Sara Mead, with the New American Foundation, introduces to her blog readers the Education Reform Start Early Lessons from New Jersey’s Pre-K through 3rd Reform Efforts published December 11, 2009. In this report, we learn of the historical New Jersey Supreme Court 1998 ruling to provide quality Pre-Kindergarten programs to all 3- and 4-year old children in 31 of the states districts. These districts were identified as Abbott districts and the others as non-Abbott districts. “Research confirms that Abbott Pre-K programs are producing significant learning gains for the state’s children, and it is sustained into early elementary years. I found the recommendations listed in the report very interesting and compelling. Here are a few that caught my eye:
· “Ensure that Pre-K and Pre-K through 3rd education systems include systems of data collection, analysis, and accountability to drive ongoing quality improvement.” (Note: Texas has been doing this kind of work for the past 4 years and has some very compelling findings)
· “Provide scholarships to help working early childhood educators raise their levels of knowledge and skills, and design these programs with the needs of early educators in mind.” (Note: I hope these courses include ways to teach literacy and math to young children.)
· “Reaffirm and sustain the state’s commitment to high-quality early literacy instruction.” (Note: Please include math as well. The classroom instruction should be passed on the federally funded National Early Literacy Panel and the National Research Council reports released this year.)
Sara is a very capable chronicler of the most recent early childhood information. I appreciate her efforts. However, I would like a definition of ‘high quality’ in these blogs. I am hopeful that someone in our nation’s capitol has the creation of a definition on their new year’s list of resolutions. One can write about quality early childhood but what that means is all over the place.
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