Quality of Preschools

2006-07-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

GLOBAL: Quality of Public Preschools

What should be done about this issue?

Europe:
Problem: High child-teacher ratios
Solution: For the most part, preschools in Europe have exceptional facilities and teachers. Europe has set the bar for preschool education with high attendance and high learning standards. The only real problem is the child to teacher ratio. Classes in Europe tend to be larger than in the United States. Some classes have 25 children to one adult or a high of 35 children to one adult. This seems extremely high and might interfere with learning in the classroom. Each child gets less one on one time with the teacher.
To fix this problem Europe's government should train more teachers and put them into the classrooms. The government should urge people to become preschool teachers. The government could also lure people into the teaching profession by increasing wages or adding more benefits.

China:
Problem: Lack of quality teachers and facilities
Solution: Much of China’s population is working in agriculture. Because of this, many people live in rural communities far from the high tech cities of China. The children in these rural areas lack quality teachers and facilities because the advance technology doesn’t reach them. Also, many teachers have no incentives to teach in rural areas of China.
China needs to make a commitment to changing their education programs. China needs to not only focus on education within the cities but within the rural areas. Thus, China needs to start putting their additional funds into education. This would help to create more education facilities and programs. The children could have access to better learning tools and books. Another important thing is to raise the quality of teachers. This could be done by creating more incentives by increasing pay for those teachers that teach in rural areas. Another option would be to circulate teachers throughout all areas. Each teacher can teach in the city for a certain number of years then teach in the rural areas for a certain number of years. These teachers would get additive benefits if they participate in these programs.
Quality teachers are important to children that want to learn. Therefore, China should ensure that all teachers have completed the proper classes. There should also be additional introduction classes for preschool teachers because connecting with children of such young ages can sometimes be difficult.

Japan:Problem: No real public preschools
Solution: In Japan, preschool is not an official part of the education system. Education in Japan is compulsory from grade one to grade nine. However, many complete grades ten through twelve and go onto universities. Since there are no official public preschools, all preschools in Japan are privately run. Some parents enroll their children in preschool while others teach them at home.
Japan’s government should create their own public preschools. If they were to create these preschools they would be able to see the importance of learning at a young age. Learning at a young age enables children to progress faster in the grades to follow. Japan should use some of their education funds to start new preschool programs. This is likely to be widely encouraged by the public. This would not be a waste of government dollars. By starting these programs, the Japanese government will be investing in their youth.

Africa:
Problem: Low attendance by preschoolers
Solution: Africa has one of the lowest attendance percentages throughout the world. Not many children attend primary school let alone preschool. Poverty is a huge problem in sub-Saharan Africa and education takes lower priority over this issue. More infants die in Africa than in any other country.
To battle the lack of education opportunities and lack of attendance, Africa should deal with their problems of poverty and infant mortality. Once these problems have been significantly dealt with, education in Africa can start growing. It is important that education is built on a stable community. Thus, it is best for the communities to be involved with public education systems. If Africa becomes a healthy thriving nation, children would be able to focus on their education. Therefore, children could start attending school regularly. Africa’s government must also take the initiative to build more facilities and start more programs. Parents will start to see the opportunities education holds and will be more willing to send their kids to school.

Middle East:
Problem: Countries in a state of turmoil
Solution: Most countries in the Middle East are in a state of turmoil due to war. War has caused ruin and despair to all individuals in these countries. Many schools have been destroyed and there are few supplies or textbooks. There is a lack of funds and teachers which has caused some schools to shut down.
There is not much these countries can do when there is so much political strife. Issues in regard to education will be ignored until these countries find a time of peace. The countries can then rebuild and return to a state of stability. Then the government can focus on getting education back up on its feet. The government can start putting funds back into education that will enable children to have teachers and supplies.
Another solution would be to get help from foundations like World Bank. These foundations could help focus change in the education programs and also give additional funds. Once these countries find peace, they can focus on the importance of a preschool education.

What should be done on the governmental level to help alleviate the “problems” this issue is creating?
-Start forming public preschool programs in all communities
-Create more funding for preschools
-Recruit more teachers
-Set better guidelines for school preparation goals
-Raise teacher’s salary
-Start compensation initiatives in all preschool programs
-Build and renovate facilities
-Raise awareness for the need for early childhood education
-Get communities involved

What should be done on a societal level to help alleviate the “problems” this issue is creating?
-Demand government to fund and create preschools
-Ask International Monetary Fund or World Bank for help
-Donate money to preschools
-Donate learning tools/supplies to preschools
-Volunteer at community preschools
-Form associations advocating early childhood education

Resources/Links:
http://www.universalpreschool.com/get-info/preschool-around-the-world.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preschool_and_daycare_in_Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Africa
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/07/17/ncguest1.htm
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/earlyed/read_east.html
www.futureofchildren.org/usr_doc/vol5no3ART5.pdf
http://www.internationaled.org/publications/ChinaDelegationReport120105b.pdf
http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/afghanistan/rapport_3.html

2006-07-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

GLOBAL: What can be done?

Realistically, what can be done about this issue?
Germany:
Problem: weak link in teacher training
Solution: Unlike in most other European countries, preschool teachers in Germany only need to complete a three-year training program to work as an early child educator, and not the full post-secondary education required from primary school teachers. [1] The lack of sufficient training leaves teachers unequipped to provide children with intellectually-stimulating games and basic playful lessons in natural science, mathematics, and reading. [1] The teachers can be trained to university level to ensure better preparation for their double roles of educators and supervisors. In addition, initiatives by universities can be created to offer new specialized study courses on “pre-school education training.” These courses should be state-funded to decrease the amount of money that teachers need to spend on their training and education.

Problem: matters of education are regulated at state level with different states sometimes pursuing conflicting policies
Solution: The education ministers from the sixteen federal states can agree on a common framework to improve education levels of early childhood teachers.

