Attendees were shown a video produced by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The film named Alabama as one of the state’s leading the nation in quality pre-k programming and funding.

Ivey said 35 percent of Alabama’s third graders are proficient and reading. She said that numbers needs to increase, but she is proud of the work done by various groups to get funding and programming to where it is.

Representatives from the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education were among those who attended, some were featured in the film.

They keynote speaker was Dr. Katharine Stevens, a resident scholar in education policy for the American Enterprise Institute.