The importance of a preschool program: I feel that every child should have to attend a preschool program just like every other grade. Preschool is just as important, but a lot of people do not feel so! I agree when the book stated, "Preschool offers children from disadvantaged backgrounds a chance to start kindergarten on equal footing with their more privileged peers." That is so true! You can really pick the students out of a kindergarten classroom who did not participate in a preschool program! My cousin went to LaFayette Christian School for a 3 year old program. When she started pre-k she knew how to write her name, how to count (even in Spanish to 10), her colors, shapes, and abc's. I realize that is not an option for some people because of the cost, but some kids enter kindergarten without knowing any of those skills! It's frustrating in, I know Troup County, because people know the importance of PreK but then their child doesn't get in. For low income families, they cannot turn to a PreK program at LCS, St. Marks, or Montessori because of the cost!
You make a good point about the private pre-k programs in Troup County. I never realized how expensive these programs were until my nephew started attending Montessori! While it is a great program every family cannot afford these types of programs. Most of the time it is very obvious in kindergarten to look at the students can pinpoint which students attended some form of pre-k program and the students who are coming to school for the first time. With all the standards kindergarten must cover what I really wonder is, do we ever allow the students who start school with a disadvantage to ever catch up?
I agree that Montessori is really good place to educate your child. As a mom of a child who goes to Montessori for over a year, I can say I realized a remarkable development of my daughter. She came to America when her 3rd birthday. And she started her Montessori from 6 weeks later. She had never learned English before even alphabets, moreover, I think she had never thought about existing another language in the world. Now..? She can communicate with American friends, read books and write a card to teachers and friends in English, of course she can speak, read and write Koreans very well too. Whenever I hear her speaking in English, I wonder how she knows those kinds of expressions. I totally trust Montessori education and teachers in Lagrange because I believe that they are offering proper education for children.
I agree that Montessori is great! I have researched it as a possible option for my son in a few years. Unfortunately, the students who really need a head start cannot afford Montessori. If they do not get into public PreK, they stay home and learn nothing.
I was surprised and sad to read that the Head Start program has not shown the projected and hoped for results. I know that promising studies had shown that preschool for those families with lower incomes would provide a big payback for the community as well hope of future academic success for the children. The information about the Head Start program causes me to wonder if the favorable data on preschool programs was due to the nature of the family sending the children to preschool. I am sure most of these moms were educated and working a good-paying job since they could afford preschool programs.
Both of my children attended Montessori, and I agree that it is a great program. I did much research before deciding on Montessori and found the teaching methods to line up with my beliefs about educating children. I was attracted to the independence of the children and the learning atmosphere of the school. I am grateful that my children could be a part of this program.
I am with everyone one on the importance of preschool. I was delighted to see that a Measure of America mentioned Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ). In 1990 Canada started an elementary school in Harlem that included the social supports necessary for severe at risk students to succeed. The social supports start with Canada's social workers going into the Harlem projects to locate pregnant girls to enroll their babies into his baby school. The mothers and fathers if available are taught parenting skills prior to their baby’s birth and are continued until their child is in preschool. In addition to the elementary and preschool Canada started a middle school, but had to close it after several years of terrible performance on the New York state assessments. The significance of this is the middle school students came out of the local Harlem schools. They were behind and it was too late even for his middle school with a lottery system, rigorous curriculum, and high quality teachers to turn them around. Once his babies (products of the baby school) arrived to middle school their results where on or above state average. This social experiment demonstrates that high risk students from socioeconomic communities can perform with the necessary supports. If you are interested Whatever it Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America by Paul Tough does a great job describing HCZ
There is the Montessori sistem also in Mexico and I know that Montessori is considered a "Child Centered" approach to education. This means that the materials used and the lessons given are appropriate for the individual child. The children are carefully observed to see when they are ready to move on and then new lessons/materials/works are presented. Each child is allowed to work at their own pace in order to master skills/works/materials. I think that is very different form the "traditional teaching" but I have seen a lot of good results with that method... I think that Montessori is a good way for small kids, not for old kids.
I agree that preschool should be a mandatory grade level for children because it really helps them understand what school is and how to handle being away from parents for large periods of time and how to be around other children their age. These are things that some children don't experience until theyre in kindergarten and it puts them very far behind the other children who did go to preK. Kindergarten teachers have a very diverse group of students and it would be better if all children came to kindergarten with some background in schooling.
I agree that a mandated pre-k program would be a great solution and really help those who are behind in the necessary skills to be successful in kindergarten. Danny, I also enjoyed reading about the Harlem Children’s Zone and what Geoggrey Canada has to say in regards to pulling children from the bottom up. I think it's really encouraging to hear that high risk students from socioeconomic communities can perform with the proper support!
After reading part 2 of chapter 3 my main focus was on Preschool Education as well. What really shocked me was when the book stated, "Many young children receive care from adults other than their parents, but only one in two American children ages 3 and 4 are enrolled in institutional preschool." This shocked me! I know personally how pre-k can influence a child. Before attending public kindergarten I attended St.Marks preschool for 2 years. If I had not attended a preschool program I really feel like I would have struggled as a lot of students in kindergarten and first grade do. I am an only child and although my parents worked with with me academically at home, preschool really helped me to develop socially. The preschool program also helped me to improve academically and I can remember going into kindergarten being able to write my name and a lot of the concepts that many students did not have the advantage of learning yet. The interaction with the other students really helped me to develop, but also prepared me for public kindergarten. I really feel like we should consider beginning a public pre-k program like other countries have started so that all students can attend. As we talked about in class Tuesday, some students come into kindergarten not knowing how to hold a pencil and some may not have ever colored with crayons or colored pencils. It is really sad that some students come into kindergarten in this way because their family may not have been financially able to enroll their child in a pre-k program. Pre-K would be a great way to prepare our students!
I too agree we should have universal prek. I think a major problem is that not all preschools are created equal. Preschool teachers are paid the lowest saleries out of all the teachers in Troup County. Because of funding preschool started a month after K-12 which made the teachers lose a month of pay. Many of my k students attended preschool at their daycares. I don't know this for a fact but I am fairly certain their preschool prgrams are not equal to those in the public school or private ones like St. Marks. I worked in a day care that had a preschool program. While it was fairly good, the teachers were not certified, they had not completed a 4 year degree in early childhood education. And they definitely were not paid like a certified teacher. Preschool teachers don't make as much money as other teachers. This means your aren't going to attract teachers with higher education and training for these positions. I think preschool needs to be funded the same as k-12 instead of from the lottery. This will allow the preschool cirriculum to align with k-12 standards and ensure all children have a highly qualified teacher in each classroom.
I think of my hometown (and I am sure it's the same in other places) when mothers go line up and sleep outside of the pre-k registration site when it's time to sign up for pre-k. I think it is sad that mothers have to go to that extreme to get their child into pre-k. It has made me wonder though...can those mothers afford to put their children in a different prek? If they can, I feel that they should and leave more room for mothers who can't afford to send their children elsewhere.
I do agree that pre-school does give kids a head start on school. I was surprized to see that Georgia is only one in three states that has universal pre-k. I know that this is due to lottery funded pre-school programs. I also know that these programs have had to be cut in recent years causing kids to spend less time in pre-k and cutting teacher's pay.
