The Alignment Agenda: Examining the Movement to Bridge the Early Childhood and K–12 Sectors

Abstract

There is a movement to improve alignment between the early childhood and K–12 education sectors, which I term The Alignment Agenda. This qualitative study provides an in-depth description of this agenda through analysis of data from interviews with 25 elites (e.g., state director of early learning) associated with the agenda and associated documents. The analysis focuses on (1) the problems with the status quo that necessitate alignment reform, (2) the nature of proposed alignment reforms, and (3) the challenges and facilitators of advancing the alignment reforms. Understanding how elites associated with the alignment agenda think about the movement, including key features of alignment reforms, has relevance for policy and practice because these individuals are closely—if not directly—involved in the process of policy development and implementation at the local, state, and federal levels. Further, attention to the topic of aligning the early childhood and K–12 education sectors is likely to increase in coming years as proposals for expansion of the early childhood education sector are adopted and implemented.