China:
Problem: social and economic gap between urban and rural areas is huge
Solution: Of the 1.3 billion Chinese, only 800 million live in the countryside where agriculture is the main livelihood. Rural schools lag behind urban schools in terms of teacher qualifications, facilities, and quality. [2] This imbalance is causing large numbers of children to have to migrate to cities just to receive an education. To solve this problem, the Chinese government can complete nine years of basic education for all by creating boarding schools in remote areas, providing free textbooks and other subsidies to prevent children from dropping out of school, and creating an ambitious distance learning system to leapfrog rural schools into the twenty-first century. [2] It can also create a rotation system where city teachers work for a period in rural schools in exchange for salary and career benefits. The government can implement technology to serve rural parts of China. For example, distance education centers can be created in schools with computers, satellite dishes, televisions, and DVD players through which master teachers will relay lessons to schools in poor rural areas. [2]

Egypt:

Problem: regional disparities in school attendance
Solution: While Egypt is working hard to expand early childhood education from 13 percent of the population to 60 percent by 2010, poor families living in rural areas continue to face daunting obstacles to sending their children to school. [5] Organizations like the World Food Program (WFP) can help ease the burden of parents and share their responsibilities in providing food to their children by distributing high-energy snacks and meals at school. Hopefully, this will encourage parents to enroll their children in preschool and have a better future. The WFP can also provide families with “take-home rations” such as rice and vegetable oil as an incentive to send their children to school. [3] The food will also improve intellectual retention and provide nutrition for the children, most of whom are underweight or stunted.

Afghanistan:
Problem: war and isolation of the country continue
Solution: Due to internal strife, the country has been isolated from the outside world and trying to endure the economic hardships and lack of resources. Leaders of Afghanistan must put in place a consensus government to create a reconstruction and rehabilitation plan, which can include an education ministry that will implement a set of plans to revive the education program. [4] However, one does not know when the war will end and whether or not the new government will make education a priority. Therefore, for now, strong community support for education could increase with one individual spreading awareness. Also, the International NGOs and Aid Agencies can assist the basic educational needs of children, particularly those of girls. [4] To provide at least some kind of education, home-schools can be developed by parents. Home-schools will also help cope with the security of girls and can prove to be cost effective.

What are the “powers at be” not doing? Why?
The “powers at be” are NOT:
• Providing sufficient teacher training
• Agreeing on a common framework for education programs in their country
• Decreasing the social and economic gap between urban and rural areas
• Taking care of the poverty in rural areas (Egypt)
• Creating a consensus government (Afghanistan)

What impact could you have to change to current situation?
• Send toys and supplies to various countries so that they can save money and spend it on other things such as improving the facilities and training teachers
• For some countries like Egypt and Afghanistan, it might be more helpful to donate food and canned goods since many families in rural areas can barely feed their children
• Hold a fundraiser to raise money and donate it to a preschool education organization
• Increase awareness in your community about the education conditions in other countries to help promote change (With increased awareness, more people will donate and take action for this issue.)

What do you foresee in the future if the solution(s) you’re advocating is/are not implemented or if conditions continue in their present state indefinitely?
If conditions continue in their present state indefinitely, the children of foreign countries will fall farther and farther behind. If children do not attend preschool or receive any kind of education, there will be an increase in poverty and violence, which might stir up more wars with other countries, possibly even with the United States. The death rate of children may also increase due to their uneducated-parents’ inability to find a well paying job to provide food and other necessities. Also, the increasing disparity between urban and rural areas may cause other economic problems.

Resources/Links
1 http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1690133,00.html
2 http://www.internationaled.org/publications/ChinaDelegationReport120105b.pdf
3 http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/egypt/rapport_1.htm#part1
4 http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/afghanistan/rapport_3.html
5 http://www.wfp.org/newsroom/in_depth/Africa/egypt/050527_egypt.asp?section=2&sub_section=2

2006-07-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

Current Global Status of Early Childhood Education

The current global situation of early childhood education varies from country to country, but overall the status could be better. Some countries are largely in support of early education, while other countries do not have any early education available to its children.

Over 100 million children do not attend any form of school, (1) and are left to jump right into the real world, without much guidance. A boy named Arti from India said, “I have cried several times to go to school. I have even fought with my brother because he goes to school while I don’t.”(2) Some children are longing for education and knowledge, which is not being provided for them. For the needs of these children to be met, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) has estimated that about 15 million more teachers would be needed to accommodate these children.(3)

There are many organizations that are trying to fight for the educational rights of children across the world. Associations like ACEI (Association for Child
Education International) have set guidelines by which they believe children’s learning needs should be met. These guidelines include things like an enriching curriculum, which builds confidence and identity, and a safe environment.(4) All of these things are very important to a child’s growth and development.

The main cause for the countries that have poor or non-existent early childhood education is the government, or lack of government intervention. Different countries have different priorities. Childhood education is one of America’s top priorities, while many other countries, like India do not place as much, if any importance on childhood education.

Family also plays a large role in whether or not young children attend school. Families that can’t afford to send their children to school are limiting the potential of their children. Yet these families are not at fault. Many need to send these children to work, instead of school, just so they can earn a living.

In order for children worldwide to go to school, governments have to intervene, and send children to school, as opposed to work. When children cannot be schooled, the fault lies with the government. This fault is mostly in poorer, third world countries that cannot afford to send their children to school. The children are the ones that are most affected, but it then becomes a vicious cycle, which carries into their adult lives, and then their children’s lives. Without proper education, many countries are led to poverty, when they could instead have had prosperity.