During the reading in Measure of America I thought it was interesting when the book stated that "access to knowledge has not occurred evenly across the population". We generally assume that well it is a public school system everyone has to go. But then in my reflection I also started thinking about the advantages students in a pre-k program have in school. During my lab experiences throughout my undergrad, I will never forget there were parents lining up outside the school with tents and camping chairs. I asked my cooperating teacher what was going on and she told me that parents would camp for up to two days to ensure their child a spot in the pre-k program. She said that parents would trade off standing in line with other family members and friends to make sure their place was not lost. This was the first time I realized how competitive it is to get your child in a public pre-k program. Yes, there are other places to put your child in pre-k, but those places have a tuition that not all families can pay. Therefore, this means the diversity of the access to knowledge starts out way beyond students can even make decisions for themselves. As the curriculum advances I think it is so important not to leave the students behind that are starting "three steps behind". After all, these children are too young to decide their fate and they should not be punished for being born into a disadvanteged lifestyle. As these students enter school they should have every opportunity the students have had that are "three steps ahead". Page 135 states "For every $1 invested into a high-quality preschool education, a community on average gains between $6 and $10 in value in the forms of things like reduced cost from incarceration and higher tax revenues from greater earnings later in life". WOW! We have all of the research infront of us of the advantages we would have to improve our educational system. Things like teacher quality, smaller class sizes, improving reading skills, etc. Some may think that not all of this can be done, but it is a slow, evolving process in the everchanging educational system and changes starts with us as educators. Even though we may have larger classes, less time for planning, testing pressures, etc. We should do the best we can to give every student the opportunity they deserve. I think on page 151 this statement sums up the issues we see today as "no one should be priced out of education".
I just finished dealing with preK options for my son who just "graduated" from his prek class. I am now having to decide how to best prepare my daughter. It is amazing to me how intense I became over the decision of what preK program to put my children through. But my logic was this: There are educated chinese working assembling iPads for 22$ a day. They are even required to purchase their bottled water for breaks becuase a water fountain is not something provided in the factory. My son and daughter will have to compete with this person. A near median grade at an average school in america is not competitive at the international level. If they are to have a better chance then starting them ahead and keeping them ahead is the single most important thing I can do so they have the best possibility for the opportunity to chose the life they want to live. Education must start home...
Jana, I can picture in my head the parents outside of schools with tents trying to get their child a spot in a PreK program! That right there should tell people something... WE NEED MORE PREK CLASSES FOR THESE BABIES!! I have to say, those are some very dedicated parents! The sad part is, some, if not most, are the ones who cannot afford a PreK program somewhere that isn't a public school so they have no choice but to stand in line for days!
I agree education must begin in the home. The parents are the first teachers for their children. Reading to children even before they can hold a book on their own is one of the smartest choices parents can make. We know from research that vital learning happens before age five. Yet, for many years, policy makers and education leaders have been working to “fix” public education while overlooking the demonstrated benefits of pre-kindergarten education. To ensure that all children fulfill their potential as individuals, we must re-imagine public education as a system that begins not with kindergarten, but with quality pre-k, and builds on that foundation to raise performance in later grades. This is why pre-k matters.
The reading talks about the importance of preschool education. More importantly, this chapter talks about the benefits preschool has on disadvantaged students. Preschool allows disadvantaged students "equal footing with their more privileged peers" (p. 135). Unfortunately, these are the students who are not getting to go to preschool. The PreK lottery in Georgia prevents many students from attending PreK. Parents could send their children to private PreK programs and only have to pay a small amount each week for lunch. For some families, this is unrealistic. There is also the problem with transportation. If a child attends PreK in a public school, they can ride the bus to school and have free or reduced lunch. These things are not options in a private PreK. If this is a critical grade for students, why not make it more available?
While reading Measure of America, the quote that most stuck with me was "For every dollar invested in high-quality preschool education, a community on average gains $6 to $10 in value in the form of things like reduced costs from incarceration and higher tax revenues from greater earnings later in life." Preventative measures are always more beneficial. If we would just spend a little more to ensure universal preschool, we could cut down on some of the other costs when these children grow up.
There are too many students that enter highschool unprepared. We can't expect highschool teachers to make up for the lack of knowledge and ability their students have. I'm sure many students choose to drop out because their classes are too hard for them and they can't keep up. Measure of America states "many of these warning signs appear long before the high school years." Early childhood and elementary education is so important. A students educational foundation starts in preschool. Sadly, many teachers in high needs schools are the ones who have the least experience. I am so thankful I started teaching in an affuluent school. I know I am much more prepared now that I am teaching in a very low income school. I have friends who taught through NY teaching fellows (similar to Teach for America) and they were thrown into a high needs schools with no training and hardly any support from their principals. Teachers need training, high needs students will benefit the most from experienced teachers. If we want our to lower the dropout rate we must address deficiences and look for warning signs when the students are young. Methods focused on prevention could keep students from falling through the cracks and being promoted when they really shouldn't be.
Measure of America states, “more than a quarter of high school freshmen do not graduate in four year, if they graduate at all” (p. 150). That’s what stood out to me is “the silent epidemic” high school dropout rates. Students from low-income families are more likely to drop out of school than are children from middle-high income families. The decision to drop out of school does not happen overnight; it comes after years of frustration and failure. Some students start high school poorly prepared by their earlier schooling. Many of these students likely fell behind in elementary and middle school and could not make up the necessary ground. This is why early childhood education is so important. Children need a strong foundation which begins in the preschool years. While there are no simple solutions to the dropout crisis, there can be “supports” that can be provided within the academic environment and at home that would improve students’ chances of staying in school.
I agree with you Carolyn! We should build up a foundation that begins in the preschool age. It is sad that students feel so far behind that their only option is to drop out of high school. We should really stress the importance of a firm foundation in the preschool years because I really feel that it is important!
Carolyn, I agree with you about the decision to drop out of school not happening overnight. I think some students start to consider dropping out while they are in middle school when the curriculum gets more advanced and they fall farther behind. Suddenly, school makes them feel bad about themselves. And who wants to go somewhere everyday where you feel like it's not the place for you and you don't see a benefit? I don't blame some students for feeling this way. It is important to have CHOICES about what type of education you want. Many students do NOT want to go to college, and the more the education system pushes this myth that everyone should go to college, the more some students will feel disenfranchised from the system. Our high schools should offer more paths to graduation to meet the needs of all of our students!
Just to throw out something completely crazy...what if secondary education was not mandetory. Then we could focus on setting high goals that will excell in preparing students for college and ultimately competition in a global market. To those who did not want to complete high school they could go into the trade of their choice and recieve proper certification in that field. To recieve governmental support (wellfare, food stamps, ect.) you would need to either finish high school or have completed an "apprenticeship" and recived a certification. If you are missing one of these then you would not have access to government assistance. I know that this idea is so generally stated that there are plently of problems. I do wonder if it would mbe a step toward a place where we could develope "real world opportunities people have to live in ways they themselves value and freely choose, and the extent to which they are able to realize their potential."
I think pre school should be revamped. There should be one based on need. All students entering pre school are not at the same level.We do need to catch students up before they are too far behind. If we continue to have all the students mixed in the same class we will continue to have gaps in the learning: students who know how to hold pencils, students who know how to hold a book correctly, and students who know letter sounds/words.Also we need to have more preschool programs with highly qualified teachers to meet the needs all students.
I agree with Jean about revamping pre-school and finding qualified teachers to teach pre-schools. Don't get me wrong, I think there are wonderful teachers out there, but some teachers do not have a teaching degree and are teaching. I think it's important for these individuals to have taken educational classes because it prepares a teacher on how to understand schooling, students, parents, and the educational aspect. I feel that I am better connected with education because I took educational classes in my undergrad. For those that have come back to school with a degree in a different area and come back to teach find it difficult to understand the teaching without experience and educational classes. We can all teach, but I think it is best that we have a degree in it before someone gives a teaching job to someone who doesn't have a degree in it. And, for some pre-schools, they're mostly used as a day-care for parents, depending on what type of school, and it's unfortunate because at this age we can do so much as educators to prepare our babies for school.
