preschool nj and nation
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POLICY NOTESNews rom the ETS Policy In ormation Center
Volume 17, Number 2 Policy Evaluation & Research Center Summer 2009
Preschool Education:New Jersey and the Nation
A childs chance or success in school and in li e can be
greatly enhanced by their participation in a high-quality
preschool program. This message was made loud and clear
by participants in a policy orum, Preschool Education: New
Jersey and the Nation, sponsored by ETS, the New Jersey
Department o Education and the Public Education Institute
o Rutgers University.
The research has shown us clearly that early education
is critically important in shaping a childs academic and
intellectual development. And literally, the early years o
a childs li e present a once-in-a-li etime opportunity,
noted ETS Senior Vice President and Edmund W. Gordon
Chair Michael Nettles as he opened the policy orum and
the discussion on trends, policies and e ective preschool
programs. Our three organizations are co-sponsoring todays
con erence because o the shared belie in the undamental
importance o early childhood education or individuals,
or our economy and, ultimately, or our democracy.
Our three organizations are co-sponsoring todays con erence becauseo the shared belie in the undamental importance o early childhoodeducation or individuals, or our economy and, ultimately, or ourdemocracy. Michael Nettles
ETSs President and CEO Kurt M. Landgraf also stressed
the critical importance o preschool education to the children
themselves, to society and to our economy. He cited the
results o a 2006 study by the Brookings Institution that ound
that high-quality, universal preschool could add $2 trillion to
THIS ISSUE
Preschool Education:New Jersey and the NationHighlights from a policy forum co-sponsored by ETS, the New Jersey Department of Education,and the Public Education Institute of Rutgers University.
The policy orum attracted more than 150
policymakers, educators and researchers
who came together to examine some o
the most signifcant trends and policies
regarding the state o preschool in New
Jersey and in the United States. The
con erence was held at ETSs world
headquarters in Princeton, N.J., on March
3, 2009. This issue o ETS Policy Notes
provides an overview o the issues,
research and insights discussed during
the policy orum.
Symposium sessions included:
The State of Preschool in the U
States: Trends and Policies
Programs and Policies to Reduce
School Readiness Gaps
Educational and Economic Bene
o Preschool
New Jersey: Where Weve Been,
Where Were Going, and the
Challenges Ahead(continued on page 11)
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the nations GDP by 2080. While Landgra
described preschool education and the
impact it has on children as a no-brainer,
he lamented the act that public policy hasnot always caught on.
Landgra cited evidence gathered by
the National Institute or Early Education
Research (NIEER) and other researchers
that preschool education can make a
huge di erence. For example, a study that
examined the impact o preschool programs
in ve states, including New Jersey, oundthat children attending high-quality, state-
unded preschool programs experienced
signi cant improvements in language,
literacy and math development regardless o
their socioeconomic background. In addition,
data rom the Chicago Child-Parent Center
calculated a $10 return or every $1 invested
in preschool programs. And in New Jersey,
new research points to gains rom preschool
programs mandated by the Abbott legislation.
The acts all point in one direction,
concluded Landgra . Devote more resources
to preschool and you will have a very
di erent outcome in K12.
Keynote speaker Jerlean Daniel , Deputy
Executive Director o the National
Association or the Education o Young
Children, echoed Landgra s belie in the
importance o preschool education, but
she also explained that there is still much
work to do as there are signs that all o us
researchers, program administrators,
teachers, teacher-educators, community
activists, legislators and parents are still
trying to get it right.
While the work is not easy and o ten is
rustrating, Daniel assured the audience
that there are signs that we are beginning to
look in the right place. Preschool programs
like Perry Preschool and Abecedarian
demonstrate that when we employ the
key elements that have been shown to be
e ective, we can help ul ll the dreams that
parents have or their children and or theircommunities. Daniel also pointed to recent
successes in New Jersey, where data are
increasingly positive. For example, as a result
o the Abbott preschool programs, retention
in second grade is on the decline.
We have learned many lessons regarding
how to do a better job in early childhood
education, but we are always looking or thesilver bullet it is in our nature, stated
Daniel. Weve learned, however, that there
is no silver bullet one size does not t
all. The work must continue. It is critical to
student outcomes to continue examining and
rethinking preschool programs to make sure
they are as e ective as they can be in meeting
the needs o our children while having a
positive impact on the community.