Throughout Europe, nearly all 3-5 year olds attend preschool, which is funded by the government. Their preschools are similar to American public schools, but many of them have a high-quality curriculum and highly-trained teachers. Along with almost full attendance in England, Luxembourg, etc., places like Germany, Italy, and Denmark, also have an outstanding amount of children enrolled in preschool: over 90%.(5) If the rest of the world could follow in these steps, young children would be much more prepared for school.

NER = number of children of preschool age in preschool / number of children of preschool age

GER = number of children in preschool / number of children of preschool age

http://www.nea.org/international/gce.html
http://www.nea.org/international/gce-kidquotes.html
http://www.care.org/campaigns/childrenpoverty/gce/indexhjf.asp
http://www.acei.org/wguides.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/07/17/ncguest1.htm

2006-07-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

PRESCHOOLS AROUND THE WORLD

BRAZIL

CHINA

GERMANY

JAPAN

INTERNATIONAL

2006-07-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

Global History

As a nation, we all know that the quality of our preschool system needs its improvements and fixes, but how do other countries fair? How does Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East go about, on quality preschool education? We will take a look at several countries around the world, and see how they have started and how far they have come in their quest for preschool education.
We will first take a look at the preschool education system in and around Asia. In China during the 1980’s, preschool education was expanded in, and the government had set basic standards for preschools. The new laws covered the preschool system, the number of students allowed per class, required teacher qualifications, minimum standards for facilities, and financial penalties for violations. According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), 232,610 children attended 3,005 registered preschools in 1999. Of the registered schools, 1,160 were public schools, and the remaining 1,845 were private. Registered kindergartens accommodated 24.01 percent of the three- to five-year-olds eligible for schooling. Another 261,442 children attended 2,754 nursery schools, raising the total enrollment to 51 percent for this age group. Nevertheless, the preschool enrollment rate is still much lower than the 80 to 90 percent found in many developed nations.
As I was looking for other Asian countries, i came across some interesting countires. Lets look at countries like Japan. if you compared Japan and China, the latter is looked upon as a lower quality education. At the moment Japan is in the grip of a boom in preschool English learning. Parents, frustrated at the slow pace of change in the preschool education system, are exposing their children to English before they can even walk. They are dead serious about their children getting ahead of everyone else. (1)“A recent survey by Benesse Corp, which runs a chain of language schools, found that 14% of households with children of preschool age sent their offspring to English lessons.” Parents are not satisfied that their children are not really learning any English in preschool. They regard the present preschool system now more of a day care center than a school. And thus they want change. Some parents have long regarded English skills as crucial to their child's chances of entering a top university and embarking on a career in medicine, law or the upper echelons of the central government bureaucracy. But the rise in the number of private playschools and preschool English courses offered by private language-school chains is meeting demand from parents whose ambitions, they say, go beyond academic success. In a way to sort of wrapping things up here, preschools in Japan may be a bit harder for the kids than anywhere else.

Moving on to Europe, we will take a look at Italy, one of the countries that our nation sets its standards by for quality preschool education. Preschool programs are seen as a right of citizenship for all children three to five years of age and Italian society expects all children to attend. Where there is a shortage of state-owned spaces for children, the state sponsors private centers. In the northern more industrialized parts of Italy, there is an abundance of preschools due to the demand of working mothers. A powerful women's movement in the mid-1960s brought about significant change to the role of women and the rights of children in Italy. (2)“Historically, a woman's primary purpose was to produce children; yet, she had no legal claim to them if her husband died. Women were viewed as abandoning their children if they went to work.” By the mid-1970s, family leave policies, maternity and infant legislation, publicly-funded child care, preschools, and equal pay in the workplace had been implemented as a result of the movement.
Reggio Emilia's late founder and director, Loris Malaguzzi, captured the essence of Italian preschool programs by saying: (3)"We continue to be convinced that without attention to the central importance of teachers and families, our view of children is incomplete; therefore, our proposition is to consider a triad at the center of education -- children, teachers and families" (1993). For the past 25 years, the city of Reggio Emilia in northern industrialized Italy, has committed 12 percent of the town budget to the provision of infant/toddler centers and preschools. This small community of approximately 130,000 people has 22 preschools and 14 infant/toddler centers.

One of the Middle Eastern countries that offer preschool systems is Turkey. There are not many middle eastern countries that really offer quality preschool programs, but in Turkey, preschool education, which is optional, includes the education of children in the 3-5 years of age group. These children are not forced to attend preschool. Preschool education is given in kindergartens, preparatory classrooms, application classrooms, day nurseries, nursery schools, day-care homes, and child care homes by various ministries and institutions. The children can benefit from these institutions for a full day or a half day, or which ever the families can afford. Families pay a certain amount to have their children benefit from preschool education. Many of the children that are able to attend the preschools are privileged and are some of the lucky ones.

In South Africa, preschools seem hard to come by, but they do exist. About only a decade after democracy, South Africa appears to spend more on keeping convicted criminals in their cells than on keeping children off the streets and in preschool. Prisoners cost the South African taxpayer about 17 dollars a day, every day of the year. In contrast, babies and toddlers who attend formally-registered preschools get a direct financial support from the Department of Social Development which averages out at just under 70 cents for every one of the country’s 195 school days. Depending on which of South Africa’s nine provinces is administering the grant, some children get as little as 37 cents – others up to 92 cents. At most, only 17 out of every hundred young children in the country have access to any kind of preschool. (4)"Access to early childhood programs has clearly demonstrated an improvement in school performance, yet the Department of Education spends less than one percent of its budget on early childhood education," she says. Nearly a quarter of children under the age of five are stunted due to long-term malnutrition. Even though funding can prove problematic, preschools offer critically-needed food, safety and mental stimulation that can seldom be provided by overworked, under-equipped and ill-educated caregivers at home.
In conclusion, there are many problems that each country faces when it comes to improving their preschool systems. All countries have their own ways with dealing with their problems, and I think that it may be a harder road for some more than others. Countries in Africa and the Middle East need much improvement, while Europe, Asia, and the US are pretty much set, if not for some minor improvement that can be fixed. All in all, we should be happy with the preschools that we do have here, and by looking at this information, we should all strive to better education not only in our country, but in many others as well.

