Early Education

On November 5, 2010, Lisa Guernsey of the Early Education Initiative facilitated a panel on PreK-3^rd strategies at the National Ed Trust Conference in Arlington, Va.

Early mathematics and the concept of “executive function” should command more attention as researchers explore how children learn, according to Deborah J. Stipek, dean of Stanford University’s education school. Her remarks were part of a forum last month to mark the 10^th anniversary of the influential book, Neurons to Neighborhoods. 

The education reform strategy known as PreK-3rd was featured at three national conferences last week, and the Early Education Initiative was fortunate to be part of each. Our slides for the first two are now online:

Recently, there’s been quite a bit of controversy surrounding Arizona’s treatment of children who do not speak proficient English when they enter the school system. As Early Ed Watch noted in August, a court case and series of reports on Arizona’s dual language learners* have generated debate that is exacerbated by tension surrounding illegal immigration.

On November 4, 2010, Lisa Guernsey of the Early Education Initiative was part of a panel on PreK-3rd grade education at the National Black Child Development Institute's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. (The event was also part of the National Association for the Education of Young Children's annual conference.)

On November 3, 2010, Lisa Guernsey of the Early Education Initiative gave a presentation at the annual meeting of the National Association for the Education of Young Children in Anaheim, Calif. Her remarks were part of a three-hour forum titled, "Bridging the divide between pre-K and K-3 to ensure long-term school and program success," hosted by Cheryl Roberts, for the Source for Learning, Inc.

It may take awhile to feel the full effect of the mid-term Congressional elections, but that didn’t stop several experts at an education forum in Washington, D.C. today from offering a bleak outlook on the chances for changes to one key education law: the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

With 1698 proposals for Investing in Innovation (i3) grants – and only $650 million to award – it was inevitable that the U.S. Department of Education couldn’t possibly fund all of the good ideas. In fact it funded less than three percent of the proposals—49 in all.

A new report by three early childhood researchers provides a blunt assessment of what they see as the ineffectiveness of current strategies for improving pre-k quality and makes suggestions for a new approach. The report, Lifting Pre-K Quality: Caring and Effective Teachers, focuses on the need to move on from so-called input-based strategies (i.e. requiring bachelor’s degrees for preschool teachers) to strategies that have more evidence of positive impact on children.

A few weeks ago, the Pew Home Visiting Campaign announced grants for 12 new research projects to pinpoint what works in home visiting programs. The studies, which will be conducted around the country, are designed to provide answers to a multitude of questions, such as how to involve fathers in these programs, what kinds of tools work best to evaluate their quality, and what kind of intensity (how many visits per month? how long should the visits be?) makes a lasting impact on children's growth and development.  (Go here for a list of the 12 grant winners.)

As most readers of this blog know, home visiting programs send professionals to the homes of pregnant women and mothers of very young children, offering guidance about nutrition and health and how to support their children's development, month by month. The programs, which are usually administered by local government agencies or non-profit organizations, are targeted to women who are low-income or otherwise disadvantaged. Some of them are aimed specifically at first-time mothers. The passage of the health care bill in March provided a new stream of federal funding for these kinds of programs if they can show, via scientific studies, that they are effective.

For this podcast, we spoke with Jill Antonishak, research manager for the Pew program, to hear what we might learn from the new studies.