The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is awarding a $1 million grant to the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education.
The grant announced Thursday is intended to improve early learning and school readiness standards for young children and to find ways to get parents more involved in early learning for children.
Division director Tonya Williams says the focus is to be on redesigning birth-to-five-year-old early learning standards, identifying new kindergarten entry assessment tools and creating a framework to support family involvement in early-learning settings.
The DHS Division of Children Care and Early Childhood Education coordinates child care and early childhood education programs in Arkansas. It also licenses and accredits child care facilities and oversees the state-funded pre-kindergarten program.
