Early Ed Watch

A Blog from New America's Early Education Initiative

 

Early Learning in ESEA, Part 2: Looking at "School Improvement"

  • By
  • Lisa Guernsey
February 8, 2010

Welcome to our continuing conversation about reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In a previous post today, we wrote about some broad recommendations for changing the law to better support early learning programs.

Now we are looking for hints of what the administration might support and how exactly to make those changes happen. 

Issues:
Programs:

Early Learning in ESEA, Part 1: Generating Ideas

  • By
  • Lisa Guernsey
February 8, 2010

Will this be the year for the long overdue reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the law known for many years as No Child Left Behind? Speculation over that possibility has been swirling for months in education policy circles, and those who focus on early education are among the throngs on the edge of their seats.

We are watching with interest, hope and genuine concern as the U.S. Department of Education sends signals about what it would like to see in the law.

This week, for example, we got some big hints but few details as President Obama released his budget request for fiscal year 2011. For example, the Department of Education wants to rename Title I, Part A (the largest funding source for schools with disadvantaged students). The title it suggests: College and Career Ready Students.

Issues:
Programs:

Willingham: Why We Have to Teach Children *Content* Too

  • By
  • Lisa Guernsey
February 8, 2010

Dan Willingham, one of our favorite cognitive scientists, wrote a lucid critique last week of a recent New York Times op-ed that called for a more of what many people consider progressive education principles. The op-ed, by Susan Engel, director of the teaching program at Williams College, probably struck a chord with many early educators, and parts of it made a lot of sense. It argued that teachers should be encouraged to devote more time to reading stories aloud and having children do the same. It argued that student shouldn't be taught to memorize lists of facts or "isolated mathematical formulas."

What Engel's piece didn't do, however, was talk about the rich foundation of content that children should be exposed to.

Issues:
Programs:

Our Podcast Debut: A Conversation About Early Learning Councils

  • By
  • Lisa Guernsey
February 4, 2010
Publication Image

This week, we are joining the ranks of wonky podcasters with our debut edition of the bi-weekly Early Ed Watch podcast. On this recording, we interview our very own Christina Satkowski, author of The Next Step in Systems-Building: Early Childhood Councils and Federal Efforts to Promote Policy Alignment in Early Childhood.

Issues:
Programs:

Obama’s FY11 Budget Requests a Boost for Early Childhood Programs

  • By
  • Lisa Guernsey
February 2, 2010

Poring over budgets is not typically a fun exercise in hard economic times, especially for those in early childhood fields who typically see cuts. But Obama’s budget offers a real contrast. Under the administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011, child care programs and Head Start would both receive a significant boost in funding.

Issues:
Programs:

As Math Experience Equals '0' in Some Pre-K Classrooms, Committee Urges More

  • By
  • Maggie Severns
February 1, 2010
Publication Image

As Early Ed Watch has noted, it’s about time we started paying as much attention to young children’s math skills as we do their reading. America’s kids lag behind most developed nations in their math achievement, and for the first time since 1990, the 2009 NAEP Nation’s Report Card showed no progress on the national average math score among 4th graders.

The importance of teaching math in preschool and elementary school is often overlooked. Last Wednesday on Capitol Hill, however, the issue took center stage as experts from the Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics, a research committee formed by The National Academies,  came together to speak about their research and policy recommendations for improving math skills among young children.
Issues:
Programs:

In Los Angeles, A Glimpse of Possible Changes to Head Start

January 29, 2010
Publication Image

Today we feature a guest post from Linda Jacobson, veteran education reporter and author of our recent policy paper, "On the Cusp in California."

This month, the Office of Head Start announced a new plan called the “Roadmap to Excellence” to improve the quality of its programs, and Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, the director of the Office of Head Start, has been making the rounds to promote it.
Issues:
Programs:

What Obama Did -- and Didn't -- Say About Education in 'State of the Union'

  • By
  • Sara Mead
January 28, 2010
Publication Image

President Obama said relatively little about education (and nothing about pre-k or early childhood) in his State of the Union address last night—and most of that focused on higher education—disappointing some education observers who had expected to hear more about the administration’s agenda for Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization. D.C.

Issues:
Programs:

Obama's Tax Credit for Child Care and 3 Hypothetical Families

  • By
  • Lisa Guernsey
January 27, 2010
Publication Image

For most working parents with young children, a big proportion of their household budget is dedicated to the cost of child care or preschool.Enrolling a 4-year-old in a full-day childcare center costs, on average, between $4,000 and $12,000 a year, depending on where you live.

Issues:
Programs:

Recess Before Lunch

  • By
  • Lisa Guernsey
January 27, 2010
Publication Image

Tara Parker-Pope's column in the New York Times this week provides such a smart, sensible idea that it's a wonder it's a story at all. Her piece focuses on elementary schools that have shifted their daily routines to enable most children to go outside to play earlier, rather than later, in the day.

Issues:
Programs:
Syndicate content