Saturday, November 6, 2010

NIEER Early Ed news roundup - Volume 9, Issue 21

October 26, 2010 (Montgomery Advertiser, Montgomery, AL)
Community partnership a recipe for success
Gov. Bob Riley, who will hand the reins of state government over to someone else next year, said that for the state to make bigger gains in increasing the state's graduation rate there must be more investment in early childhood education.
October 24, 2010 (The Star Press, Muncie, IN)
Opinion: Early childhood education and the economy
In terms of investment, we found early childhood education outweighed virtually everything else government could do to boost long-run economic performance and enhance educational outcomes.
October 21, 2010 (Press of Atlantic City)
Preschool class open to abled, disabled kids
The class looks like a typical preschool, but the program has a crucial difference. It's an inclusion class of both able and disabled children, ages 3 to 5. And some of their parents have paid for them to be here.
October 21, 2010 (The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC)
Opinion: The payoff from early education
Just as parents baby-proof the top of the stairs to prevent a dangerous fall, policymakers must protect the economy from making a major misstep. Investments in early childhood education are the economic equivalent to investments in gates for stairs and covers for electrical outlets.
October 20, 2010 (The Virginian-Pilot)
Va. part of plan to improve military families' access to care
Virginia was chosen to participate because of its high concentration of military families, a network of community partners willing to work on improving education, and the existence of its Smart Beginnings programs and Star Quality Initiative.
October 19, 2010 (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Editorial: Education plan
The commission rightly emphasized expanded early-childhood education, including all-day kindergarten; better curriculum alignments between public schools and higher education; better use of technology; coordinating curriculum with the needs of the business community; improving teaching; and strengthening post-secondary opportunities.
October 19, 2010 (The Hartford Courant)
Governor's commission proposes dozens of education reforms
The Connecticut Commission on Educational Achievement today proposed dozens of reforms designed to close the state's academic achievement gap, from providing quality preschool education for all low-income students to requiring high school students to pass a test before they can graduate.
October 19, 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Proposal would restore state funding for child care
The program pays child-care costs for working parents who take jobs to move off welfare but can't afford day care. The governor's action means child care for 60,000 families will end Nov. 1 unless a stopgap measure is found.
October 17, 2010 (The Tennessean)
Follow-up: TN pre-K programs's effectiveness fades by 3rd grade
The Tennessee Comptroller's Office last week issued another in a series of reports on the effectiveness of pre-kindergarten education in Tennessee. The report shows students who participated in the state-funded pre-K program outperformed their peers in kindergarten and first grade. By second grade, the advantage fades, and it's undetectable by third grade.
October 17, 2010 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Report shows early learning programs are succeeding
The Pennsylvania Department of Education on Friday released a year-end report showing that Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts spent $86.4 million on early learning programs serving nearly 12,000 at-risk children ages 3 and 4 in school districts, Head Start, child care centers and nursery schools in 62 counties in 2009-10. The report noted that more than 98 percent of the children showed "age-appropriate or emerging age-appropriate proficiency" in literacy, numeracy and social skills after attending the programs.
October 14, 2010 (The Boston Globe)
Play school
Play is the occupation of childhood, the way young minds learn, authorities on development say. But as kindergarten programs grow increasingly academic, educators differ on whether preschool play should be molded and focused, or given free rein.
October 13, 2010 (Education Week)
Denver's Achievement Gap Narrows With Advanced Kindergarten
The Denver Public Schools' advanced-kindergarten program, now in its seventh year, draws families who want a faster academic pace for their children, and it helps retain some who might otherwise choose private schools or other districts.
October 11, 2010 (The Washington Post)
Opinion: Finally, Obama administration is putting Head Start to the test
A recent evaluation sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that at the end of the first year of school, children who had attended Head Start did no better than similar children who did not attend Head Start. The bottom line is that taxpayers get little for their annual investment of $8 billion in Head Start.

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