Last month, Ed Week published a commentary, "Ending Early Learning's Haphazard Transitions," that cited a new program in Pennyslvania putting together two groups of people who don’t normally connect: directors of early childhood programs and elementary school principals. The piece was written by Harriet Dichter, Pennsylvania's newly appointed secretary of public welfare; Robert C. Hughes, president and CEO of the National Institute for School Leadership; and Gerald Zahorchak, Pennsylvania's secretary of education.
This spring 50 school leaders graduated from a trial run of the program, called the Early Childhood Executive Leadership Institute. The point of the program is to help leaders think about new ways to connect the early childhood field (often envisioned as birth to age 5) and the elementary school world (typically K-3).
For this podcast, we spoke with Secretary Dichter about why Pennsyvlania saw a need for this program, how it can bridge divides that hamper the ability to build high-quality systems of education for young children, and what policy changes Dichter thinks are critical to create those systems.
Early Ed Watch podcast -- May 14, 2010
Bringing Principals and Preschool Directors Together
With our guest Harriet Dichter, Secretary of Public Welfare, Pennsylvania
Please log in below through Disqus, Twitter or Facebook to participate in the conversation. Your email address, which is required for a Disqus account, will not be publicly displayed. If you sign in with Twitter or Facebook, you have the option of publishing your comments in those streams as well.
The Early Education Initiative seeks to promote a high-quality and continuous system of early care and education for all children, birth to age 8. While much of our focus is on pre-K up through 3rd grade, we also examine the need for high-quality infant and toddler care and better policies to support new parents.
Our forum on LinkedIn is a space for school district leaders, early childhood educators, policymakers and other interested parties to discuss their struggles, questions and achievements in creating a “before birth and up through third grade” system. It grew out of an event held at the New America Foundation on March 2, 2011.
Join the Conversation
Please log in below through Disqus, Twitter or Facebook to participate in the conversation. Your email address, which is required for a Disqus account, will not be publicly displayed. If you sign in with Twitter or Facebook, you have the option of publishing your comments in those streams as well.