An early start

If you didn't put your 3 year old in day care, you might be appalled by the idea of handing him or her over to a non-degreed employee of the state. But that is, in fact, what  Linus Wright, a former Dallas ISD superintendant and author of “Restructuring Public Education for the 21^st Century,” suggests.

Did you know around 4,500,000 children between the ages of zero and 11 live in Texas, and around 2.7 percent of them are in childcare, according to ChildCareAware of America, a national child care advocate?  

A lot more children – ages three and four – than 2.7 percent would benefit from structured child care, Wright believes. His first point (of 13) states:

         Early childhood education – full day for all non-English speakers and children of poverty. Non-   

        degreed teachers with strong development training have proven to be very effective with 3- and 4-year 

        old children. Research is available showing that students taught full-day by these teachers show greater  

        academic progress (and at considerable less cost per student) than students taught half-day by degreed 

        teachers. Educational First Steps, a non-profit agency in Dallas, Texas, provide a replicable model of 

        what can be done and how to do it. They provide training for teachers and parents and age-

        appropriate academics for 4,500 3 and 4 year olds in 95 different preschools at a cost of  

        approximately $500 per student.

The Problem

        Wright sites several reasons he believes this idea will work.
        First of all, as I’m sure you noticed, he places a lot of emphasis on “children of poverty.” He states that most impoverished children have a vocabulary of around 400 words at age six (when most enter public schools). Children with more affluent parents have vocabularies of 2,000 to 4,000 words by age six.
        He argues that the children who know only 400 words have a significantly harder time learning to read in first grade, and that the gap between the impoverished children and affluent children grows every year. This same idea would apply to children who don’t know English well coming into the first grade. Wright insinuates that this is a cause of America’s high drop out rate, a number he cites at 30 to 40 percent.

The Plan

        He counters this problem with early childhood education. He says that 3- and 4-year-old children “at these early ages are like sponges — they eagerly receive, process and retain information of lasting value.” He also states that impoverished mothers and fathers often work outside the home, therefore necessitating child care for the safety of the children. He argues that combining child care with education for 3 and 4 year olds, such as the Educational First Steps based in Dallas, will provide a cost-effective program (in part, because the teachers won’t have degrees) that gives economically disadvantaged students a chance to start on a level playing field.

The Benefits

        What will this accomplish? Other than the level-playing-field concept, Wright argues that: “Early childhood education will greatly reduce the later expense associated with remedial classes, high school dropouts, etc.” He also cites statistics stating that the U.S. imprisons more people than any other nations, that 70 to 80 percent of those inmates can’t read above a fourth grade level and that the U.S. spends five times more to incarcerate said inmates than to educate them. You can see how these statistics lend to the idea that if students were on the same level before they are six, they will be less expensive citizens in the long run. He adds that, in 2010, 80 percent of high school graduates could not pass a simple mental test to qualify for the armed forces. Through these numbers he is attempting to relate that these less expensive citizens will also be more informed and more productive.

The Counter Points

        Will this idea work?
        First of all, you have to keep in mind that he cited problems associated with statistics without proving early childhood education can solve those problems. For example, he says 70 to 80 percent of inmates can’t read above a fourth grade level, but he doesn’t give an explicit reason to believe that’s the reason they are imprisoned or his program would solve this expensive problem. The same could be said about most of his statistics.
        Some reasons some suggests early childhood education would not work:

        1. It would be too expensive, especially in today’s economic climate (Wright provides his solution on this, and we’ll get to that next week).
        2. Not all students who go through already-established early childhood education programs (such as Head Start) finish high school. In fact, some say these programs only benefit students for the first couple of years of elementary school.
        3. These programs don’t pull impoverished kids’ parents out of poverty, so they still face many of the challenges. Some argue that the benefits of these programs aren’t enough in face of the challenges.
        4. Some say that 3- and 4-year-old children are more intellectually stimulated by staying at home with the parents, and that early childhood development may in fact be detrimental to this age group. (I would argue that this won’t matter in most lower-income families because both parents are likely working).

        Most of these opponents recognized that there are typically long-term effects for children in early childhood education.
        This is not a complete list of pros or cons. I’m sure you could think of many more, and I encourage you to comment.

        In regard to the “too expensive” argument against early childhood education, you might ask yourself how a cash-strapped state is going to afford two more years of school. Wright provides his solution for this, as well.

         Many would call it a radical idea – eliminating the senior year of high school and using those funds to afford early childhood education for 3 and 4 year olds. I’ll look at this idea next week. Until then, a friend of mine suggested I read the book “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell. As soon as I get a chance, I plan to read this book and solicit your opinions on decreasing the length of summer break (the premise of Gladwell’s book, as I understand it – an idea Wright eludes too, as well). And I’m still working through “The Death and Life of the Great American School System” by Diane Ravitch – which I’m finding has fascinating thoughts on “A Nation at Risk” (as does Jonathan Kozol’s “Illiterate America”). Has anyone else read Ravitch’s book?
Let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading!

1. Early childhood education—full day for all non-English speakers and childrenof poverty. Non-degreed teachers with strong child development traininghave proven to be very effective with 3 and 4-year-old children. Research isavailable showing that students taught full-day by these teachers show greater academic progress (and at considerableless costper student) than studentstaught half-day by degreed teachers. Educational First Steps, a non-profitagency in Dallas, Texas, provides a replicable model of what can be done andhow to do it. They provide training for teachers and parents and age-appropriate academics for 4500 3 and 4-year-olds in 95 different pre-schoolsat a cost of approximately $500 per student.