U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced on Tuesday the formation of the Early Learning Interagency Policy Board.

The board's goals are to improve the quality of early learning programs and outcomes for young children; increase the coordination of research, technical assistance and data systems; and advance the effectiveness of the early learning workforce among the major federally funded early learning programs across the two departments.

“This marks an important step in our effort to help eliminate silos at the federal level,” said Secretary Duncan. “We want to ensure that collaboration at the federal level mirrors the integration you're striving to achieve at the state and local levels.”

“Providing strong support for this country's children during their earliest years is one of the most important investments we can make,” said Secretary Sebelius. “This effort will rely on strong federal partnerships, integrated policy development, and continued innovation from our partners in the Early Learning field.”

They made the announcement at the Early Childhood 2010: Innovation for the Next Generation meeting at the Hilton Washington in Washington, D.C.

The Early Childhood 2010 meeting brought together state and local partners from a range of early childhood programs across ED and HHS, key stakeholders and federal staff to improve collaboration and partnerships at the federal, state and community levels in support of integrated early childhood systems.

Through plenary sessions, workshops, state team meetings, and networking opportunities, participants discussed innovative, evidence-based practices and their vision for creating a high-quality coordinated early learning and development system.