1. http://education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/story/0,,523682,00.html
2. Hellman, J. (1987) Journeys Among Women: Feminism in Five Italian Cities. New York: Oxford University Press

3. New, R. (1994). Reggio Emilia, Lecture at University of Victoria Leadership Institute in Child Care. Victoria B.C.

4. http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/s_africa.asp

http://www.futureofchildren.org/information2827/information_show.htm?doc_id=77691
http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/eecearchive/digests/1995/svestk95.html
http://www.futureofchildren.org/usr_doc/vol5no3ART5.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2003/03_march/childrens_europe.shtml
http://www.universalpreschool.com/
http://www.beginningwithi.com/italy/living/asilo.html
http://www.edu.cn/20010101/21777.shtml
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-7142.html

2006-07-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

National: Current Situation

As the number of children enrolled in early childhood education increases, specifically in the Head Start program, the national funding is depleting. The program cannot provide for all of the nation’s children that are in need of care and it cannot provide the head start that was promised to them. The program is also compromised because the teachers don’t have to be very qualified in order to teach these children; mostly because their pay is minimal.

Although the number of children enrolled in Head Start increases annually, it cannot compensate all the children in need of the program. During the 2004 school year and summer session 905,851 (1) children were enrolled in the program, but this does not accommodate all the children in need of pre-K education. The poorest children seem to be deprived from the program, which defeats the purpose of why it was started in the first place. The funding for the program in 2004 was $6,774,848,000,(1) which seems like a great deal, but it is obviously not enough because children are still being stripped of this education.

Since so many children are deprived of this program, one would expect the quality to be a little better than it is at the moment. Some of the teachers are qualified, with about 31% having a bachelor’s degree, another 31% with an associate’s degree, and 5% having a graduate degree, but these percentages leave room for many unqualified teachers. Head Start is currently working on having 50% of all teachers receive a bachelor’s degree over the next few years.

This may prove to be a difficult task, as the pay for Head Start teachers is so meager. Teachers with higher degrees would want to take higher paying jobs at other schools. The average salary for the qualified (bachelor’s degree) teacher is $26,000. At the same time, the average pay for a regular elementary school teacher is about $42,000.(2) With this large difference, almost any teacher with a degree would be more eager to take the elementary school job. This leaves many unqualified teachers for the Head Start program.

The program’s hours are sometimes difficult on the parents or families of the children. In the summer the program only lasts from 8 am-12 pm, which means many parents who need the income of a full day’s work are forced to leave early to pick-up their children. During the regular school year the hours are normal, but after school care, which lasts until 5 pm, comes with a fee that many parents can’t pay.(3)

The current situation of early childhood education across America is not very bright for families that can’t afford to pay for a regular preschool. In order for these children to get ahead and have a real education, they need more qualified teachers, which means more funding from the government.

1. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/hsb/research/2005.htm
2. http://www.nhsa.org/download/advocacy/fact/HSTeacher.pdf
3. http://nieer.org/yearbook/compare/pcompare.php?CompareID=107

2006-07-06T12:40:00.000-07:00

NATIONAL: Quality of Public Preschools
What should be done about this issue?

Problem:Attracting and Maintaining Qualified Staff
Solution: The challenge of improving teacher quality is probably one of the most difficult problems to correct. Many teachers are unprepared for the challenges in their classrooms with diverse students and language barriers. Teachers themselves say that they do not feel prepared in their classrooms. This is not uncommon. Many teachers have not fully mastered their subject matter. States require teachers to pass a test in their subject area but the passing scores are so low that a teacher can pass without getting half of the answers correct. With such a low quality staff, children cannot be expected to reach their full capabilities.
The quality of a teacher is one of the key components of how much a child can achieve. To improve the quality of teachers, all states need to start raising teacher qualifications. It is unacceptable for states to allow teachers to teach something they don’t fully understand themselves. Currently, only one third of preschool teachers have B.A.s. There should be a push for an expansion of teacher training and education. Increased wages and benefits could encourage teachers to become more qualified and will help to maintain preschool staff. In the nation, about 22 percent of public teachers leave the teaching profession after their first three years. Compensation initiatives would interest more people into the preschool teaching profession and help retain the staff.
Another thing that the government should implement into public preschools are professional development opportunities. If there were more classes and seminars on early childhood education there would be a vast improvement in the understanding of early childhood education. Preschool teachers need to learn how to reach younger children and interest them in and out of the classroom. Seminars could teach classroom activities and other learning devices to help further these young children throughout the nation.

Problem: Little Guidelines for Public Preschool Programs
Solution: Preschools around the nation don’t have strict guidelines for learning. There is no clarity when it comes to preschool preparation goals. If there were a set of guidelines for the skills and behaviors that children must have to perform well in school, preschools would know what they need to teach. With set guidelines, the preschools would know where they can set the bar for their children’s learning. They know what kinds of pre-reading skills the children should have and the kind of social and emotional competence the children should have.
Lately, children entering kindergarten are behind in their learning. Once children get behind, they stay behind. It is hard to speed the children up unless they are given special attention and learning opportunities. If the teachers can recognize which children are behind they can take extra care to ensure that the child is not left behind. There are so many opportunities for children to fall behind that the guidelines would hopefully remind the teachers of their jobs. This ties in strongly with the need for quality teachers. With quality teachers, the children would have a greater opportunity to learn from the best and retain more knowledge than if they had second-rate teachers.

