Statewide Early Childhood Needs Assessment Completed and Community Meetings for the New Strategic Plan in Full Swing

Posted 1-29-20

A Needs Assessment of Alaska’s Mixed-Delivery System of Early Childhood Care and Education has been completed by McDowell Group for AASB. After final approval by the Alaska Dept. of Education and Early Development (DEED) and federal funders it will be posted, publicized and widely distributed. The needs assessment was coordinated by AASB with funding from the federal Preschool Development Grant B-5 (PDG) awarded to DEED.

A new statewide early childhood strategic plan, also coordinated by AASB with PDG funding from DEED, is well underway and is based largely on data and considerations from the needs assessment. Denali Daniels + Associates (DDA) of Anchorage and Juneau has designed and facilitated a number of meetings around the state with the Early Childhood Joint Task Force, AASB members, the ad hoc Kindergarten Ready Network in Anchorage and families and early childhood professionals in Kodiak to create the framework and goals of the plan. Parents, families and early childhood educators around the state will build on that framework in February. Meetings are scheduled so far in Bethel on 2/4, Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children-Anchorage on 2/6 and 2/7, and Kotzebue on 2/10. In addition, an Interior community and one in Southeast will be visited, several tribal engagement sessions will take place and meetings in Anchorage and Mat-Su are planned in partnership with Southcentral Foundation. With the passion and hard work of many around the state, the new early childhood strategic plan will be completed by the end of April.

For more information about the early childhood strategic planning process and the needs assessment contact Betsy Brenneman, Preschool Development Grant Coordinator at AASB, bbrenneman@nullaasb.org