*Act 3: The Louisiana Early Childhood Education Act
Legislative Intent:
To create a comprehensive and integrated delivery system for early childhood care and education to ensure that every child enters kindergarten healthy and ready
to learn.
Components of the Act
Establish a definition for kindergarten readiness aligned with state content standards for
elementary and secondary schools.
Establish performance targets for children under the age of three and academic standards for
kindergarten readiness for three- and four-year old children to be used in publicly-funded early
childhood education programs.
Create a uniform assessment and accountability system for all publicly-funded early childhood
education programs that includes a letter grade indicative of student performance.
Coordinate with the Department of Children and Family Services and the Department of Health
and Hospitals to align the standard for the licensing of child care facilities, including the
requirements for participation in the Louisiana Quality Start Child Care Rating System, with the
standards established for early childhood education programs.
Establish a timeline for the creation and implementation of the early childhood care and education network that shall be fully implemented by the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year.
* information from the Louisiana Partnership for children and families