Problem: Little Public Information about Preschool Education
Solution: Many people are not aware of the importance of a good preschool education. More and more research is showing how important it is for children to acquire pre-reading and number skills early on in life. The earlier children start learning the better prepared they are for kindergarten and all the grades to follow. The government should start making communities aware of the importance of preschool education. This could easily be done with pamphlets made available to all families or public service announcements. If the nation can easily access this information they could easily find contacts for Head Start and other government early childhood initiatives.
Before, parents were relied on to prepare their children for kindergarten. This is not the case anymore. Many parents are too busy with their jobs that they cannot find time to teach their children. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that parents learn of the opportunities of public preschool education. If there was more public information about preschool and activities that prepare children to be successful in school, children could get a jumpstart into learning.

What should be done on the governmental level to help alleviate the “problems” this issue is creating?
-Set better guidelines for school preparation goals
-State accountability programs
-Maintain and increase funding for preschools
-Raise the salary of preschool teachers
-Start having compensation initiatives in all preschool programs
-Recruit preschool teachers
-Professional development for preschool teachers
-Build and renovate facilities
-Raise awareness of the need for early childhood education
-Get the communities involved

What should be done on a societal level to help alleviate the “problems” this issue is creating?
-Donate money to preschools
-Donate learning tools/supplies to preschools
-Volunteer at community preschools
-Pass out pamphlets on the importance of a preschool education
-Form associations advocating early childhood education

http://www.whitehouse.gove/infocus/education/teachers/background.html
http://www.ed.gove/print/news/pressreleases/2003/02/02032003d.html
http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb/?p_action=print&f_docid=&s_doc_type=doc&p_queryname=800
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/

2006-07-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

QUOTES: ALL ABOUT KIDS :)

All kids need is a little help, a little hope and
somebody who believes in them.
--Earvin "Magic" Johnson

Children are one third of our population and all of our future.
~Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981

If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.
~Pearl S. Buck

You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again.
~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

The prime purpose of being four is to enjoy being four - of secondary importance is to prepare for being five.
~Jim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook, 1985

Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.
~Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969

Children find everything in nothing; men find nothing in everything.
~Giacomo Leopardi, Zibaldone Scelto

There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child.
~Frank A. Clark

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers.
~Edgar W. Howe

The real menace in dealing with a five-year-old is that in no time at all you begin to sound like a five-year-old.
~Joan Kerr, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, 1957

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.
~Walt Streightiff

2006-07-06T03:51:00.001-07:00

National: What can be done?

Realistically, what can be done about this issue?
Problem: financing a system of high quality early childhood education
Solution: Since financing a system of early childhood education is pricey, states can draw money from direct revenue sources, which are sources that provide revenue to the government for spending on programs and individuals. Public education is primarily funded through local property taxes, so to increase the amount of funds available for early childhood education the government can: 1) increase property taxes, 2) earmark a larger percentage of local property tax dollars for funds, and 3) create a special taxing district to raise money. 3 In many states, the second largest source for early childhood education is general revenue from sales, income, and other taxes or fees levied by federal, state, and local governments. 2 Revenues generated from the state’s lottery and the tobacco settlement funds can also provide funds for public preschools. Also, since sales tax on tangible goods and excise tax (tax on certain goods such as tobacco and liquor) generate large amounts of revenue, a designated portion of the money can be used for early childhood education and development services, including parent education, training for providers, a public awareness campaign, and compensation improvement initiatives. 4

Problem: Head Start must be strengthened
Solution: A new accountability system for Head Start can be developed to ensure that every Head Start center assesses standards of learning in early literacy, language, and numeric skills. This assessment can hopefully bring attention to low quality Head Start centers and help promote change toward better quality. A national reporting system to collect data from every local center can also be created. The data can be used to target new efforts in staff training and program improvement to increase children’s early literacy and school readiness. A national training program can also be implemented with the goal of training the Head Start teachers in early literacy teaching techniques in order to meet these standards. Other training topics can include, fostering phonemic awareness, classroom arrangement to support a literacy rich environment, and basic resources and materials necessary in each classroom to promote literacy. 6 These trained teachers can then train future teachers.
Children Who Entered Head Start in 1997 Performed Far Below Average Upon Both Entering and Leaving Head Start.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/StrengthenHeadStart03/report.htm

Problem: limited alignment between what children do prior to school and what is expected of them once they are in school
Solution: To help eliminate this problem, a stronger Federal-State partnership in the delivery of quality early childhood programs can be developed. The states can establish quality criteria for early childhood education, including voluntary guidelines on pre-reading and language skills activities that align with State K-12 standards. 5 With this criteria in mind, early childhood educators will know what will be expected of children once they reach school and can create curriculum that will ensure that the children will succeed in kindergarten. In order to help states meet these criteria, the federal government will have to give the states more flexibility with their Federal child care funds. 7

Problem: There is not enough information for early childhood teachers, parents, and grandparents on ways to prepare children to be successful in school
Solution: To connect the best research and current practices in early childhood education, researchers can establish partnerships with early childhood program sites supported at Federal, State, and community levels. These researchers can “identify curricula that effectively promote language and cognitive development, early literacy, mathematics concepts and skills, while simultaneously developing children’s self-regulatory and social-emotional competencies, motivation, and positive attitudes toward learning.” 8 Also, the government can write guidebooks for parents, families, educators, and caregivers to provide more information and guidance.

What are the “powers at be” not doing? Why?
“Powers at be” are NOT:
• Making alignments between what children are doing before they enter school and what is expected of them once they are in school
• Ensuring that education research is being used to create quality curriculum
• Frequently evaluating early childhood education programs on how they prepare children to succeed in school
• Training teachers in early literacy techniques
The main reason why the “powers at be” are not taking the above actions is because government and society is just beginning to acknowledge and embrace early childhood education as a public responsibility and an important issue.

