Pre-K as Panacea?

 

The push for wider access to high-quality prekindergarten in America is an irreversible trend, say researchers. But while more than 40 states now fund some type of preschool education, mostly for low-income children, there’s much less agreement when it comes to essentials: What should quality programs look like and who should staff them? How should they be funded? What outcomes should parents and policymakers expect?

 

As prekindergarten expands, reporters have rich opportunities to examine the potential and the delivery of early education. “The media have neglected to give pre-K the attention it's due,” said Oregonian education reporter and conference speaker Bill Graves. That was also the conclusion of a 2004 analysis of newspaper coverage of early childhood education by the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media. The authors found that new developments in early childhood ed generally go unreported by major newspapers since they don't fit into the typical K-12 education beat. “Journalists, like other people, are only just beginning to think in terms of P-12 instead of K-12,” the report concluded.

 

Economists have been evaluating early education for a while, and many like what they see. A 2004 study by the Economic Policy Institute estimated that in 25 years, the returns in worker productivity and decreased social service spending would exceed prekindergarten costs by $25 billion, or at least $3 for $1 spent. (See a summary of outcome studies in Research on the Benefits of Preschool Education: Securing High Returns from Preschool for All Children.)

 

Such returns require quality programs, of course. Unlike K-12, about half of the money for early childhood education comes from the federal government. (See details in Federal and State Funding for Early Care and Education.) Still, states and local governments create their own pre-K policies, which makes it a challenge to establish standards and curriculum, let alone compare programs, said W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, which publishes The State of Preschool Yearbooks.

 

Many states use a mix of private and public providers for early education services. That leaves a lot of room for local reporting on issues such as:

Who is being served?

More than 700,000 3- and 4-year-olds are in pre-K programs nationwide. Who has access to prekindergarten in your community? Is program eligibility defined by family income? Because of several factors, low-wage families can slip under and over the federal poverty line at different times in the same year, said Barnett of NIEER. How do income fluctuations affect a family's eligibility for help?

 

Other barriers may make it harder for families to participate, Barrett said. For instance, studies show that children from immigrant families are as likely as others to attend pre-K unless it's inconvenient, such as a half-day program with no after-care or transportation.

 

What does learning look like?

How are programs structured and the “lessons” delivered? Are children tested? If so, how? Would directors call this an academic program, a child development program, or both? What are the expectations for the children, and how are they measured? Are outcomes being affected by high mobility rates?

 

Take a look at a child’s experience in both private and public settings. “Private programs are seen as the ticket to Harvard and public programs are seen as some sort of glorified day care,” said Joe Williams, former education reporter for the New York Daily News. What is the local pre-K program delivering for the cost? Watch the flow of state dollars and consider a story on the competition among providers for 4-year-olds.

 

What’s happening with Head Start?

How are children being identified for either Head Start or state prekindergarten? What are the differences in the programs, the local costs and the minimum staffing credentials? Are early education programs being integrated with elementary school systems? (The importance of integrated educational systems is detailed in a report published by the Society for Research in Child Development, “PK-3: An Aligned and Coordinated Approach to Education for Children 3 to 8 Years Old.")

 

What do legislators expect?

What kind of "success" do prekindergarten programs need to show and by when? Are legislators committed to pre-K for the long haul?