It seems to me in all the literature we have been reading since these classes started is a common thread to underachieving in education has alot to do with funding, teacher knowledge, and socio economic staus. It seems to me that there is enough evidence out there for our state governments to step in a do something drastic before it maybe to late. The munbers are there to show that states who have reallocated money, such as New Jersey and Alaska, have shown real academic progress in their students. Why dont other states follow suit? Also I am in total agreement with the idea of mandatory preschool foe underpriveled kids, but as the book states we have to have teachers and educators in there teaching an preparing these kids properly and not just some "kid" who just needed a job. This goes back to the point that I read in one of Darling-Hammonds articles, and thats the fact we need to extend more money to veteran teachers to work these tougher jobs, we need the best of the best working in low income high poverty schools and pre schools, and not helping students in AP and Honors classes becasue obviously those students are doing alright. Hopefully soon our government will open its eyes to the real problem and get to the root of the problem and not try to cover up their lack of interest with non effective ideas such as no child left behind or secondary school acts. Maybe they need to read this text book? But then again i think we all as educated people in this country realize where the problem sits and until the people in power actually decide to do something about it we as educatiors need to do the best we can to reach out to all students of all levels.
I don't know if the government know how to fix this problem or if they should turn it over to the state and local levels. They do need an advisory board consisting of parents, teachers, and administrators to really understand what is happening in schools.States need to decide what they value the most.
I agree with you Jean. I think that a state should have to power to decide. I feel like if the actual people in the classroom (teacher and students) and the people dealing DIRECTLY with those people (parents and administrators) should have a lot more say in where the funding goes and to what. They are the ones who actually see experience the problems first hand. I think guidance and research should be available for these people, but they are completly capable of making decisions that are best for them. I like the idea of an advisory board. Problems solved on a more local level are usually faster, and more on point.
We, Koreans have highly reputation of educating their children. Like other moms, most Korean moms have expectation that their children will succeed in school. To make them succeed in school, Korean moms educate their children from very early ages. While I am reading the measure of America, I felt that learning from Pre K can be a solution to solve education inequity or to connect to better academic results or decent life. But I have thought a little bit differently. As we know, we will live longer than any other period before. According to Carstensen of the book of a long bright future, education is one of three fixed stages of life. Then, should we hurry to learn in our long lives? As I told you about Korean moms, Koreans tend to wish to be always ahead of others, so Koreans moms want especially their children to learn earlier than others to be ahead of others. So they start educating their children earlier or faster than other kids, and this phenomenon is prevalent in Korea. I think that we can wait until our kids start kindergarten, but Koreans cannot. They start to teach kids from 3 or 2, or someone starts from prenatal education. Of course, education is good and has lots of beneficial for our entire lives, but we will live for over 100 years. I think it will be okay to start a little bit late. You know, Korean kids are suffering from learning stress a lot even though their parents started with good motivation, and they cannot stop. That is why Korean children cannot be happy although they’ve learned for long times. I don’t think starting a little bit late can be a big problem to live happily.
I admire these mothers for taking thier children's education into their own hands. I wish more American mothers did the same thing. On one hand, I see your point about starting school too early. It is very difficult to leave your child to be taken care of by someone else. On the other hand, children at that age are such sponges, what a better time than to educate them? They learn so much so quickly that it does take an expert to educate them correctly. I am in awe of good pre-school (and even younger) teachers. As a middle school teacher, it is my job to build on knowledge that students already have. I can assume that this knowledge I am building on is (for the most part) expansive. I could not imagine starting with students who know so little.
After reading the Measure of America, it was interesting to learn what certain levels of education can reveal for each race, gender, ethnicity and what one may learn depending on where they live. I was also shocked that the book to locate directly what gender could not further or excel in a certain state, what different races know and learn depending on where they lived, and how one may no graduate from high school and work for their family versus the student that graduated and didn't continue on with their education. One of the ideas that the book suggested, in order to fix or fill in the gap, is fixing pre-schools. I remember as a child going to a church for pre-school and learning different bible stories, personal hygene, and developed motor skills. I can also tell you that I had a different pre-school experience than others. Looking back, I am very grateful for my pre-school experience because it helped me to get prepared for kindergarten and learn how to interact with different children in a classroom setting; however, I do feel that there should be a pre-school curriculum used for all pre-schools depending on states. I think it would be great to have common core standards for this grade level, so that all students will be developing at this age and learning what they need to just like others. Some pre-schools are so much further ahead in their learning that it leaves our our little students out of the loop because their pre-school experience was more like a daycare with unexperienced teacher.
In Mexico, the preschool is obligatory,all the little kids arround 3-5 years old they have to go to kindergarten... the Kindergarten teachers will confimate if the students are ready to come into school with good social and behavior-management skills, this is the foundation for the child's education. The skills and knowledge (not to mention aptitude and attitude) that every child develops in the preschool years will have a dramatic impact on the child's success when formal schooling begins as well as life success. Today we expect children to know more by the time they start kindergarten. While previous generations learned basics like color identification and the alphabet in school, today's children are expected to possess these basic skills by the time they start kindergarten, adn some of those schools finish the 3rd grade reading some basic words. We need to form kids for this times, where the competences are more higher than ever.
A topic I found of interest was the actual source of funding for education. I was not aware that 1/2 of funding generally comes from the state and the remaining 1/2 comes from local government. There is a big difference between the tax bases of our different municipalities and this would account for the disparity of educational funding. I do know that Georgia provides additional funding as equalization grants based on a systems number of poor students, but I do not know exactly how this works. Education funding is a topic that I need to investigate in more detail.
Our Pre-K in Troup County is partially funded by the lottery with the remaining salary funded through our county. Pre-K teachers here were given 20 furlough days in 2011-2012 and are set for 12 additional furlough days this fiscal year.
The big thing that I always look at as a high school teacher is the graduation rate. At my school getting more students to graduate on time has been a high priority for as long as I have been there. We have also saw an increase in graduation rates over the last several years. The suggestion that I thought would help the most when dealing with graduation rates or improving educaiton as a whole is smaller class size. It is a proven fact that the less students a teacher has in a classroom the more students will achieve. I know from a high school perspective it is almost impossible to meet individual needs when you have 32 or more students in a classroom. I also know that to decrease class size will require more funding for more teachers and how we will find more money I don't know.
I think what shocked me the most is how monetarily lucrative pre-school can be. I was reading the figures to my husband and I told him that a $1 investment in pre-school could lead to up to $10 for the community. He replied, "Of course, they will be out of jail and make more money if they have a better education." Why is this common sense to him, and completely ignored by government financial analysts? You would think that this blatantly smart investment would be a no-brainer in every state.
Another thing that stood out to me was the importance of the quality of the early childhood education. I never thought about it, but most of the teachers at my daughter's day care (even up to the three- and four-year olds) are moms who work there so that their children can attend for free. And I would consider her day care one of the "better" day cares. Why does it not occur to us that pre-school teachers should be certified and as highly qualified as kindergarten and up?
I have to say that much of the information about high school and college graduates was something like things I have heard before. I do see the need for more rigorous preparation for college and inovative ways for students in college to stay there. I know so many people who never finished college, or it took them six or seven years to finish.
