Business Alliance for Early Learning
The Florida Gap Map is now available. This interactive tool helps visualize the intersection of third grade reading scores for every public school in Florida with childhood poverty rates. Equity gaps exist in Florida and Florida’s global competitiveness depends on a quality education system. For the business community, a commitment to this education system must begin early.
“We developed this interactive tool as the one source in Florida to show the correlations between school reading scores and poverty. The Florida Gap Map will help guide business leaders, non-profits, governments and philanthropists who are interested in helping improve
Florida’s public schools.”
–Dr. Jerry Parrish, Chief Economist, Florida Chamber Foundation
Visit www.TheFloridaGapMap.org and share with businesses, educators, media and policymakers in your community to easily identify school level performance gaps, so business and community leaders can focus resources on helping close those gaps.
To watch the webinar on the release of the new Florida Gap Map, click here.
Reading at Grade Level
Preparing Florida’s students for their future in our state’s workforce is vital and preparation must begin early. Research tells us that students who are not reading at or above grade level by 3rd grade may never catch up and have a higher risk of never graduating high school.
In Florida, 58 percent of our state’s 3rd graders read at or above grade level- which means 42 percent currently do not. The Florida 2030 Blueprint established a goal that by 2030, 100 percent of third graders in Florida will be reading on grade level. Reaching this goal is crucial to the success of our children and to creating a strong workforce. The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Business Alliance for Early Learning is championing this effort to reach this goal.
To find out the 3rd Grade Reading scores in your county, visit www.TheFloridaScorecard.org
In Case You Missed It ...
Three Summer Program Strategies to Address Learning Loss, Support Emotional Health
Interest in offering summer instruction and enrichment programming for greater numbers of students is building amid pressure for school systems to address students’ learning loss and social-emotional health, said National Summer Learning Association CEO Aaron Dworkin. And although there are logistical and funding hurdles to running summer programs during a pandemic, districts are getting creative by testing out unique strategies, forming new partnerships and applying lessons learned during the school year to make virtual and hybrid learning equitable and fun, Dworkin said.
To view the complete K-12 Drive article, click here.
Business Alliance for Early Learning 2020 Webinars
If you were not able to participate in our webinars this year, or if you would like to watch them again, please click here. Copies of the presentations are also available to download.
Early Learning and the Foundation for the Future
The Florida Chamber Foundation encourages business leaders like you to join our Business Alliance for Early Learning. Businesses from around the state are tackling a number of issues impacting children ages 0-8. The foundation of many skills needed for 21st-century jobs is established in the earliest years. Eighty-five percent of brain growth occurs by the time a child is three, and early childhood education, particularly between ages 0-8, is essential for a child’s development of both cognitive and non-cognitive skills.
Preparing our youngest students to learn establishes a foundation for future success and helps them develop important skills such as self-discipline, persistence, and cooperation–skills that are essential to their future success and a quality workforce. Establishing this important foundation is why the Florida 2030 Blueprint established the goal that by 2030, 100 percent of Florida children will be ready for kindergarten. Join us as we engage businesses, families, and community leaders in securing Florida’s future through quality early learning.
Florida 2030 Blueprint Leader: The Children’s Movement of Florida
The Florida 2030 Blueprint established a goal that by 2030, 100 percent of children in Florida will be ready to enter kindergarten. As we strive to reach this important goal, we are pleased to have The Children’s Movement of Florida help lead this effort.
The Children’s Movement of Florida has created the Bosses for Babies initiative which brings together business leaders in Florida who are ready to take action in support of early childhood—understanding that this is an investment both in their bottom line and in community-level prosperity. The initiative highlights the many ways Florida businesses are taking action and enables more businesses to get involved. It allows businesses to support the goal of 100% Kindergarten-readiness by 2030 and drives engagement with the Business Alliance for Early Learning, leading to more business-led advocacy for greater investment in early care and education.
Select this video to hear Representative Vance Aloupis, District 115;
CEO of The Children’s Movement, and
Chamber Foundation Trustee discuss how
early learning creates lifelong opportunities during the
2019 Future of Florida Forum.
How Does Early Learning Impact a Child's Future?
Children Who Receive Quality Adult Interaction and Early Learning in Their First Years Are:
- 50 percent less likely to need special education
- 70 percent less likely to be arrested for a violent crime
- 50 percent less likely to become teen parents
Florida’s global competitiveness depends on a quality education system, and for us, this commitment must begin early. Investing in high quality early learning can result in significant benefits. Children who participate in quality early learning programs are 80 percent more likely to attend college and their employability is increased by 23 percent.
The Business Case for Early Learning
Increasingly, early learning is seen as a crucial investment in workforce development.
- What is the rate of return on early learning? Watch this Heckman Equation video.
- Why is this a business issue? Read this.
- How does quality early learning make parents better employees? Read this.
Life-long Impact of Early Learning
Young children who receive a high-quality education are less likely to drop out of high school, and quality early childhood education programs increase employability by 23 percent.
- How early is early? Read this.
- What skills are improved by quality early learning? Read this.
- How does access to early learning influence a child’s future success? Review this study.
- No Small Matter is a feature-length documentary film and national engagement campaign that brings public attention to this vital question by sharing powerful stories and stunning truths about the human capacity for early intelligence and the potential for quality early care and education to benefit America’s social and economic future
Early Learning and Prosperity
Studies show that 50% of children that grow up in low-income households are already behind by the time they reach Kindergarten.
- How does access to quality early learning differ based on socioeconomic status? Watch this video.
- What do poverty related issues impact Florida’s economy? Read this.
- How can one year of high-quality early education improve outcomes for low-income infants and toddlers? Read this.
Talent Gap
Business surveys indicate that finding the talent they need to fill open jobs is one of their biggest concerns.
- What does the future of Florida’s education look like? Watch this video.
- What industries are growing in Florida and what talent is needed? Read this.
- What type of skills are important? Read this.
Promising Practices
- How is collective impact changing Escambia County? Watch this video.
- How does grade level influence future success? Watch this video.