Daniel posed what she termed the
counterintuitive notion that early childhood
education is rocket science, and she
asserted that it will take all o us working
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together to get it right. As we learn lessons
about the rocket science o early childhood
education, Daniel reminded the audience
that we need to be mind ul o several issuesas we build our systems. One issue is the
interrelatedness o all aspects o early
childhood care and education. For example,
as research ndings accumulate, teachers
need support and pro essional development.
Teachers need the time and opportunity
to refect on new developments and
modi y teaching.
She also reminded the audience that we
need to ocus on the whole child the
social, emotional and cognitive aspects. We
know that children who do well in school
are those who are emotionally and socially
well-adjusted. They know how to engage and
interact with teachers and other adults and
are better able to get what they need.
Researchers also are making new discoveries
about developmental learning progressions
in reading, math and writing that are having
a positive impact on the eld. The challenge,
she said, is how to avoid taking the research
out o context and considering it as the
silver bullet. How do we think about the
research in the context o the system that
we need to build the outcomes we want
or the children, the skill sets they need to
develop, issues around teacher preparation,
assessment and screening systems and
learning standards? How do we avoid getting
carried away and putting all our marbles in
one basket?, she asked. Daniel suggested
that perhaps the recognition that we are
building a system and an in rastructure tosupport our e orts will keep us rom ocusing
on the silver bullet. In closing, Daniel noted
that New Jersey is starting to gure out this
rocket science and can provide valuable
lessons to others around the country.
How do we think about the research in the contexto the system that we need to build the outcomeswe want or the children, the skill sets they need
to develop, issues around teacher preparation,assessment and screening systems and learningstandards? Jerlean Daniel
Where We Are: The State o Preschoolin the United States
Creating a structure that is use ul in
discussing trends and policies in preschool
education across the nation, Jana Martella ,
Executive Director o the NationalAssociation o Early Childhood Specialists in
State Departments o Education, provided a
visual depiction o the systematic approach
that goes into a ull-scale success ul e ort or
young children.
Martella outlined the ollowing elements o
an early childhood development program and
what is happening across the United States:
Governance structures are reorganizing.
For example, New Jersey now has a Pre-K
through third-grade initiative within its
Department o Education.
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Standards are being revised. There is a
concerted e ort to broaden and deepen
the reach o standards across domains
and the learning continuum. Research and development in preschool
education has increased across the
nation. As states have rolled out their
preschool programs, a tremendous
amount o research and evaluation has
been conducted, adding to the body
o knowledge on the e ects o
preschool education.
There has been an increase in funding
at the same time nance structures have
been altered. For example, public-private
partnerships are unding many preschool
initiatives, thereby establishing new ways
o thinking about governance issues.
Data are being shared with practitionersin the classroom to in orm instruction,
with amilies to in orm them on how
their children are doing, and with other
stakeholders to in orm them on how
programs are per orming.
While most states do not conduct large-
scale assessments o young children
(age ve and under), such assessmentsare picking up speed across the country.
States also are increasingly developing
and examining their data systems or
young children.
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The usefulness of these core elements of
an early childhood development system
is dependent on the quality o support
and pro essional development thatpractitioners receive in helping them use
the data and in ormation.
Single elements should not be the ocus; rather,a systemic approach is needed. Jana Martella
While all o these components are getting
increasing attention across the states,
Martella cautioned that single elements
should not be the ocus; rather, a systemicapproach is needed. These components
should orm the basis or a skill set developed
among stakeholders and particularly
among the practitioners who are interacting
with the children and ocusing on
their development.
Programs and Policies to ReduceSchool Readiness Gaps
While the achievement gap is persistent, the
investment that we make in a child early in
li e is the most promising thing we can do to
change outcomes or children in New Jersey
and in the nation. The earlier we can reach
children and ensure that they are ready or
school, the better o they will be as they
progress through the educational system.