Jillian I love that you are also sharing our reading with your husband. My hubby and I have had many discussions about the statistics revealed in Measure of America. I agree with the common sense of it all - I think it is common sense that our educational system affects our students nutrition, affecting our health care system to the economics of it all and back again to education...it is cyclical. My youngest son attended a great early learning center that had certified teachers. They did have a state funded pre school class and were limited on the curriculum (social skill only) but they also incorporated a lot of academics on their own. It really does depend on the teachers - but how do we create an "equal" opportunity for everyone when this is a huge factor? Free or for profit pre schools are necessary and they should all strive to create a great foundation for our students.
Something that I found interesting was the fact that attending college has increased in price. The book stated that "American students pay far more for their educations than students in any other developed country." It's ironic that the United States is all about getting an education but then once you do, you're stuck in debt for the next 20-30 years. More and more people are going to college but the prices keep rising and it's to the point where a lot of people can't afford to go to college which severely limits their job options or they graduate with so much debt that they can't do much with their lives except work on paying it back. It's becoming a lose-lose scenario.
I wonder if American students graduate from college with student loan, can they earn enough money to give back the loan and to start their lives as an independent individual in society?
I have noticed conflicting information regarding preschool for disadvantaged students. On page 135, it is stated that high-quality early education offers children from disadvantaged backgrounds a chance to catch up with their more privileged peers. An analysis showed that children who attended institutional preschool were less likely to repeat a grade, be placed in Special Education, or drop out of high school. I was surprised to see that preschool makes the most difference in social and emotional behaviors, and does not actually increase cognitive skills. Yet, as stated on page 136, an evaluation of the Head Start program, which is the federally funded free preschool for low income children, found that while the students were enrolled in the program there were some benefits, but those benefits disappeared by early elementary school! Why oh why is our government wasting money (and possibly damaging the minds of these children) on low quality programs? Box 5 on page 135 What Makes a High-Quality Preschool Program lists common sense and evidence based elements of an effective preschool program. Head Start should only fund for programs that meet these standards, especially in light of findings that show that for every $1 invested in high quality preschool education that the community gains between $6-10 in value!
In Measure of America Chapter 3 part two successful approaches for reducing the high school dropout rate are given The idea I like most is, "Career Academies", an alternative education program that functions with a traditional school. This program has achieved robust effects on dropout prevention, graduation rates, and test scores. The Career Academies partner with local business and combine academic curriculum with vocational skills. There are currently over 1500 Career Academies operating in the United States. This sounds wonderful to me! I plan to find out more information. I worry that we offer only one diploma option here in Troup County. If students were given more opportunity to choose there interest it would significantly effect graduation rate. When I first started teaching here there were 4 diploma options,(college Prep, Vocational Seal, Occupational Diploma, and Special ed). We currently offer only one diploma option.
Preschool programs are very important for kids to have a good foundation before they go to kindergarten. Students coming into kindergarten are already behind the eight ball, but if they do not experience preschool, they are even farther behind. Right now the gap between high socioeconomic students and low socioeconomic students is still to great.
Measure of America brings up a valid point that preschool is important and there are benefits to children who attend. Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like we need to spend less time allowing children to learn “socialization” skills and spend more time teaching them the foundations of a healthy academic career. I understand they are only four years old but I am shocked that we don’t teach the letters of the alphabet separately and that reading isn’t an expectation. What happened to the rigor that policy makers expect to see in every other grade level? Thankfully, I think most pre-K teachers do what they think is best and still push their students to learn letters (more than just a song to sing) and sight words. I also think there should be more differentiation in pre-K. If someone comes in and needs to learn how to “play well with others” then let her learn that but if someone else comes in and needs to learn how to read then we should teach that. Maybe this is happening in some classes but most pre-K teachers that I hear complain about their freedom and adequate curriculum being taken away from them. It just seems like yet another failure of our education system. To any pre-K teachers reading this-I hope I didn’t offend and I hope you’re pushing your students not just teaching them how to sit “crisscross apple sauce”!
In my paper on any topic I chose to write about the importance of preschool on reading scores. I think that preschool is incredibly important. As many of you mentioned, preschool enables children to get a head start on life and have a leg up once they begin kindergarten. Even basic motor skills are greatly improved. Being from Alabama, I had never heard of a Montessori school prior to meeting you all! I still am not completely clear on what it is or how it is funded, but I plan to do my research!
The other part I found interesting was that one in three students do not graduate high school in four years, if they graduate at all. This is most prevalent is students of low socioeconomic standing. The book suggests that early warning signs paired with intervention could help to prevent this.
A fun fact from the chapter is that "A fourth-grader in Colorado is twice as likely to be a proficient reader as a fourth-grader in nearby New Mexico". This proves that students in areas of high socioeconomic status are more likely to succeed which is really unfair to students who do not have this benefit.
Oh preschool...I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with our first son, my best friend and I were talking and she asked me what preschools we were on the waiting list for...I immediately thought to my self...she has got to be nuts! But she really meant it. You see, in Atlanta, moms put their unborn children on lists and start volunteering at the preschools prior to them even knowing the sex of the unborn child. These parents care about their children's future...these are also the parents that are going to read to their children, practice letters, numbers and word lists along with providing structure and extra curricular activities for their little pumpkins. Parents that do not provide these education-strong activities also care about their children but have extenuating circumstances that prevent them from spending this time with them. If you know that certain interactions with your child will help them in the future, wouldn't you do these things? Knowing the statistical data provided in Measure of America - relationships between preschool and graduation rates, etc. - wouldn't you do whatever you could to encourage your child into a successful educational career and life? Maybe the education needs to begin with an education of the parents of these children (and our politicians) on the importance of preschool. One can't argue with the numbers.
According to measure of america on page 135, high quality early education allows those who are disadvantaged to catch up. I think this is an intersting concept. Then it goes on to define high quality. The first thing that came to my head is ONE MORE YEAR OF SCHOOL! ugh. I think that the very nature of the way Americans do school bores kids. Kids are naturally inquistive and need those early years to explore and learn with their family before they are forced to go to school. I think more money needs to be spent on helping and teaching parents on how to properly take care of their children. I'm not sure that more schooling is the answer...I sometimes think that if we made school a little bit more enjoyable and less stressful and allow kids to go at different speeds (we all know now we have much longer lives) that we would have a much more succesful society in the long run. Some of the smartest people, and the most innovative did not have a formal education at all. They were naturally motivated. We are so driven by statistics and test scores, that sometimes we forget the reason we are educating students in the first place. We have pushed kids to be so focused on grades and not on the acutal education itself. I educate because I want my students to become good citizens, to make good decisions, and I want them to be able to enjoy life. I'm not sure what our goals are are as a society. Realistically do you think that in the future everyone will start off on the same level? These problems have been in societies for hundreds of years.I'm not saying we shouldnt try to fix them, but I do think that we need to have common goals. When there are a million ways to fix a problem and everyone has different ideas on how to fix it and what the outcome should be, the problem is never fixed.
I think that you make an excellent point and I did not think about it this way until I read your blog. Children are naturally motivated to learn. With that in mind then setting up programs that guide the process of learning. I think you make an excellent point about the fact that we as a society are trying to create a future where each child starts off at the same point. Honestly, I do not believe that we really want each individual child to be at the exact same point in the learning process. Do we really want each child to be exactly the same? And why is one point of the learning process better than another point. Why does the process of learning have to be viewed as a hierarchy? (Just food for thought and your comment had me thinking)
The importance of a preschool program: I feel that every child should have to attend a preschool program just like every other grade. Preschool is just as important, but a lot of people do not feel so! I agree when the book stated, "Preschool offers children from disadvantaged backgrounds a chance to start kindergarten on equal footing with their more privileged peers." That is so true! You can really pick the students out of a kindergarten classroom who did not participate in a preschool program! My cousin went to LaFayette Christian School for a 3 year old program. When she started pre-k she knew how to write her name, how to count (even in Spanish to 10), her colors, shapes, and abc's. I realize that is not an option for some people because of the cost, but some kids enter kindergarten without knowing any of those skills! It's frustrating in, I know Troup County, because people know the importance of PreK but then their child doesn't get in. For low income families, they cannot turn to a PreK program at LCS, St. Marks, or Montessori because of the cost!
