Childhood environment affects brain growth and function

 From Janice D'Arcy in the Washington Post:

"It’s long been known that early childhood experiences can have a profound affect on later opportunities and life chances. Now, a collection of new studies suggests that those experiences may actually affect the size and workings of the brain."

Childhood environment affects brain growth and function, new studies find

From NPR's Panet Money: "Why preschool can save the world".

We meet a self-described robber baron who decided to spend his billions on finger paint and changing tables. We revisit decades-long studies that found preschool made a huge difference in the lives of poor children. And we talk to a Nobel prize-winning economist who says that spending public money on preschool produces a huge return on investment.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/10/19/163256866/episode-411-why-preschool-can-save-the-world

Hanging kids out to dry, the charter way

ROCKLIN (CBS13) – Six weeks into the school year a charter school in Rocklin is closing its doors. Four hundred kids were told Friday that their school would close, and Tuesday was their last day.

But many parents say the Horizon CEO is making up false excuses for why he’s closing the doors at Horizon’s Accelerated Learning Academy campus. Fired-up families were fuming even more Tuesday over what many consider a lame excuse for the shutdown.

“They get between $5,000 and $7,000 in funding (per student),” parent Shauna Borchers said. “That’s $2.4 million in funding, and he’s going to tell me we can’t stay here and can’t find a building and safety issues? Get a new building. Get some police. Stop it. That’s not the truth.”

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/10/16/rocklin-charter-school-shuts-its-doors/

A letter from a disgusted teacher: "I quit!"

From Diane Ravitch's blog.  I fear we will experience more and more of this - decimating the ranks of our professional teachers and leaving obedient clerks in their places.  An excerpt from the post:

I will not spend another day wondering how I can have classes that are full inclusion, and where 50% of my students have IEPs, yet I’m given no support.

I will not spend another day in a district where my coworkers are both on autopilot and in survival mode. Misery loves company, but I will not be that company.

I refuse to subject students to every ridiculous standardized test that the state and/or district thinks is important. I refuse to have my higher-level and deep thinking lessons disrupted by meaningless assessments (like the EXPLORE test) that do little more than increase stress among children and teachers, and attempt to guide young adolescents into narrow choices.

Early Education News Roundup 3/5/11

March 4, 2011 (Erie Times-News, Erie, PA)
Casey introduces bill to help states invest in early learning
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., introduced a bill Thursday aimed at helping states invest in early learning so that more low-income children have access to high-quality education.

March 2, 2011 (The Daily Advertiser, Lafayette, LA)
Pre-K successes may go away if money not found
Students who enroll in prekindergarten classes will be better prepared for kindergarten and future school success, Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning officials will tell the Lafayette Parish School Board tonight. The prekindergarten report comes at a critical time. Eight school system prekindergarten classes will lose funding at the end of this school year as federal stimulus funding dries up.

March 2, 2011 (WFMZ TV, Allentown, PA)
Pa. lawmakers urge gov. to keep education funding in budget
The caucus said early education programs give students better reading, language, and social skills; enhance the workforce by attracting skilled workers who are more productive; and return $16 for each taxpayer dollar invested.

March 2, 2011 (Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN)
All-day kindergarten nears 'tipping point'
Minnesota, which funds half-day kindergarten, is one of about a dozen states without extra funding for full-day programs. Early education advocates say this latest state push signals that Minnesota is a step closer to following states such as Wisconsin and North Dakota, where all-day, every-day kindergarten is state-supported.

March 1, 2011 (Juneau Empire)
Committee to begin hearing budget requests
Advocates of pre-kindergarten and other programs hope to win funding from the Alaska Legislature when the House Finance Committee begins to take testimony on the state budget today. A subcommittee of the committee last week cut a $2 million pre-kindergarten pilot project which helped fund pre-kindergarten programs in six school districts around the state.

March 1, 2011 (The Seattle Times)
Opinion: Invest now in early learning for better lives and a better workforce
Certainly, we need to make every effort to train and retrain our national workforce, and we must continue to improve our K-12 and postsecondary education systems. But investing in a more educated workforce requires quality early education experiences to lay the foundation for the skills businesses will need.

February 28, 2011 (Daily Record, Parsippany, NJ)
Opinion: The case for preserving Head Start
Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty, and the Head Start preschool program has a proven record of success over more than 45 years. That success now is endangered because of a "meat axe" approach to federal and state spending. No doubt we need to bring to a halt the uncontrolled growth of governmental spending, but also there is no doubt that we need to keep those programs that benefit society.

February 28, 2011 (The Connecticut Mirror)
Panel recommends expanding early education to address achievement gap
The co-chair of the state's budget-writing committee is proposing requiring the state's poorest school districts provide full-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten for all low-income students by July 2013 -- with the state and communities sharing the bill.

