Leaders in government, business and philanthropy today will announce a new partnership aimed at preparing the state’s youngest children for success in school.

Gov. Christine Gregoire and William H. Gates Sr., of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will lead the public-private partnership, called Thrive by Five: The Washington Early Learning Fund. The group will start with $9 million, with more funds added in the years to come…

The business community is supporting the early-learning effort, Watt said, because it’s seen as a sound investment in the future workforce. The economy needs creativity, imagination and discipline from its workers, he said, and some of those skills are learned in those early years.

According to a study by Harvard University professor Jack Shonkoff, chairman of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, much of a child’s development takes place between birth and age 5. What they learn in that window can determine how they fare both in school and in life, says the study, which was prepared for Thrive by Five.

Children who come to kindergarten healthy, and with strong social and cognitive skills, are more likely to finish school, and less likely to be unemployed or commit crime, according to the 2004 Perry Preschool study, which spanned 40 years.

“The fact is that kids who start behind tend to stay behind,” said Greg Shaw, director of early learning for the Gates Foundation…

Source: The Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003116726_earlylearning10m.html