Rhode Island § 16-87-3 - Rhode Island Prekindergarten Education Act

§ 16-87-3. Planning phase for a prekindergarten program.

(a) The Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education shall begin planning an initial, pilot prekindergarten program that meets high quality standards, builds on the existing early childhood education infrastructure in the state (including child care, Head Start and public schools) and serves children ages three (3) and four (4) who reside in communities with concentrations of low performing schools. This planning phase will develop specific goals to expand the pilot prekindergarten program over time and will also identify opportunities to strengthen care and learning programs for infants and toddlers.

(b) During this planning phase, the Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education will quantify the resources needed to achieve and maintain high quality standards in prekindergarten programs and identify incentives and supports to develop a qualified early education workforce, including opportunities for experienced early childhood educators and paraprofessionals to acquire college degrees and earn early childhood teacher certification.

(c) The Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education will begin to develop plans to collect and analyze data regarding the impact of the pilot prekindergarten program on participating children’s school readiness and school achievement.