Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner recently unveiled the “Birth to Eight Roadmap,” an initiative to accelerate learning and ensure LAUSD’s youngest students are academically and socially ready by third grade.

“A strong foundation in the early years is critical to a child’s long-term success,” Beutner said. “The ‘Birth to Eight Roadmap’ will help ensure we continue to provide the best education possible, beginning with our youngest learners.”

The initiative will develop an instructional guide for teachers so they can understand how each grade builds upon the next and can help fill in gaps in student learning. It also seeks to expand early-education dual-language programs so young students have the opportunity to continue their language development.

The plans seek to increase family engagement with elementary schools in their communities for informational tours of early education programs, and provide kindergarten teachers access to academic and attendance information for incoming students, allowing them to better assess strengths and needs.

“The ‘Roadmap’ ensures that we provide the instructional support and wraparound services for our youngest and most impressionable students,” LAUSD Interim Chief Academic Officer Alison Yoshimoto-Towery said. “All of our students have a right to a joyful and creative space where they can learn academics and begin establishing their identity.”

LAUSD operates 86 early education centers for children ages 2-4 and is assisted by the nonprofit Child360, which offers programs for more than 500 schools in Los Angeles County.

“The Birth to Eight Roadmap provides a framework and actions that will put all of the children coming out of Los Angeles Unified’s early education programs on a pathway to graduation and success,” Early Childhood Education Executive Director Dean Tagawa said.

“Los Angeles Unified is investing in high-quality programs for our earliest learners, and we’re thrilled to release the ‘Roadmap’ to expand and deepen those opportunities,” said LAUSD Board Member Kelly Gonez, chairwoman of the Early Education Committee. “I’m particularly proud of our commitment to dual-language programs in early childhood, which help support all of our students and put them on the path to lifelong success.”

For information, visit lausd.net.