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about the private pre-k programs in Troup County. I never realized how expensive these programs were until my nephew started attending Montessori! While it is a great program every family cannot afford these types of programs. Most of the time it is very obvious in kindergarten to look at the students can pinpoint which students attended some form of pre-k program and the students who are coming to school for the first time. With all the standards kindergarten must cover what I really wonder is, do we ever allow the students who start school with a disadvantage to ever catch up?
DeleteI agree that Montessori is really good place to educate your child. As a mom of a child who goes to Montessori for over a year, I can say I realized a remarkable development of my daughter. She came to America when her 3rd birthday. And she started her Montessori from 6 weeks later. She had never learned English before even alphabets, moreover, I think she had never thought about existing another language in the world. Now..? She can communicate with American friends, read books and write a card to teachers and friends in English, of course she can speak, read and write Koreans very well too. Whenever I hear her speaking in English, I wonder how she knows those kinds of expressions. I totally trust Montessori education and teachers in Lagrange because I believe that they are offering proper education for children.
DeleteI agree that Montessori is great! I have researched it as a possible option for my son in a few years. Unfortunately, the students who really need a head start cannot afford Montessori. If they do not get into public PreK, they stay home and learn nothing.
DeleteI was surprised and sad to read that the Head Start program has not shown the projected and hoped for results. I know that promising studies had shown that preschool for those families with lower incomes would provide a big payback for the community as well hope of future academic success for the children. The information about the Head Start program causes me to wonder if the favorable data on preschool programs was due to the nature of the family sending the children to preschool. I am sure most of these moms were educated and working a good-paying job since they could afford preschool programs.
DeleteBoth of my children attended Montessori, and I agree that it is a great program. I did much research before deciding on Montessori and found the teaching methods to line up with my beliefs about educating children. I was attracted to the independence of the children and the learning atmosphere of the school. I am grateful that my children could be a part of this program.
I am with everyone one on the importance of preschool. I was delighted to see that a Measure of America mentioned Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ). In 1990 Canada started an elementary school in Harlem that included the social supports necessary for severe at risk students to succeed. The social supports start with Canada's social workers going into the Harlem projects to locate pregnant girls to enroll their babies into his baby school. The mothers and fathers if available are taught parenting skills prior to their baby’s birth and are continued until their child is in preschool.
DeleteIn addition to the elementary and preschool Canada started a middle school, but had to close it after several years of terrible performance on the New York state assessments. The significance of this is the middle school students came out of the local Harlem schools. They were behind and it was too late even for his middle school with a lottery system, rigorous curriculum, and high quality teachers to turn them around. Once his babies (products of the baby school) arrived to middle school their results where on or above state average.
This social experiment demonstrates that high risk students from socioeconomic communities can perform with the necessary supports. If you are interested Whatever it Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America by Paul Tough does a great job describing HCZ
There is the Montessori sistem also in Mexico and I know that Montessori is considered a "Child Centered" approach to education. This means that the materials used and the lessons given are appropriate for the individual child. The children are carefully observed to see when they are ready to move on and then new lessons/materials/works are presented. Each child is allowed to work at their own pace in order to master skills/works/materials. I think that is very different form the "traditional teaching" but I have seen a lot of good results with that method... I think that Montessori is a good way for small kids, not for old kids.
DeleteI agree that preschool should be a mandatory grade level for children because it really helps them understand what school is and how to handle being away from parents for large periods of time and how to be around other children their age. These are things that some children don't experience until theyre in kindergarten and it puts them very far behind the other children who did go to preK. Kindergarten teachers have a very diverse group of students and it would be better if all children came to kindergarten with some background in schooling.
DeleteI agree that a mandated pre-k program would be a great solution and really help those who are behind in the necessary skills to be successful in kindergarten. Danny, I also enjoyed reading about the Harlem Children’s Zone and what Geoggrey Canada has to say in regards to pulling children from the bottom up. I think it's really encouraging to hear that high risk students from socioeconomic communities can perform with the proper support!
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading part 2 of chapter 3 my main focus was on Preschool Education as well. What really shocked me was when the book stated, "Many young children receive care from adults other than their parents, but only one in two American children ages 3 and 4 are enrolled in institutional preschool." This shocked me! I know personally how pre-k can influence a child. Before attending public kindergarten I attended St.Marks preschool for 2 years. If I had not attended a preschool program I really feel like I would have struggled as a lot of students in kindergarten and first grade do. I am an only child and although my parents worked with with me academically at home, preschool really helped me to develop socially. The preschool program also helped me to improve academically and I can remember going into kindergarten being able to write my name and a lot of the concepts that many students did not have the advantage of learning yet. The interaction with the other students really helped me to develop, but also prepared me for public kindergarten. I really feel like we should consider beginning a public pre-k program like other countries have started so that all students can attend. As we talked about in class Tuesday, some students come into kindergarten not knowing how to hold a pencil and some may not have ever colored with crayons or colored pencils. It is really sad that some students come into kindergarten in this way because their family may not have been financially able to enroll their child in a pre-k program. Pre-K would be a great way to prepare our students!
ReplyDeleteI too agree we should have universal prek. I think a major problem is that not all preschools are created equal. Preschool teachers are paid the lowest saleries out of all the teachers in Troup County. Because of funding preschool started a month after K-12 which made the teachers lose a month of pay.
DeleteMany of my k students attended preschool at their daycares. I don't know this for a fact but I am fairly certain their preschool prgrams are not equal to those in the public school or private ones like St. Marks. I worked in a day care that had a preschool program. While it was fairly good, the teachers were not certified, they had not completed a 4 year degree in early childhood education. And they definitely were not paid like a certified teacher. Preschool teachers don't make as much money as other teachers. This means your aren't going to attract teachers with higher education and training for these positions. I think preschool needs to be funded the same as k-12 instead of from the lottery. This will allow the preschool cirriculum to align with k-12 standards and ensure all children have a highly qualified teacher in each classroom.
I think of my hometown (and I am sure it's the same in other places) when mothers go line up and sleep outside of the pre-k registration site when it's time to sign up for pre-k. I think it is sad that mothers have to go to that extreme to get their child into pre-k. It has made me wonder though...can those mothers afford to put their children in a different prek? If they can, I feel that they should and leave more room for mothers who can't afford to send their children elsewhere.
DeleteI do agree that pre-school does give kids a head start on school. I was surprized to see that Georgia is only one in three states that has universal pre-k. I know that this is due to lottery funded pre-school programs. I also know that these programs have had to be cut in recent years causing kids to spend less time in pre-k and cutting teacher's pay.
