Journalists Noticing, Covering Stalled Pre-K Agendas
(Pre-k battles in South Dakota, Mississippi worth watching and reporting on) It’s nice to see journalists staying on top of the often contentious and difficult battles taking place in southern states and places like South Dakota that don’t have state funded pre-kindergartens or standards for what preschool should look like. These battles are important to [...]
Lives of Children Not Improving, Study Finds
(The trends in child well-being are well worth watching, as they reflect larger social and economic changes. While studies are often just a starting point for journalists, it was surprising to find so little coverage of the new Duke University “>study of children’s well-being underwritten by the Foundation for Child Development. The study, released at [...]
In NYC Pre-K Battle, Siblings Won’t Be Split After All
(Siblings shut out of pre-k can now attend the same school as their big brothers and sisters) It’s been a long haul for New York City parents whose children have been shut out of pre-kindergarten — in many cases, from the same schools their older siblings attend. That’s led to months of anxiety, soul searching, [...]
Covering Pre-K? Some Terrific Resources For Journalists
(Sara Mead of the New America Foundation and Albert Wat of pre-k Now speak to reporters in New York City last weekend at Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media) Journalists who write about education often find themselves bogged down in coverage of multiple school districts, and don’t have the time or inclination to pay [...]
McCain’s Education Agenda: Pre-K, Where Art Thou?
(presidential candidates views on public funding for pre-kindergarten disappointingly vague) While Presidential candidate Barack Obama offered his perspective on learning more than one language at an early age last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain was readying his speech before the NAACP convention, which he delivered on Thursday. Not one mention of his views [...]
Obama and the Language Question: Is Spanish the Answer?
(If presential hopeful Barack Obama had his way, schools would teach two languages in kindergarten) Last week, an Associated Press story widely picked up about a Virginia school teaching Chinese in kindergarten caught my eye, and piqued my interest in President George Bush’s National Security Language initiative aimed at teaching the youngest students foreign languages [...]
Mandatory Kindergarten Delayed in New Hampshire
(In New Hampshire, the Long Wait for Kindergarten Continues) At a time when some states are pushing for publicly funded pre-kindergarten and promoting its value, New Hampshire is struggling to get a new requirement of public kindergarten for all off the ground. The state has been locked in an interesting battle over who should pay [...]
Feeling the Pain: Budget Cuts Mean Tough Child Care Choices
(Budget cuts can lead families toward crowded, ad-hoc quality child care options) A story in today’s Newsday did a great job of illustrating how painful New York State’s budget cuts are for the working poor, who depend in many cases on subsidized day care so they can hold onto their jobs. Reporter Michael Amon found [...]
In Some Kindergarten Programs, Language Study Flourishes
Kindergarten students in some areas learning Chinese, Arabic and other ‘critical’ languages) As a time when some states offer no publicly funded pre-school progams, some kindergartners are getting the chance to learn Chinese, Arabic and Japanese. An Associated Press story widely picked up this week descriped a Fairfax. Virginia classroom where students were playing “Jeopardy,” [...]
In Ohio, Differing Tales of Pre-K Readiness
(Kindergarten students who have had some preparation have a big advantage in Ohio) Edith Starzyk of the The Plain Dealer in Cleveland did the kind of story on Monday that really helps illuminate why and how pre-kindergarten can make a difference — and why the public should care. Starzyk compared the kindergarten readiness of students [...]
