Pa Pre K Counts, Keystone STARS , Early Intervention

Programs such as PA Pre-K Counts, Keystone STARS, Early Intervention, Nurse-Family Partnership, Parent-Child Home Program, Keystone Babies and Head Start Supplemental are preparing children for kindergarten so they can enter school ready to learn and to succeed.
2009-2010 child outcomes for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, Keystone STARS 3&4, and Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program show children are progressing throughout the program year and are coming to school ready to learn:
• Each program is showing a significant increase in the percentage of preschoolers with proficiency in language, numeracy, and social skills from the beginning to end of the program year.
• Each program is meeting the needs of its populations with a variety of services to prepare children for kindergarten, with 65% - 78% of children showing proficiency in language, numeracy and social skills by the end of the 2009-2010 program year:

• PA Pre-K Counts, providing high quality pre-k kindergarten to at-risk three and four year olds: Nearly every child (over 98 percent) showed age-appropriate or emerging age-appropriate proficiency in literacy, numeracy, and social skills after attending PA Pre-K Counts in 2009-2010.*
o More than 70 percent of children who attended Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts finished the school year with age-appropriate proficiency in literacy, numeracy and social skills.*
• Keystone STARS 3&4, providing high quality early education in child care centers, group and family child care homes for children from birth through school-age: More than 97% of preschoolers in STAR 3 & 4 program showed age-appropriate or emerging age-appropriate proficiency in literacy, numeracy, and social skills at the end of the 2009-2010 program year#.
o More than 65 percent finished the program year with age-appropriate proficiency in literacy, numeracy and social skills.#
• Head Start Supplemental, providing comprehensive early education and family support services to high-risk three and four year olds: Nearly every child (98 percent) showed age-appropriate or emerging age-appropriate proficiency in literacy, numeracy, and social skills after attending Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program in 2009-2010.
o More than 65 percent of preschoolers who attended Head Start Supplemental finished the school year with age-appropriate proficiency in literacy, numeracy and social skills.
These results show that Pennsylvania’s early education programs are working. The investments Pennsylvania makes today in early education will produce excellent returns in student achievement, workforce development, and reduction in public costs for special education, public assistance, and corrections.