DeleteDuring the reading in Measure of America I thought it was interesting when the book stated that "access to knowledge has not occurred evenly across the population". We generally assume that well it is a public school system everyone has to go. But then in my reflection I also started thinking about the advantages students in a pre-k program have in school. During my lab experiences throughout my undergrad, I will never forget there were parents lining up outside the school with tents and camping chairs. I asked my cooperating teacher what was going on and she told me that parents would camp for up to two days to ensure their child a spot in the pre-k program. She said that parents would trade off standing in line with other family members and friends to make sure their place was not lost. This was the first time I realized how competitive it is to get your child in a public pre-k program. Yes, there are other places to put your child in pre-k, but those places have a tuition that not all families can pay. Therefore, this means the diversity of the access to knowledge starts out way beyond students can even make decisions for themselves. As the curriculum advances I think it is so important not to leave the students behind that are starting "three steps behind". After all, these children are too young to decide their fate and they should not be punished for being born into a disadvanteged lifestyle. As these students enter school they should have every opportunity the students have had that are "three steps ahead". Page 135 states "For every $1 invested into a high-quality preschool education, a community on average gains between $6 and $10 in value in the forms of things like reduced cost from incarceration and higher tax revenues from greater earnings later in life". WOW! We have all of the research infront of us of the advantages we would have to improve our educational system. Things like teacher quality, smaller class sizes, improving reading skills, etc. Some may think that not all of this can be done, but it is a slow, evolving process in the everchanging educational system and changes starts with us as educators. Even though we may have larger classes, less time for planning, testing pressures, etc. We should do the best we can to give every student the opportunity they deserve. I think on page 151 this statement sums up the issues we see today as "no one should be priced out of education".
ReplyDeleteI just finished dealing with preK options for my son who just "graduated" from his prek class. I am now having to decide how to best prepare my daughter. It is amazing to me how intense I became over the decision of what preK program to put my children through. But my logic was this: There are educated chinese working assembling iPads for 22$ a day. They are even required to purchase their bottled water for breaks becuase a water fountain is not something provided in the factory. My son and daughter will have to compete with this person. A near median grade at an average school in america is not competitive at the international level. If they are to have a better chance then starting them ahead and keeping them ahead is the single most important thing I can do so they have the best possibility for the opportunity to chose the life they want to live. Education must start home...
DeleteJana,
DeleteI can picture in my head the parents outside of schools with tents trying to get their child a spot in a PreK program! That right there should tell people something... WE NEED MORE PREK CLASSES FOR THESE BABIES!! I have to say, those are some very dedicated parents! The sad part is, some, if not most, are the ones who cannot afford a PreK program somewhere that isn't a public school so they have no choice but to stand in line for days!
I agree education must begin in the home. The parents are the first teachers for their children. Reading to children even before they can hold a book on their own is one of the smartest choices parents can make. We know from research that vital learning happens before age five. Yet, for many years, policy makers and education leaders have been working to “fix” public education while overlooking the demonstrated benefits of pre-kindergarten education. To ensure that all children fulfill their potential as individuals, we must re-imagine public education as a system that begins not with kindergarten, but with quality pre-k, and builds on that foundation to raise performance in later grades. This is why pre-k matters.
DeleteThe reading talks about the importance of preschool education. More importantly, this chapter talks about the benefits preschool has on disadvantaged students. Preschool allows disadvantaged students "equal footing with their more privileged peers" (p. 135). Unfortunately, these are the students who are not getting to go to preschool. The PreK lottery in Georgia prevents many students from attending PreK. Parents could send their children to private PreK programs and only have to pay a small amount each week for lunch. For some families, this is unrealistic. There is also the problem with transportation. If a child attends PreK in a public school, they can ride the bus to school and have free or reduced lunch. These things are not options in a private PreK. If this is a critical grade for students, why not make it more available?
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Measure of America, the quote that most stuck with me was "For every dollar invested in high-quality preschool education, a community on average gains $6 to $10 in value in the form of things like reduced costs from incarceration and higher tax revenues from greater earnings later in life." Preventative measures are always more beneficial. If we would just spend a little more to ensure universal preschool, we could cut down on some of the other costs when these children grow up.
ReplyDeleteThere are too many students that enter highschool unprepared. We can't expect highschool teachers to make up for the lack of knowledge and ability their students have. I'm sure many students choose to drop out because their classes are too hard for them and they can't keep up. Measure of America states "many of these warning signs appear long before the high school years." Early childhood and elementary education is so important. A students educational foundation starts in preschool. Sadly, many teachers in high needs schools are the ones who have the least experience. I am so thankful I started teaching in an affuluent school. I know I am much more prepared now that I am teaching in a very low income school. I have friends who taught through NY teaching fellows (similar to Teach for America) and they were thrown into a high needs schools with no training and hardly any support from their principals. Teachers need training, high needs students will benefit the most from experienced teachers. If we want our to lower the dropout rate we must address deficiences and look for warning signs when the students are young. Methods focused on prevention could keep students from falling through the cracks and being promoted when they really shouldn't be.
ReplyDeleteMeasure of America states, “more than a quarter of high school freshmen do not graduate in four year, if they graduate at all” (p. 150). That’s what stood out to me is “the silent epidemic” high school dropout rates. Students from low-income families are more likely to drop out of school than are children from middle-high income families. The decision to drop out of school does not happen overnight; it comes after years of frustration and failure. Some students start high school poorly prepared by their earlier schooling. Many of these students likely fell behind in elementary and middle school and could not make up the necessary ground. This is why early childhood education is so important. Children need a strong foundation which begins in the preschool years. While there are no simple solutions to the dropout crisis, there can be “supports” that can be provided within the academic environment and at home that would improve students’ chances of staying in school.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Carolyn! We should build up a foundation that begins in the preschool age. It is sad that students feel so far behind that their only option is to drop out of high school. We should really stress the importance of a firm foundation in the preschool years because I really feel that it is important!
DeleteCarolyn, I agree with you about the decision to drop out of school not happening overnight. I think some students start to consider dropping out while they are in middle school when the curriculum gets more advanced and they fall farther behind. Suddenly, school makes them feel bad about themselves. And who wants to go somewhere everyday where you feel like it's not the place for you and you don't see a benefit? I don't blame some students for feeling this way. It is important to have CHOICES about what type of education you want. Many students do NOT want to go to college, and the more the education system pushes this myth that everyone should go to college, the more some students will feel disenfranchised from the system. Our high schools should offer more paths to graduation to meet the needs of all of our students!
DeleteJust to throw out something completely crazy...what if secondary education was not mandetory. Then we could focus on setting high goals that will excell in preparing students for college and ultimately competition in a global market. To those who did not want to complete high school they could go into the trade of their choice and recieve proper certification in that field. To recieve governmental support (wellfare, food stamps, ect.) you would need to either finish high school or have completed an "apprenticeship" and recived a certification. If you are missing one of these then you would not have access to government assistance. I know that this idea is so generally stated that there are plently of problems. I do wonder if it would mbe a step toward a place where we could develope "real world opportunities people have to live in ways they themselves value and freely choose, and the extent to which they are able to realize their potential."
DeleteI think pre school should be revamped. There should be one based on need. All students entering pre school are not at the same level.We do need to catch students up before they are too far behind. If we continue to have all the students mixed in the same class we will continue to have gaps in the learning: students who know how to hold pencils, students who know how to hold a book correctly, and students who know letter sounds/words.Also we need to have more preschool programs with highly qualified teachers to meet the needs all students.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jean about revamping pre-school and finding qualified teachers to teach pre-schools. Don't get me wrong, I think there are wonderful teachers out there, but some teachers do not have a teaching degree and are teaching. I think it's important for these individuals to have taken educational classes because it prepares a teacher on how to understand schooling, students, parents, and the educational aspect. I feel that I am better connected with education because I took educational classes in my undergrad. For those that have come back to school with a degree in a different area and come back to teach find it difficult to understand the teaching without experience and educational classes. We can all teach, but I think it is best that we have a degree in it before someone gives a teaching job to someone who doesn't have a degree in it. And, for some pre-schools, they're mostly used as a day-care for parents, depending on what type of school, and it's unfortunate because at this age we can do so much as educators to prepare our babies for school.
