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 * Mover Name:** Laura Bush


 * Basic Work:** Mrs. Bush, the first lady, has put a lot of emphasis on the importantce of education, especially early childhood education. Her aim is to find ways to better prepare a child for school before they begin. Other educational programs and work she has supported/begun are Reach Out and Read, Ready to Read Ready to Learn, Healthy Start Grow Smart, Transition to Teaching, Teach for America, Troops to Teachers, The New Teacher Project, and No Child Left Behind.


 * Key Work:** The Early Childhood Initiative, which was brought up in President Bush's state of the Union Address in 2002, is built upon the First Lady's Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development, which was developed in 2001. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bush pushed the importance of early childhood (birth - age 5) in the development of life skills- physical, emotional, social and cognitive. The initiative tries to improve the state of early childhood education by having students come to school fully prepared to learn. more than $18 billion are provided by the government to help lower income families pay for pre-k programs for their children. Mrs. Bush feels that it is very important for education to begin before the school years, and she feels that it is equally important for the caregivers of the child to learn about how to create the highest amount of success for the child. The White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development outlined what parents and caregivers could do in order to provide the best learning environment. Mrs. Bush's work has created an epidemic of learning across the country, and has led to many programs like the Cone Center, Reach Out and Read, and Healthy Start, Grow Smart. The First Lady hosted the Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development in July of 2001, in which she outlined what caregivers of children should and could do in order to maximize the child's growth in education. "At this two-day gathering, educators, caregivers and policy-makers from across the country heard from some of America's most respected and innovative researchers in the field of early cognitive development, from those who put research into practice with great results ".


 * Key Personnel:** Others who had a significant hand in the Summit are of course President Bush, and also U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson


 * Why/How a mover?** She has used her authority as the wife of the president to make changes that she feels are important. She has created the basis of President Bush's Early Childhood Initiative (Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development) and has started a new trend in the development of education. Mrs. Bush is trying to help the caregivers of children to learn the best possible ways to help their young.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/initiatives/education/summary.html http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/earlychildhood.html http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/ http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/initiatives/education/earlychildhood.html
 * Links:** http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/initiatives/education/readingprograms.html