Research shows that education investments in the earliest years of life make the greatest difference in the educational outcomes of children. America has an opportunity to provide children with high-quality instruction throughout the earliest years of their schooling by making changes at the local, state and federal levels. These reforms would lead to significant improvements in the educational outcomes of our students, citizens and future workforce.

As the Obama Administration and Congress consider how to revamp education policy, the New America Foundation's Education Policy Program and Next Social Contract Initiative joined to release a paper that argues for a fundamental rethinking of public policy related to children's primary years in education, starting at age three and reaching up through the third grade. The event included a lively conversation about education reform.

This event was made possible by funding from the Foundation for Child Development, the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation, and the Strategic Knowledge Fund, co-funded by the Foundation for Child Development and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.