DeleteIt seems to me in all the literature we have been reading since these classes started is a common thread to underachieving in education has alot to do with funding, teacher knowledge, and socio economic staus. It seems to me that there is enough evidence out there for our state governments to step in a do something drastic before it maybe to late. The munbers are there to show that states who have reallocated money, such as New Jersey and Alaska, have shown real academic progress in their students. Why dont other states follow suit? Also I am in total agreement with the idea of mandatory preschool foe underpriveled kids, but as the book states we have to have teachers and educators in there teaching an preparing these kids properly and not just some "kid" who just needed a job. This goes back to the point that I read in one of Darling-Hammonds articles, and thats the fact we need to extend more money to veteran teachers to work these tougher jobs, we need the best of the best working in low income high poverty schools and pre schools, and not helping students in AP and Honors classes becasue obviously those students are doing alright.
ReplyDeleteHopefully soon our government will open its eyes to the real problem and get to the root of the problem and not try to cover up their lack of interest with non effective ideas such as no child left behind or secondary school acts. Maybe they need to read this text book? But then again i think we all as educated people in this country realize where the problem sits and until the people in power actually decide to do something about it we as educatiors need to do the best we can to reach out to all students of all levels.
I don't know if the government know how to fix this problem or if they should turn it over to the state and local levels. They do need an advisory board consisting of parents, teachers, and administrators to really understand what is happening in schools.States need to decide what they value the most.
DeleteI agree with you Jean. I think that a state should have to power to decide. I feel like if the actual people in the classroom (teacher and students) and the people dealing DIRECTLY with those people (parents and administrators) should have a lot more say in where the funding goes and to what. They are the ones who actually see experience the problems first hand. I think guidance and research should be available for these people, but they are completly capable of making decisions that are best for them. I like the idea of an advisory board. Problems solved on a more local level are usually faster, and more on point.
DeleteWe, Koreans have highly reputation of educating their children. Like other moms, most Korean moms have expectation that their children will succeed in school. To make them succeed in school, Korean moms educate their children from very early ages. While I am reading the measure of America, I felt that learning from Pre K can be a solution to solve education inequity or to connect to better academic results or decent life. But I have thought a little bit differently. As we know, we will live longer than any other period before. According to Carstensen of the book of a long bright future, education is one of three fixed stages of life. Then, should we hurry to learn in our long lives? As I told you about Korean moms, Koreans tend to wish to be always ahead of others, so Koreans moms want especially their children to learn earlier than others to be ahead of others. So they start educating their children earlier or faster than other kids, and this phenomenon is prevalent in Korea. I think that we can wait until our kids start kindergarten, but Koreans cannot. They start to teach kids from 3 or 2, or someone starts from prenatal education. Of course, education is good and has lots of beneficial for our entire lives, but we will live for over 100 years. I think it will be okay to start a little bit late. You know, Korean kids are suffering from learning stress a lot even though their parents started with good motivation, and they cannot stop. That is why Korean children cannot be happy although they’ve learned for long times. I don’t think starting a little bit late can be a big problem to live happily.
ReplyDeleteI admire these mothers for taking thier children's education into their own hands. I wish more American mothers did the same thing. On one hand, I see your point about starting school too early. It is very difficult to leave your child to be taken care of by someone else. On the other hand, children at that age are such sponges, what a better time than to educate them? They learn so much so quickly that it does take an expert to educate them correctly. I am in awe of good pre-school (and even younger) teachers. As a middle school teacher, it is my job to build on knowledge that students already have. I can assume that this knowledge I am building on is (for the most part) expansive. I could not imagine starting with students who know so little.
DeleteAfter reading the Measure of America, it was interesting to learn what certain levels of education can reveal for each race, gender, ethnicity and what one may learn depending on where they live. I was also shocked that the book to locate directly what gender could not further or excel in a certain state, what different races know and learn depending on where they lived, and how one may no graduate from high school and work for their family versus the student that graduated and didn't continue on with their education. One of the ideas that the book suggested, in order to fix or fill in the gap, is fixing pre-schools. I remember as a child going to a church for pre-school and learning different bible stories, personal hygene, and developed motor skills. I can also tell you that I had a different pre-school experience than others. Looking back, I am very grateful for my pre-school experience because it helped me to get prepared for kindergarten and learn how to interact with different children in a classroom setting; however, I do feel that there should be a pre-school curriculum used for all pre-schools depending on states. I think it would be great to have common core standards for this grade level, so that all students will be developing at this age and learning what they need to just like others. Some pre-schools are so much further ahead in their learning that it leaves our our little students out of the loop because their pre-school experience was more like a daycare with unexperienced teacher.
ReplyDeleteIn Mexico, the preschool is obligatory,all the little kids arround 3-5 years old they have to go to kindergarten... the Kindergarten teachers will confimate if the students are ready to come into school with good social and behavior-management skills, this is the foundation for the child's education. The skills and knowledge (not to mention aptitude and attitude) that every child develops in the preschool years will have a dramatic impact on the child's success when formal schooling begins as well as life success. Today we expect children to know more by the time they start kindergarten. While previous generations learned basics like color identification and the alphabet in school, today's children are expected to possess these basic skills by the time they start kindergarten, adn some of those schools finish the 3rd grade reading some basic words. We need to form kids for this times, where the competences are more higher than ever.
ReplyDeleteA topic I found of interest was the actual source of funding for education. I was not aware that 1/2 of funding generally comes from the state and the remaining 1/2 comes from local government. There is a big difference between the tax bases of our different municipalities and this would account for the disparity of educational funding. I do know that Georgia provides additional funding as equalization grants based on a systems number of poor students, but I do not know exactly how this works. Education funding is a topic that I need to investigate in more detail.
DeleteOur Pre-K in Troup County is partially funded by the lottery with the remaining salary funded through our county. Pre-K teachers here were given 20 furlough days in 2011-2012 and are set for 12 additional furlough days this fiscal year.
DeleteThe big thing that I always look at as a high school teacher is the graduation rate. At my school getting more students to graduate on time has been a high priority for as long as I have been there. We have also saw an increase in graduation rates over the last several years. The suggestion that I thought would help the most when dealing with graduation rates or improving educaiton as a whole is smaller class size. It is a proven fact that the less students a teacher has in a classroom the more students will achieve. I know from a high school perspective it is almost impossible to meet individual needs when you have 32 or more students in a classroom. I also know that to decrease class size will require more funding for more teachers and how we will find more money I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI think what shocked me the most is how monetarily lucrative pre-school can be. I was reading the figures to my husband and I told him that a $1 investment in pre-school could lead to up to $10 for the community. He replied, "Of course, they will be out of jail and make more money if they have a better education." Why is this common sense to him, and completely ignored by government financial analysts? You would think that this blatantly smart investment would be a no-brainer in every state.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that stood out to me was the importance of the quality of the early childhood education. I never thought about it, but most of the teachers at my daughter's day care (even up to the three- and four-year olds) are moms who work there so that their children can attend for free. And I would consider her day care one of the "better" day cares. Why does it not occur to us that pre-school teachers should be certified and as highly qualified as kindergarten and up?
I have to say that much of the information about high school and college graduates was something like things I have heard before. I do see the need for more rigorous preparation for college and inovative ways for students in college to stay there. I know so many people who never finished college, or it took them six or seven years to finish.
