[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 27, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S6306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Begich, 
        Mrs. Shaheen, and Mr. Casey):
  S. 3658. A bill to provide professional development for elementary 
school principals in early childhood education and development; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, today I am introducing, along 
with Senators Michael Bennet, Mark Begich, Bob Casey, and Jeanne 
Shaheen, legislation to support elementary school principals and help 
prepare America's children for a successful education. Our bill would 
provide grant funds to train elementary school principals on how best 
to bridge the gap between early childhood development programs and 
elementary school learning.
  Oftentimes for elementary school principals, the competing demands of 
running a school, without the proper training or experience, can crowd 
out successful partnerships with early childhood learning programs. 
This can lead to an assortment of educational approaches and, on a 
practical level, disjointed efforts to ensure students receive a 
continuum of learning.
  The aim of my bill is to provide elementary school principals with 
the ability to take research-based, early childhood development 
practices and incorporate those skills into their schools in order to 
better prepare our Nation's youth for success. As part of this effort, 
our House colleagues, Congressmen Altmire and Himes, will be 
introducing a companion version to this legislation in their chamber.
  As we all know, a child's education does not begin on that first day 
of kindergarten; rather, it begins much earlier in life as an infant's 
brain develops and cognitive skills are acquired through daily 
interaction with parents, grandparents, siblings, and other caregivers. 
As a parent, I remember firsthand the interactions I had with my two 
children during their infant years. When the time came, my wife and I 
knew that our children were prepared for pre-school, where they would 
acquire additional skills to further prepare them for their K-3 years. 
We wanted them to be ready to learn on day one.
  My story is similar to the stories of millions of American parents 
who do what they can to ensure their children are fully prepared for 
that first day of kindergarten. While there are many different early 
learning settings, whether through the Head Start or other programs, we 
can all agree that ensuring our children are school-ready is an 
admirable goal.
  As the research suggests, children who participate in early learning 
programs often perform better upon entering elementary school than 
their peers who do not. In order to build on that success and do right 
by our children by giving them the best chance to succeed when they 
begin kindergarten, our bill will help train principals on how to 
establish relationships with early childhood learning providers and 
collaborate to ensure they are on the same page when it comes to a 
child's development.
  Building this pathway and ensuring a close connection between these 
two critical educational settings, especially for principals early in 
their careers, is a common-sense way to build better learning 
environments for our children. Our legislation has the support of the 
National Association of Elementary School Principals and a host of 
early learning advocacy organizations. I urge my colleagues to support 
this important effort.
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