Why HBCUs Are Ideal Partners for Advancing Early Childhood Education

BDr. Shelley Rousery any measure, $11.73 billion is a staggering amount of public investment — that’s what states collectively spent in just one year on state-funded preschool, according to the latest report from the National Institute for Early Education Research. To offer perspective, that’s about double the entire annual budget for a small state like Delaware. And with that kind of price tag, the question practically asks itself: How do we ensure the dollars allocated for early childhood education will yield the greatest return?

The answer isn’t just about better classrooms or more seats in pre-K programs, although these things certainly matter; it’s about people, especially the educators, shaping the first formal learning experiences of our youngest people. That’s why, in Delaware, we’ve taken a bold, focused step to invest not just in early childhood education programs, but also in the professionals who power them.

A Strategic Decision

Delaware’s Early Childhood Innovation Center (www.ecic.desu.edu) is a $31 million, five-year initiative designed to reimagine and streamline our state’s early education system of supporting early learning professionals. The state’s Department of Education could have placed this hub anywhere, but they chose to anchor it with us at Delaware State University (DSU), the state’s only Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

Dr. Kimberly KrzanowskiThis wasn’t just symbolic; it was strategic. DSU, under the leadership of President Dr. Tony Allen — who also chaired the White House’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities — brings both vision and practical infrastructure to bear on the effort. At Delaware State University, we embrace our legacy as a historic institution of access and excellence and are committed to continuing the path of being an engine of innovation.

Removing Barriers, Supporting the Whole Educator

ECIC is not a traditional top-down initiative. Instead, it’s grounded in meeting educators where they are — literally and figuratively. Through programs like DE RISE, we provide direct support to aspiring and current educators, including: