President Obama's Pre-K plan. Enough to make an early learning specialist cry tears of joy. Update!

Courtesy of The Washington Post:

President Obama used his State of the Union address to launch a push for massively expanding pre-K and other early childhood education programs. But he was pretty vague about it. Not anymore. At 6 a.m. today, the administration released its detailed plan for early childhood education. Its three main components are: 

• A state-federal partnership to guarantee pre-K to all 4-year-olds in families at or below 200 percent of the poverty line, to be provided by school districts and other local partners, and to use instructors with the same level of education and training as K-12 instructions. 
• A massively expanded Early Head Start program — building on the existing program, which has proven very effective in randomized controlled trials — which provides early education, child care, parental education, and health services to vulnerable children ages 0 to 3. 
• Also expanding Nurse Family Partnerships, a program that has also earned top marks in randomized trials, and which provides regular home visits from nurses to families from pregnancy through the child’s second birthday, intended to promote good health and parenting practices. update – it appears that the White House program is broader than just NFPs but the general practice is the same, if less well-evaluated. Sorry for the confusion 

Upon opening the plan for the first time (while on the phone with me) Nobel laureate and early childhood education expert James Heckman exclaimed “Holy smokes!” in approval. 

As somebody who has spent the majority of their life working with young children, I can only echo that "Holy Smokes!"

I have spent more than my fair share of time in the trenches working to provide children a head start before entering Kindergarten, and then later assisting them once there, and I have OFTEN wished for better funded and staffed programs that could do what I was trying to do on what amounted to a shoestring budget.

Here is the rest of the plan, (For those of you who never click the link.)  


Preschool for All 

The President’s proposal will improve quality and expand access to preschool, through a cost sharing partnership with all 50 states, to extend federal funds to expand high-quality public preschool to reach all low- and moderate-income four-year olds from families at or below 200% of poverty. The U.S. Department of Education will allocate dollars to states based their share of four-year olds from low- and moderate-income families and funds would be distributed to local school districts and other partner providers to implement the program. The proposal would include an incentive for states to broaden participation in their public preschool program for additional middle-class families, which states may choose to reach and serve in a variety of ways, such as a sliding-scale arrangement. 

Funds will support states as they ensure that children are enrolled in high-quality programs. In order to access federal funding, states would be required to meet quality benchmarks that are linked to better outcomes for children, which include: 
State-level standards for early learning; 
Qualified teachers for all preschool classrooms; 
and A plan to implement comprehensive data and assessment systems. 

Preschool programs across the states would meet common and consistent standards for quality across all programs, including: 

• Well-trained teachers, who are paid comparably to K-12 staff; 
• Small class sizes and low adult to child ratios; 
• A rigorous curriculum; 
• Comprehensive health and related services; 
• and Effective evaluation and review of programs. 

The proposal also encourages states to expand the availability of full-day kindergarten. Only 6 out of 10 of America’s kindergarten students have access to a full day of learning. In order to ensure that our kindergartners spend the time they need in school to reach rigorous benchmarks and standards, funds under this program may also be used to expand full-day kindergarten once states have provided preschool education to low- and moderate-income four year-olds. 

Under the President’s proposal, investment in the federal Head Start program will continue to grow. The President’s plan will maintain and build on current Head Start investments, to support a greater share of infants, toddlers, and three-year olds in America’s Head Start centers, while state preschool settings will serve a greater share of four-year olds. 

Quality Early Learning for Our Youngest Children 

The President will also launch a new Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership program, to support states and communities that expand the availability of Early Head Start and child care providers that can meet the highest standards of quality for infants and toddlers, serving children from birth through age 3. Funds will be awarded through Early Head Start on a competitive basis to enhance and support early learning settings; provide new, full-day, comprehensive services that meet the needs of working families; and prepare children for the transition into preschool. This strategy – combined with an expansion of publicly funded preschool education for four-year olds – will ensure a cohesive and well-aligned system of early learning for children from birth to age five. 

The President is proposing to expand the Administration’s evidence-based home visiting initiative, through which states are implementing voluntary programs that provide nurses, social workers, and other professionals to meet with at-risk families in their homes and connect them to assistance that impacts a child’s health, development, and ability to learn. These programs have been critical in improving maternal and child health outcomes in the early years, leaving long-lasting, positive impacts on parenting skills; children’s cognitive, language, and social-emotional development; and school readiness. This will help ensure that our most vulnerable Americans are on track from birth, and that later educational investments rest upon a strong foundation. 

You know each of us have our own closely held concern for the direction that our country is headed.

For some it is concern about our economic future. For others it is all about defense against terrorists, or foreign countries with hostile feelings toward America. But for me it has always been education.

That is the concern that keeps me awake at night, That is perhaps the one issue that I want EVERY politician to focus on above all other things.  Because to me there is simply nothing even remotely as important to the future of our nation, and of our people, as having our children receive the best education possible, as early as possible.

That is why I rail against turning public schools into for profit charter schools. That is why I complain so vociferously about standardized testing turning our children into robotic cogs in a test taking machine. That is why I gnash my teeth and tear out my hair at the very notion that Creationism might be taught alongside science.

This gives me hope that finally we are taking education seriously and have a real plan for dealing with the problems that plague our public schools.

I have been listening to some debate about this new policy that is focused on money and where it will come from. 

Who gives a shit? The return on this investment simply cannot be accurately calculated. It will be HUGE!

A better educated population is one that has highly developed critical thinking skills. They will be better suited to compete with other nations in every field you can imagine. They will be comfortable with changing technologies, proficient with faster information gathering tools, and better equipped to move this nation forward.

There are other perks as well.

They will be less likely to be convinced that wrong is right, less likely to support the start of an unnecessary war based on false pretenses, less likely to be seduced by image over substance, and less likely to vote against their better interests.

Hmm, I guess now that I think about it there might be a few individuals sent into a blind panic over this new plan.  Pay close attention to who speaks out against it, and then ask yourself what is it that they REALLY fear? And why?

Update: Remember how I said that you should pay attention to who comes out to attack this preschool program?  Well here you go courtesy of Fox and Friends. Wait until you hear their argument.

Okay so did you get that? The only reason that Obama wants to start this program is to get future votes, even though he will NEVER campaign again!

Oh and I have NO idea what Doocey is talking about when he says that Pre-K instruction ONLY helps up to the 3rd grade and then no longer has a benefit. WTF?

These are extremely weak attacks on this initiative, and they are virtually nonsensical.

You know I can't help but think that if  Steve Doocey had been given the opportunity to attend a good preschool he might not have had to wind up working for Fox News. I'm just saying.