What impact could you have to change the current situation?
The following actions taken on a local level (as mentioned in an earlier blog entry) can also be done nationally:
• volunteer at public preschools like Head Start to decrease the number of teachers that need to be hired and paid
• donate toys and supplies so that the state can save money and spend it on other things such as training for teachers, more preschool facilities, and salaries.
• hold a fundraiser to raise money and donate it to a preschool education organization
• increase awareness of the importance of early childhood education by creating flyers with information about nearby public preschools and the benefits
People can also email the Bush Administration with their comments and opinions about this issue to comments@whitehouse.gov or to vice_president@whitehouse.gov to contact Vice President Richard Cheney directly. Or people can submit a question and have a live chat with one of the members of the Bush Administration at http://www.whitehouse.gov/interactive/

What do you foresee in the future if the solution(s) you’re advocating is/are implemented or if conditions continue in their present state indefinitely?
Children who do not receive quality early childhood education usually become dropouts and drain society through social services, welfare, criminal intervention and the like, rather than contributing to society. As the number of dropouts increase, the amount of state money spent trying to support them will escalate, thus causing less money to be spent on early childhood education. Also, according to longitudinal studies, those who do not attend preschool are more likely to repeat grades, be socially and emotionally immature, have failing grades, have low self-esteem, have more incidences of illegitimate pregnancy, drug abuse, and delinquent acts, and have lower employment rates and earnings. 1 If the number of children who do not attend preschool increases, then the future of our society will be in danger due to a declining number of successful adults.

Resources/Links
1 http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/3/topsyn3.html
2 http://www.naeyc.org/ece/critical/pdf/sales_taxes.pdf
3 http://www.naeyc.org/ece/critical/pdf/property_taxes.pdf
4 http://www.naeyc.org/ece/critical/pdf/financing.pdf
5 http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/sect1.html
6 http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/sect5.html
7 http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/sect6.html
8 http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/sect7.html

2006-07-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

National History of Preschools

Throughout the years, parents of every generation want the best opportunities for their children, and what better way to start off with than sending your child to preschool. Research from our nations statistics says that the vast majority of children’s learning occurs before age 5, but the vast majority of public funding is spent on their education beginning at age 5. (1)"State policy makers have been important leaders and decision-makers in the issues involving early childhood education, such as preschool. And since 1980, the amount of state-funded preschools around the nation had nearly quadrupled from 10 states, to 38. Early education is seen as a key part of a child’s developmental process for increasing their chances of success in kindergarten and on."
Many of the families living in our country are met with one too many hardships like, poverty, unemployment, and more. Children from families such as these should, more than anyone else, have a chance to have opportunities to exceed in life. (2)"Recognizing the importance of learning in these out-of-home experiences, more than 40 states invest in preschools—about $2 billion to serve about 765,000 children—often through targeted programs serving low-income and at-risk students. To ensure preschool programs are equipped to prepare children for kindergarten, states must also take steps to make sure these programs are of high quality.” Before 1960, there were only three states with programs. Since the late 1800s, Wisconsin allowed public school districts to enroll 4-year-olds in kindergarten and claim state aid. In 1903 New Jersey did the same. In 1949, Pennsylvania first permitted school districts to ‘maintain kindergartens for children aged 4 to 6,’ but did not provide any state funding. Between 1960 and 1970, four states created programs.

In 1965, Hawaii appropriated state money to expand Head Start. In 1966, California and New York established distinct half-day Pre-K programs with aims similar to Head Start. In 1968, Connecticut began to appropriate state funds for Head Start. During the 1970s, states created programs. In 1977, Alaska began a program modeled on Head Start. In 1978, Florida used state money to extend federal Title I Migrant Preschool programs, and both Maryland and Oklahoma started Pre-K programs. In the decade of the 1980s, 23 state programs began. In 1983, Maine and West Virginia permitted school districts to offer pre-kindergarten classes. In 1984, South Carolina and Texas started distinct Pre-K programs, followed in 1985 by Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, and Washington.

In 1986, Ohio and Massachusetts started Pre-K programs and Rhode Island began to fund Head Start. In 1987, Florida and New Jersey started new Pre-K programs in addition to the ones they already had, while Oregon and Vermont created their first programs. In 1988 and 1989, Colorado, Hawaii and Iowa started Pre-K programs and Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New Jersey began to appropriate state money for Head Start. In 1990, Kentucky launched its Pre- K program within the state’s comprehensive education reform act (KERA)
In the last decade of the 20th century, 21 states took action. In 1991, Arizona, Arkansas, Minnesota, and New Mexico started Pre-K programs and Wisconsin began to fund Head Start. In 1992, Nebraska began a Pre-K program. In 1993, Georgia started its Pre-K program and North Carolina launched Smart Start. They were joined by Delaware in 1994 and Virginia in 1995. In 1996 New Jersey re-designed and expanded its Pre-K program and Alabama launched a pilot preschool program. In 1997, Connecticut and Rhode Island started Pre-K programs.

In 1998, Missouri passed preschool legislation with funding beginning in 1999, Tennessee appropriated funding for its Pre-K program first legislated in 1996, and Kansas began a Pre-K program and appropriated funds for Head Start. Also in 1998, Oklahoma expanded its existing Pre-K program to all 4-year-olds. In 1999, Nevada appropriated funds to renovate several school buses to become mobile preschool classrooms.

In 2000, North Carolina and Texas appropriated state funds for Head Start, Alabama failed in an attempt to secure lottery funding to expand its Pre- K program and legislation on preschool was introduced, but did not pass, in Mississippi. At the beginning of 2001, only 9 states are without any state-funded Pre-K program. These are Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. The Governor of Indiana has proposed to budget $50 million for activities including preschool, Head Start and full-day kindergarten.

1. Education Week, Quality Counts 2002: Building Blocks for Success, State Efforts in Early Childhood Education (Bethesda, Md.: Education Week, 2002).