Jillian I love that you are also sharing our reading with your husband. My hubby and I have had many discussions about the statistics revealed in Measure of America. I agree with the common sense of it all - I think it is common sense that our educational system affects our students nutrition, affecting our health care system to the economics of it all and back again to education...it is cyclical. My youngest son attended a great early learning center that had certified teachers. They did have a state funded pre school class and were limited on the curriculum (social skill only) but they also incorporated a lot of academics on their own. It really does depend on the teachers - but how do we create an "equal" opportunity for everyone when this is a huge factor? Free or for profit pre schools are necessary and they should all strive to create a great foundation for our students.
DeleteSomething that I found interesting was the fact that attending college has increased in price. The book stated that "American students pay far more for their educations than students in any other developed country." It's ironic that the United States is all about getting an education but then once you do, you're stuck in debt for the next 20-30 years. More and more people are going to college but the prices keep rising and it's to the point where a lot of people can't afford to go to college which severely limits their job options or they graduate with so much debt that they can't do much with their lives except work on paying it back. It's becoming a lose-lose scenario.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if American students graduate from college with student loan, can they earn enough money to give back the loan and to start their lives as an independent individual in society?
DeleteI have noticed conflicting information regarding preschool for disadvantaged students. On page 135, it is stated that high-quality early education offers children from disadvantaged backgrounds a chance to catch up with their more privileged peers. An analysis showed that children who attended institutional preschool were less likely to repeat a grade, be placed in Special Education, or drop out of high school. I was surprised to see that preschool makes the most difference in social and emotional behaviors, and does not actually increase cognitive skills. Yet, as stated on page 136, an evaluation of the Head Start program, which is the federally funded free preschool for low income children, found that while the students were enrolled in the program there were some benefits, but those benefits disappeared by early elementary school! Why oh why is our government wasting money (and possibly damaging the minds of these children) on low quality programs? Box 5 on page 135 What Makes a High-Quality Preschool Program lists common sense and evidence based elements of an effective preschool program. Head Start should only fund for programs that meet these standards, especially in light of findings that show that for every $1 invested in high quality preschool education that the community gains between $6-10 in value!
ReplyDeleteIn Measure of America Chapter 3 part two successful approaches for reducing the high school dropout rate are given The idea I like most is, "Career Academies", an alternative education program that functions with a traditional school. This program has achieved robust effects on dropout prevention, graduation rates, and test scores. The Career Academies partner with local business and combine academic curriculum with vocational skills. There are currently over 1500 Career Academies operating in the United States. This sounds wonderful to me! I plan to find out more information. I worry that we offer only one diploma option here in Troup County. If students were given more opportunity to choose there interest it would significantly effect graduation rate. When I first started teaching here there were 4 diploma options,(college Prep, Vocational Seal, Occupational Diploma, and Special ed). We currently offer only one diploma option.
ReplyDeletePreschool programs are very important for kids to have a good foundation before they go to kindergarten. Students coming into kindergarten are already behind the eight ball, but if they do not experience preschool, they are even farther behind. Right now the gap between high socioeconomic students and low socioeconomic students is still to great.
ReplyDeleteMeasure of America brings up a valid point that preschool is important and there are benefits to children who attend. Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like we need to spend less time allowing children to learn “socialization” skills and spend more time teaching them the foundations of a healthy academic career. I understand they are only four years old but I am shocked that we don’t teach the letters of the alphabet separately and that reading isn’t an expectation. What happened to the rigor that policy makers expect to see in every other grade level? Thankfully, I think most pre-K teachers do what they think is best and still push their students to learn letters (more than just a song to sing) and sight words. I also think there should be more differentiation in pre-K. If someone comes in and needs to learn how to “play well with others” then let her learn that but if someone else comes in and needs to learn how to read then we should teach that. Maybe this is happening in some classes but most pre-K teachers that I hear complain about their freedom and adequate curriculum being taken away from them. It just seems like yet another failure of our education system. To any pre-K teachers reading this-I hope I didn’t offend and I hope you’re pushing your students not just teaching them how to sit “crisscross apple sauce”!
ReplyDeleteIn my paper on any topic I chose to write about the importance of preschool on reading scores. I think that preschool is incredibly important. As many of you mentioned, preschool enables children to get a head start on life and have a leg up once they begin kindergarten. Even basic motor skills are greatly improved. Being from Alabama, I had never heard of a Montessori school prior to meeting you all! I still am not completely clear on what it is or how it is funded, but I plan to do my research!
ReplyDeleteThe other part I found interesting was that one in three students do not graduate high school in four years, if they graduate at all. This is most prevalent is students of low socioeconomic standing. The book suggests that early warning signs paired with intervention could help to prevent this.
A fun fact from the chapter is that "A fourth-grader in Colorado is twice as likely to be a proficient reader as a fourth-grader in nearby New Mexico". This proves that students in areas of high socioeconomic status are more likely to succeed which is really unfair to students who do not have this benefit.
Oh preschool...I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with our first son, my best friend and I were talking and she asked me what preschools we were on the waiting list for...I immediately thought to my self...she has got to be nuts! But she really meant it. You see, in Atlanta, moms put their unborn children on lists and start volunteering at the preschools prior to them even knowing the sex of the unborn child. These parents care about their children's future...these are also the parents that are going to read to their children, practice letters, numbers and word lists along with providing structure and extra curricular activities for their little pumpkins.
ReplyDeleteParents that do not provide these education-strong activities also care about their children but have extenuating circumstances that prevent them from spending this time with them. If you know that certain interactions with your child will help them in the future, wouldn't you do these things? Knowing the statistical data provided in Measure of America - relationships between preschool and graduation rates, etc. - wouldn't you do whatever you could to encourage your child into a successful educational career and life?
Maybe the education needs to begin with an education of the parents of these children (and our politicians) on the importance of preschool. One can't argue with the numbers.
According to measure of america on page 135, high quality early education allows those who are disadvantaged to catch up. I think this is an intersting concept. Then it goes on to define high quality.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that came to my head is ONE MORE YEAR OF SCHOOL! ugh. I think that the very nature of the way Americans do school bores kids. Kids are naturally inquistive and need those early years to explore and learn with their family before they are forced to go to school. I think more money needs to be spent on helping and teaching parents on how to properly take care of their children. I'm not sure that more schooling is the answer...I sometimes think that if we made school a little bit more enjoyable and less stressful and allow kids to go at different speeds (we all know now we have much longer lives) that we would have a much more succesful society in the long run. Some of the smartest people, and the most innovative did not have a formal education at all. They were naturally motivated. We are so driven by statistics and test scores, that sometimes we forget the reason we are educating students in the first place. We have pushed kids to be so focused on grades and not on the acutal education itself. I educate because I want my students to become good citizens, to make good decisions, and I want them to be able to enjoy life. I'm not sure what our goals are are as a society. Realistically do you think that in the future everyone will start off on the same level? These problems have been in societies for hundreds of years.I'm not saying we shouldnt try to fix them, but I do think that we need to have common goals.
When there are a million ways to fix a problem and everyone has different ideas on how to fix it and what the outcome should be, the problem is never fixed.
I think that you make an excellent point and I did not think about it this way until I read your blog. Children are naturally motivated to learn. With that in mind then setting up programs that guide the process of learning. I think you make an excellent point about the fact that we as a society are trying to create a future where each child starts off at the same point. Honestly, I do not believe that we really want each individual child to be at the exact same point in the learning process. Do we really want each child to be exactly the same? And why is one point of the learning process better than another point. Why does the process of learning have to be viewed as a hierarchy? (Just food for thought and your comment had me thinking)
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