As Indiana pushes ed reform, pre-k lags
There may be a lot of talk about education reform in Indiana right now, but it’s become increasingly clear that Tony Bennett, the new superintendent of instruction, won’t be emphasizing early childhood. And he’s citing the usual issue: lack of money. Indiana has long trailed other states when it comes to public support of pre-kindergarten; it’s [...]
High Stakes Testing and Little Learners: Is a Second Chance Fair?
In the days of high-stakes testing, it’s hard to imagine the stress for parents who want nothing better than to send their progeny to private school, starting in kindergarten or even earlier. Actually, it’s not at all hard to imagine: the insanity of the process in New York City was documented brilliantly a few years [...]
PreK-3: Getting teachers AND administrators ready for a new model in early education
The latest and most promising education reform in the early education realm, at least according to many advocates, is PreK-3 . The idea is to streamline curriculum and instructional approaches so that the transition from preschool to K-12 is seamless. It’s also to get educators from both sides of the line talking to each other [...]
Tennessee pre-k and the third-grade fade: truth or politics?
It’s been interesting to watch reaction in the state of Tennessee to research showing that students who participate in pre-kindergarten programs do better than their peers for their first two years of school, but have no advantage at all by the time they get to third-grade. Stories in The Tennessean ‘s office on the effectiveness [...]
Would bonuses for pre-k teachers improve quality?
To create an educated workforce, you have to start with high-quality educators. In the field of early childhood, the issue has long been debated. High quality programs tend to be taught by teachers with four-year degrees and specific training in early childhood education. Yet teachers may be poorly trained, or not trained at all. Only [...]
Lessons in early learning from Montgomery County
At a time when budget cuts are derailing public pre-kindergarten programs and other districts are trying to figure out how to integrate early learning, the Montgomery County school system in Maryland is touting a model for success they believe can be replicated to help narrow the achievement gap. The report is available on the website [...]
One way to improve early childhood ed: leadership
With all the talk about budget cuts and other ways early childhood education is being hurt in the recession, it was refreshing to read a piece that looks at other obstacles and ways to improve the quality of early learning. Education Week points out that elementary school principals in the U.S. don’t get sufficient professional [...]
A look at early learning for special needs children
Finding high quality child care and early education programs is a huge challenge for most Americans, but those with special needs children find it so impossibly complex that they often don’t even send their children to any organized child care programs, the excellent “Birth to Thrive,” blog notes. “The availability of high quality child care [...]
Wait, does study mean kindergarten teachers should be paid more?
It’s well established that children who skip kindergarten typically fall behind their classmates, and much research points to the value of a high-quality pre-kindergarten experience coming first. There has been less discussion about the impact of a kindergarten teacher on the future earnings of little learners. A new study that made its way to the [...]
Will ‘Pre-School for All’ survive Illinois Budget Crisis?
When legislators in Illinois passed the Preschool for All initiative in 2006, the state was hailed as a national leader in free early childhood education. In the economic crisis bearing down particularly hard in this midwestern state, though, the initiative — and other gains in early education — are all in serious danger, a story [...]