2. Marx, Fern and Michelle Seligson. (1988) Final reports of the Public School Early Childhood Study: The State Survey. New York: Bank Street College.

LINKS:
1 http://nieer.org/yearbook/
2 Preschool Facts Sheet
3 http://www.tennesseepolicy.org
4 http://www.hel-earlyed.org/
5 http://www.naeyc.org/

2006-06-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hawaii's Current Quality of Public, Preschool Education

Simply put, the current situation of Hawaii's Public Preschools (a.k.a. Head Start) is not at it's best. It tends to lack in quality education, federal funding, and availability. It does assist many children by giving them a bit of a better foundation for school, and meanwhile acting as a daycare, but it doesn't really seem to have any real impact on the child's education or well-being.

The very ambitious goals of Head Start have decreased since it's proposal in the sixties. Originally, it had seven main goals: ¹
1. to improve the child's physical health
2. to improve the child's mental development and skills
3. to improve the child's emotional and social development
4. to establish the child's expectancy to succeed
5. to boost confidence
6. to improve the child's family relations
7. to establish a feeling of responsibility to society

Now it is simply focused on the general goal of "increasing the social competence of children from low-income families". ¹ Depending on the Head Start program, this goal seems to be more often met than not, yet this doesn't necessarily mean the children are receiving a good-quality education. This could be due to the fact that the teachers aren't qualified or simply because this is not the emphasis of the program. Either way, the quality of real learning seems to be lacking.

The lack of government funding for these programs is also a large setback. A Star Bulletin article says that the Head Start programs "have waiting lists due to lack of adequate federal grants". ² There are a little over three thousand chidren in Hawaii that are currently enrolled in Head Start, ³ yet it is not even an option for everyone. Not only does this show lack of federal funds, but it also contradicts the whole idea of a public program because it is not accessible to all families.

For all of these reasons, the quality of Hawaii's public preschool education is not up to par. While it does have some good qualities and better prepare some children for kindergarten, it doesn't have a very large, or positive, effect overall.

¹ http://www.ilheadstart.org/goals.html
² http://starbulletin.com/2005/11/30/news/story10.html
³ http://www.cwla.org/advocacy/statefactsheets/2006/hawaii.htm

2006-06-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

QUALITY OF LOCAL PUBLIC PRESCHOOLS

What should be done?
Problem: Attracting and Maintaining Qualified Staff
Solution: To attract and maintain qualified staff for Hawaii’s public preschools the government must improve teacher compensation. It is noted that preschool teachers earn much less than teachers in the state public schools. Preschool teachers only earn a mean hourly wage of about $13.00 while public school teachers earn a mean hourly wage of $19.40. This is a significant difference in wages of about $6.40. Preschool teachers cannot earn a proper living. Therefore, the salary should be increased drastically. Preschool teachers should be earning just as much as public school teachers. A rise in pay would no longer deter applicants from a position as a preschool teacher.
Also, to retain qualified staff, the government should start compensation initiatives. Compensation initiatives are programs that increase the benefits of early education teachers based on their attainment in education, their qualifications. This means that there would be a salary raise or bonus to those preschool teachers that earn a college degree or other special credential. To ensure that all public preschools have quality educators the government should provide the funds for teachers to attend special classes and get a college degree. University of Hawaii West Oahu has just begun offering a bachelor’s degree program in early childhood education meaning that the classes are now easily available. University of Hawaii West Oahu isn’t the only university offering this program, Chaminade also has this program. If the government were to fund this new initiative for better qualifications it would dramatically change the preschools. Most preschools if not all will have better learning environments, which will be created by more qualified teachers.

Problem: Lack of Attendance by Preschoolers
Solution: Currently, many three and four year olds aren’t attending preschool programs because of insufficient funds. Two-thirds of the jobs in Hawaii do not pay enough to meet the minimum level of income needed to support a family. On Oahu alone, less than fifty percent of three and four year olds have the finances to attend preschool. This is not only a problem on Oahu but on the neighboring islands as well. To get children to start attending preschool the state must supply the funds for all the needy children. This means that the state needs to start creating more public preschool facilities. Creating more public preschool facilities would allow the vast population of low-income children to attend preschool. Thus, there would become a need for additional preschool facilities.
To raise the attendance of three and four year olds in public preschool programs the public should also be made aware of the need for early childhood education. It is crucial for children to receive early childhood education because it gives them a head start into learning. Most children entering into public schools are years behind in learning. Therefore, the government should promote early childhood education through commercials and other advertisements or messages.

Problem: Need for Additional Preschool Facilities
Solution: Once all the children in every community begin attending public preschools there would be a tremendous need for and increase of preschool facilities. Thus, the state needs to start looking into expanding the number of preschools on the island. The state should use their funds to build new preschools in open state land. Another option would be to renovate old facilities to create better classrooms and better learning environments for the children. Many facilities are rundown and could use a renovation.
Since land is sometimes hard to find, the state could also place preschools within other state buildings. The state could combine preschools and public school buildings to create more early education centers. This could be a positive move to link the early education programs with the primary education programs. Linking these two programs would enable to children to smoothly transition into higher learning opportunities.

What should be done on the governmental level to help alleviate the “problems” this issue is creating?
-Create funding for preschools
-Create a board for early education
-Raise the salary of preschool teachers
-Recruit preschool teachers
-Provide training for preschool teachers
-Build and renovate facilities
-Raise awareness of the need for early childhood education
-Get the communities involved in early childhood education initiatives

What should be done on a societal level to help alleviate the “problems” this issue is creating?
-Donate money to preschools
-Donate learning tools/supplies to preschools
-Volunteer at community preschools
-Form associations advocating early childhood education

2006-06-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Quality of Local Public Preschools: What can be done?