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn , Virginia and
Leonard Marx Pro essor o Child
Development, Teachers College and the
College o Physicians and Surgeons at
Columbia University, discussed school
readiness in terms o a childs academic and
socioemotional skills. During her discussion,
she illuminated the rationale or why we need
to look not only at adolescents, but also atyounger children since school readiness gaps
begin early and persist as children progress
through school. Alarmingly, children who
are not ready or school are more likely
to per orm less well in elementary and
secondary school, become teen parents,
engage in criminal activities and su er
rom depression.
Presenting data rom the National
Assessment o Educational Progress (NAEP)
Reading Assessment, she showed how the
racial/ethnic gaps that exist in 12th grade also
are seen in ourth grade. In act, the reading
and mathematics achievement gap among
racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups is
present at kindergarten. According to Brooks-
Gunn, socioeconomic di erences account
or a good part o the test score di erences.
When we talk about school readiness
di erences, race/ethnicity is de nitely a
actor, but the bottom line is poverty,
Brooks-Gunn said. On average, the Black
and Hispanic populations are more likely
to be low-income and have lower levels
o education.
When we talk about school readiness di erences,race/ethnicity is defnitely a actor, but the bottomline is poverty Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
Brooks-Gunn ocused her discussion on two
strategies used to reduce school readiness
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gaps: access and attendance and quality,
which play very important roles in improving
early childhood education. Low levels o
access to early childhood education continueto be a problem or certain groups. For
example, three- and our-year-old Hispanic
children are less likely to be enrolled in
preschool education than other children.
About 10 percent o all three- and our-year-
olds are enrolled in Head Start (20 percent
o Black children, 15 percent o Hispanic
children, and our percent o White children).
I Head Start did not exist, the racial/ethnic
gaps in preschool enrollment would increase,
thereby increasing gaps in school readiness.
According to Brooks-Gunn, Head Start is
probably the one program that has done the
best job o enrolling Hispanic children in the
United States.
Conducting a simulation based on the
e ect o going to any preschool program at
age our, Brooks-Gunn asserted that i all
children whose amilies were in poverty (100
percent o the poverty level or less) were in a
preschool, reductions in test gaps would be
two to 12 percent or Black children and our
to 16 percent or Hispanic children. Taking
it a bit urther, Brooks-Gunn ound that
i all children whose amilies were at orbelow 200 percent o the poverty threshold
were in a preschool, reductions in test
gaps would possibly double. Increasing
preschool access would not wipe out the
test score gap, but it would make huge
reductions.
In regard to high-quality preschool programs,
indicators include:
teacher education
teacher-to-child ratios
class size
language and conversation in the classroom
organization of the classroom
ongoing training of teachers
To give an example o the kinds o results
that can be demonstrated in small-scale
early childhood education evaluations,
Brooks-Gunn ocused on her study o the
In ant Health and Development Program
Intervention Services. The children in the
study all received the same intervention:
home visits in the childs rst and second
years o li e, and enrollment in a day care
center in the childs second and third years
o li e (transportation available, center openthroughout the workday). The intervention
and ollow-up groups received ree medical
surveillance and re errals to specialists
in the childs rst three years o li e. The
positive e ects on IQ and vocabulary-test
per ormance were substantial, as shown in
Figure 2. There was a signi cant e ect at
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age three, although there was a drop a ter
the intervention ended. Sustained e ects on
IQ and vocabulary were observed through
to age 18 a remarkable nding since theintervention ended at age three.
Brooks-Gunn cited several important
elements that should be given attention i
we are to improve the quality o child care
programs. These elements include the need
to train teachers to identi y children with
moderate to severe behavior problems and to
work with them to improve their emotionaland social skills; a parent-training component
or mothers with low literacy; documented
e orts to encourage high attendance; and
well-de ned and tested curricula.
The Educational and EconomicBenefts o Preschool Education
W. Steven Barnett , Director o the National
Institute or Early Education Research at
Rutgers University, ocused his presentation
on three studies that assess the economic
bene ts o preschool education programs:
Abecedarian, High/Scope Perry Preschool,
and Chicago Child-Parent Centers. It is
important to examine these programs
because comprehensive bene t-cost data
are available or them. Each program hasa di erent ocus, and the programs were
implemented in di erent decades and in
di erent regions o the country.