February 27, 2011 (Rome News-Tribune, Rome, GA)
Ga. families faced with scaled-back pre-k
A plan to scale back Georgia's free, full-day pre-kindergarten program — the first of its kind in the U.S. — to a half-day has teachers fearing shrunken paychecks and working parents scrambling to find day care for their 4-year-olds.

February 27, 2011 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Editorial: Want prosperity? Invest in the youngest kids
There's a widely acknowledged domino effect: Kids who get a good start on school are more likely to stay out of trouble and graduate, enabling them to be more productive citizens who earn more money, pay more taxes and improve their families' economic situation. A 2006 report by the Bush School at Texas A&M University concluded that Texas would receive $3.50 in return for every dollar invested in "universally accessible, high-quality pre-kindergarten."

February 26, 2011 (The Answer Sheet (Washington Post))
D.C. reaches pre-school milestone
Today in Washington D.C. there are enough preschool and Pre-K slots for every 3- and 4-year-old child seeking a spot. We now must work to ensure that all children not only have access to free preschool and Pre-K in their neighborhood, but that the early education they receive is of the highest quality.

February 22, 2011 (Times-Herald, Vallejo, CA)
Head Start program could face severe cuts
Faced with a 22.4 percent cut, Head Start programs could lose an estimated 48,000 staff members to layoffs across California, a California Head Start Association official in the agency's communications office said.

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NIEER Hot Topics March 5, 2011

Michigan Pre-K Saved State More Than $1 Billion in 2009
Michigan's preschool program for at-risk children save the state at least $1 billion in 2009 alone says a new report from the Citizen's Research Council of Michigan. The analysis points out that about 80,000 adult high school graduates age 18 to 29 are in the labor force who likely would have dropped out of school if not for the state's investment in their school readiness. Their collective economic impact is about $1.3 billion annually, including $584 million in reduced spending on things like special education, criminal justice expenses and welfare spending. About $700 million in additional wages were accrued by the state in 2009 due to their higher productivity. The issue of prioritizing funding for pre-K, currently being weighed in a number of states, is the subject of NIEER Co-Director Steve Barnett's latest Preschool Matters … Today! blog post.

Vanderbilt Study: Kids Attending Tennessee Pre-K Made Strong Gains
The Commercial Appeal reports that a new study from Vanderbilt University found that children who attended Tennessee's public pre-K program gained an average of 82 percent more on early literacy and math skills than comparable children who did not attend. Gains were highest in literacy and relatively modest in math. Tennessee legislators have proposed cutting the program, saying such gains fade out by 3rd grade but Vanderbilt professor Mark Lipsey says research pointing to fade-out is flawed.

No Nap or Meals in Georgia Pre-K?
Kids in Georgia's state pre-K program won't likely have meals or a nap, not to mention a full day of instruction, if cuts to the program proposed by Governor Nathan Deal go through, reports The Florida Times-Union. Deal wants to reduce the program to a half-day, meaning children would spend four hours in pre-K instead of the current six-and-a-half. Deal's plan would also increase access to the program for an additional 10,000 kids and reduce work days for pre-K teachers from eight to five-and-a-half hours. Communities wishing to keep the longer school day would have to make up the money on their own. Deal's plan is reportedly moving through the legislature quickly. Meanwhile, a report from the Southern Education Foundation says the program is paying off, with fewer students being held back a grade, dropping out of school and landing in special education classes.

Connecticut Budget Panel: Expand Early Education
The Connecticut Mirror reports that the state's Senate appropriations committee co-chair Toni Harp, who also leads the state's Achievement Gap Task Force, has proposed requiring the state's poorest school districts to provide full-day kindergarten and pre-K for all low-income students by 2013 and to receive state help in doing so. Connecticut has the largest achievement gap as measured by the National Assessment of Education Progress in the nation. The education committee considers the proposal next.

New America Foundation: 12 Ideas for Congress to Consider
The New America Foundation just released its bi-annual issue brief containing recommendations for the U.S. Congress. This year's installment includes fresh ideas, including a call for research on digital technology, improvements in the professional development of principals, and changes to the "adequate yearly progress" provisions under No Child Left Behind. It also updates ideas the organization's Early Education Initiative first issued in 2009.

Rave Reviews: The Influence of Teachers: Reflections on Teaching and Leadership
The above-titled new book by PBS Newshour education correspondent John Merrow on how schools and teachers can change to keep up with the current educational landscape has garnered enthusiastic reviews from, among others, former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, Marian Wright-Edelman and Jim Lehrer. Merrow draws on his experiences as a reporter for the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio to discuss new possibilities and solutions for our education system and, in his words, transform rather than reform it. Merrow is president of Learning Matters, an independent production company. He hosts his own documentaries on The Merrow Report.

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He may be kidding - but many aren't

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