Realistically what can be done about this issue?
Problem: lack of quality teachers
Solution: Even if the legislature immediately provided $60 million to $75 million necessary for universal preschool, the state’s preschools do not have nearly the capacity or enough qualified teachers to cover the children. The primary reason Hawaii cannot attract and retain early childhood education teachers is low wages. In fact, qualified individuals can make more money waiting on tables than they can teaching preschool. If the state shifts investment in remedial education, welfare, and crime prevention to early childhood education, some of this money can be used to increase wages for teachers.
Perhaps the education administration could create new administrative rules so preschools would get paid more money for accepting Open Door children as a financial initiative to build capacity and improve teacher quality. Financial incentives for preschools that voluntarily implement higher quality standards can be created as well. To ensure that the children are only taught by quality teachers, higher standards for teacher qualification can also be put in place. Also, new training strategies such as online courses can be developed to make it easier for working teachers to become proficient in early childhood education.

Problem: money/state resources
Solution: The state spends millions and millions of dollars on remedial education, a growing prison population, welfare benefits and crime prevention. Instead, the state could shift societal investments from reactive polices such as those mentioned above to proactive solutions that will increase access to quality early childhood education. There is even research to support that investing in the education of young children will actually save Hawaii up to seven times as much as is spent. They must establish priorities and develop a long-range plan to properly fund programs.
Public-private partnerships for early childhood education can also be created. There can be a sliding fee based on the full cost of quality preschool programs and can be funded by the state. This partnership will be a funding strategy that could take advantage of existing resources provided by the private sector and have the efficiency of working through the private sector. Although there is a sliding fee, the public preschools and the state can benefit from the partnership because they do not have to pay any additional money for the facility and will perhaps save more money and time due to the private sectors’ expertise in business.

*Nothing will come cheap, but if our government leaders can raise the billions dollars necessary to build a rail/mass transit system that will have questionable benefits, then they should be able to raise the money to fund an early childhood education system with proven benefits.

Problem: need for additional preschool facilities
Solution: Use state funds to construct facilities located at existing public elementary schools, and funding to run the programs can come from the federal and private sources.

What are the “powers to be” not doing? Why?
“Powers to be” are NOT:
• making major new investments in programs for young children
• acknowledging and embracing early childhood education as a public responsibility
• creating a real system that ensures access to early education and helps families make sense of the many options that are available to them
• making a commitment to systematically train, hire, and retain qualified teachers
The main reason why the “powers to be” are not taking action to improve the quality of public preschools in the state is the lack of money and resources.

What impact could you have to change the current situation?
• volunteer at public preschools like Head Start to decrease the number of teachers that need to be hired and paid
• donate toys and supplies so that the state can save money and spend it on other things such as training for teachers, more preschool facilities, and salaries.
• hold a fundraiser to raise money and donate it to a preschool education organization
• increase awareness of the importance of early childhood education by creating flyers with information about nearby public preschools and the benefits

What do you foresee in the future if the solution(s) you’re advocating is/are not implemented or if conditions continue in their present state indefinitely?
Kindergarten teachers say that half of their students enter their class up to two years behind, and often these students never catch up. According to Liz Chun, executive director of Good Beginnings Alliance, these children are likely to be the dropouts of tomorrow. Since success in school is perhaps the number one measure of success in life, children who do not receive quality education drain society through social services, welfare, criminal intervention and the like, rather than contributing to society. As the number of dropouts increases, the amount of state money spent trying to support them will escalate, thus causing less money to be spent on early childhood education.

2006-06-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

HISTORY: Hawaii Preschools

The quality of the Public Preschool systems in Hawaii have been less than many participants have hoped for. Indeed programs like the Open Door Project have helped many needy families around the island in paving their children’s futures, and preparing them for years to come. Yet despite all efforts put into programs like this, the programs are still in need of more funds and improvement in quality.

It may seem as though state funded preschools have been around for a great deal of time, but it was only until over a decade ago that the Hawaii Preschool Open Door Project had started. The project is headed in a great direction with wonderful aspirations, but it is in a great need of funding and improvements. Open Doors was established in 1989-90 in order to help low-income families provide their preschool children with 1+ years of preschool to help then in their successes in kindergarten and on. The Preschool Open Doors Project gives low-income parents of 3-4 year olds to an amount of $425 per month to afford preschool. Hawaii’s Preschool Open Door Project enables children to attend full day early care and education programs. And as of this year, the Hawaii State Government will spend an additional $5 million each year to help low and middle income families afford preschool for their children. As of now, more than 825 children now attend preschool through the help of Open Doors. The State predicts that with the money that will be given, the enrollment will expand the program by 1,000 children. But right now, there are not enough preschool slots available to handle the extra 1,000 children.

In Hawaii’s recent past, Govenor Ben Cayetano had given an effort to improve the public preschool system. With the addition of new buildings with free rent, free furniture, free curriculum, mostly free tuition for their students, and a seven-year contract to boot, Cayetano seemed to really want the improvements to work. To make things even better, 26 public elementary schools had given up a portion of their campus to house a portable or trailer with a playground and had maintenance done. But even with these improvements, Governor Cayetano did not fulfill all that he promised in his 2001 State of the State address. He stated that only federal and private money would be used to support the Pre-Plus preschool initiative to provide universal preschool for about 8,000 3- and 4-year-olds. However, the Legislature in the 2001 session appropriated $100,000 for administration and $5 million in construction funds over the next two years for the Department of Human Services for these 26 sites to service 500 children. So in reality, 8,000 students would instead require 400 classrooms, with 20 per class, and $77 million for facilities alone if this plan were to be fully accomplished.

Looking back at the recent history of improving our public preschool system, we can see that it is a much more difficult task to carry out than it seems. It is an ambitious idea to think that the quality of the preschool education system will be magically fixed with money. It is our job as a community to think of more realistic ways to improve the system in combination with the help of additional state funds.