The Abecedarian Project is one ofthe longest running, most care ullycontrolled and respected studies onearly education. It began in the 1970sin North Carolina and compared twogroups o in ants rom low-income
amilies randomly assigned to ahigh-quality childcare setting or to acontrol group. The treatment includededucational activities that addressedeach childs needs and ocused onsocial, emotional and cognitive
development. The children wereollowed rom in ancy through age ve.
The High/Scope Perry Preschool Studyexamined the lives o a sample o 123A rican American children born intopoverty and at high risk o ailing inschool. Participants received a high-quality preschool program at agesthree and our based on High/Scopesparticipatory learning approach. It wasconducted as a prospective randomizedtrial with the most recent ollow-up atage 40.
The Chicago Longitudinal Study is aederally- unded quasi-experimental
evaluation o the Child-Parent Center(CPC) program. This CPC study
investigates the long-term e ects o the CPC Program with 1,539 childrenin the Chicago public schools whocompleted kindergarten in 1986.The CPC Program providedcomprehensive educational andparent involvement services.
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Barnett reported that each o these
programs had a great impact. The
Abecedarian study showed that
participants were less likely to repeata grade, less likely to be placed in
special education, more likely to
graduate rom high school and more
likely to attend a our-year college.
These data are shown in Figure 3.
The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study
showed a reduction in placement
in special education, increasedachievement and increased high
school graduation rates (Figure 4).
Additional e ects included increased
income, decreased likelihood o
receiving wel are as an adult and
decreased likelihood o being arrested
by age 27. The economic e ects are
not as stark at age 40, but are still
apparent: Participants are more likely
to have a savings account, more likely
to be employed and less likely to
commit crime.
The Chicago Child-Parent Center
study showed similar impacts on high
school graduation, special education,
grade repetition and juvenile arrest
(Figure 5). For the most part,
however, the e ects were smaller
than in the other two studies. Barnett
concluded that this was an indication
o the dose-response relationship
i.e., the same treatment is given,
but it is less intensive.
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As an economist, Barnett asked the
question, What is all o this worth
in terms o dollars and cents? Are
these programs good investments?The economic returns o these
three programs are shown in Table
1. The table shows the cost o the
intervention, the value o the bene t,
and the bene t/cost ratio. The Perry
Preschool program costs $17,599
and results in bene ts o $284,086,
or a bene t/cost ratio o 16. This
means that or each dollar spent on the Perry
Preschool Program, there was a bene t to
society o $16.
While the Abecedarian program does not
produce nearly as high a return, there are
reasons or this, Barnett pointed out. The
Abecedarian program is a much more
expensive program and there were no crime
bene ts (possibly due to act that the location
o the program is not a high crime area).
The Chicago Child-Parent Center, which
resulted in a bene t/cost ratio o 10, is a less
intensive program, but also less expensive.
Barnett emphasized that even though more
intensive may mean more expensive, the
additional payo may be worthwhile.
Thus, the evidence shows us that preschool
education can be a sound investment with
high economic payo s i it is done right. The
educational and economic bene ts depend
on quality, quantity and who is served. There
now is strong evidence that all children
bene t rom preschool education; however,
Barnett stressed, disadvantaged children,
in particular, gain more than middle-
income children i they attend with middle-
income children.
The evidence shows us that preschool education canbe a sound investment with high economic payo s if it is done right. W. Steven Barnett
New Jersey: Where Weve Been,Where Were Going and theChallenges Ahead
Jacqueline Jones , ormer Assistant
Commissioner o the Division o Early
Childhood Education in the New Jersey
Department o Education, began this session
o the policy orum by describing how New
Jerseys preschool education program has
evolved to become one o the most admired
systems in the country. The Abbott Preschool
Program was established in response to a
state Supreme Court ruling mandating that
preschool programs be provided to all three-
and our-year-old children in the states
highest-poverty districts.
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Intensive preschool and ull-day kindergartenenrichment programs are necessary to reversethe educational disadvantages these children startout with. New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbottv. Burke, 1998
Jones outlined the critical components o
New Jerseys preschool initiatives:
Early-learning standards andprogram guidelines
Evidence-based curricula
A certi ed teacher and assistant
in each class Maximum class size of 15 students
Full-day program
Support for English-languagelearners
Support for children with potential learning disabilities
Professional development for
key sta
Ellen Wolock , Director o the Division o
Early Childhood Education in the New Jersey
Department o Education, gave the audience
a status report on New Jerseys preschool
education programs and where they are
headed. Close to 43,000 o the states 54,000
eligible students are enrolled in preschool
education today. This number represents 74
percent o the states three-year-olds and 87
percent o the states our-year-olds.
