Insight for covering the developments.)