Today, all preschool teachers have
a bachelors degree and appropriate
certi cation, and as o December 2007, the
Praxis assessment was required or the
P3 certi cate. Wolock mentioned that this
testing requirement is seen as an important
move in urther pro essionalizing the eld.Additionally, the quality o the states
preschool programs has increased rom
adequate to good as assessed by the
Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale.
A rating o good has been associated with
learning gains or children, according
to Wolock.
For the uture, New Jersey seeks to expandtheir preschool programs beyond the
Abbott districts. Over the next ve years,
the goal is to reach at least 90 percent o
the eligible population in all o New Jerseys
school districts.
A strong advocate or preschool and early
childhood education, Lucille Davy , New
Jerseys Commissioner o Education, thankedKurt Landgra , ETS and the Public Education
Institute or creating a orum to not only
discuss the importance o high-quality
preschool and what is happening in New
Jersey, but to take some credit or the good
work that has been done. Davy went on to
say that history shows that care ully designed
preschool programs can make a signi cant
di erence in classroom quality, thereby
having a signi cant and positive infuence on
student learning outcomes. We now have
evidence in New Jersey that i we close the
gap at kindergarten, the rest o the outcomes
or these children change dramatically
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beginning in rst and second grade and continuing right up
the line. Davy encouraged the audience members to keep
their passion or high-quality early childhood education
because it does make a di erence.We now have evidence in New Jersey that i we close the gap atkindergarten, the rest o the outcomes or these children changedramatically beginning in frst and second grade and continuingright up the line. Lucille Davy
New Jersey o ers many lessons or the rest o the country
about e ective preschool policies and the kinds o
supervision, support and resources that programs need to
have in order to get the job done. Lucille Davy put the ocusback on the children and o ered the notion that together
we will create a uture or our youngest children that will
allow them to be success ul in their lives no matter what
path they choose in uture years.
Symposium participants were enthusiastic and unanimous
in their acknowledgment that the educational and economic
bene ts o preschool education are substantial, and that the
evidence shows that high-quality preschool programs canmake a signi cant di erence in student learning outcomes.
In addition, during lunch, ETS
Government Affairs manager
Shannon Litton provided con erenceparticipants with an overview o the
Obama administrations Education
Stimulus and what it could mean or
early childhood education programs
across the country.
Supporting materials rom the
presentations are available as
PowerPoint fles at
www.ets.org/preschooledcon .
THIS ISSUE (continued from page 1)
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ETS Policy Notes is published by theETS Policy In ormation CenterEducational Testing ServiceRosedale Road, MS 19-RPrinceton, NJ 08541- 0001(609) 734 -5212e-mail: [email protected]/research/picDirector: Richard J. ColeyThis article was writtenby Lisa Belfeldand edited by Richard J. Coleyand Eileen Kerrigan.
Copyright 2009 by EducationalTesting Service. All rights reserved.Educational Testing Service isan A frmative Action/EqualOpportunity Employer.ETS, the ETS logo and LISTENING.LEARNING. LEADING. are registeredtrademarks o Educational TestingService (ETS). PRAXIS is a trade-mark o ETS. 11546
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This symposium will discuss how out-o -school
learning plays a critical role in overall student academic
achievement. It will eature a public discussion o leading
supplementary education research, practice, assessmentand ideas or public policy. It will also help to stimulate
e orts to advance out-o -school learning at the local,
state and national levels. The goal o the symposium is to
enhance the way in which policymakers, researchers and
practitioners think about the contemporary role o out-o -
school education or improving academic per ormance
and closing achievement gaps.
For more in ormation about the event, contact
Symposium Coordinator Jane Cairns at
1-609-734-5212 or [email protected] .
You are invited to ETSs 12th Addressing Achievement Gaps Symposium
A ter the Bell Rings:Learning Outside o the Classroomand Its Relationship to StudentAcademic Achievement
When: October 5 6, 2009
Where: The Fairmont Washington, D.C.
2401 M Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20037
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