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Where the U.S. ranks in preschool enrollment --
Hint: not very high
A new study of international levels of preschool enrollment from the Organization for Economic
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Credit: EdSource
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Cooperation and Development places the U.S. well behind other developed countries in the number of young children participating in early education in any setting.
Researchers found:
- In the U.S., 40 percent of 3-year-olds and about 70 percent of 4-year-olds are enrolled in preschool programs.
- By contrast, in the 37 other developed countries studied, the average enrollment rate for 3-year-olds was 70 percent and enrollment for 4-year-olds was more than 90 percent.
Only one other country has a smaller percentage of 3-year-olds enrolled in a program than the United States: Turkey, where less than 10 percent of children aged three are enrolled. Only Greece, Switzerland and Turkey
have
a lower percentage of 4-year-olds enrolled.
According to the study's authors, more countries around the world are making early childhood education a priority because the number of years children spend in these programs is "a strong predictor of the level of performance reached at later ages, both in and out of school."
Click here to download the study or view the accompanying slide presentation.
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The poll shows bipartisan support for maintaining early childhood funding
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The First Five Years Fund has released its
2017 national bipartisan poll, which found strong voter support across party lines for expanding federal grants to states and communities to improve access to preschool, tripling the current child care tax credit, and providing more funding for programs like Head Start.
The representative telephone survey of 1,000 voters also found that 89 percent of poll respondents support "making early education and child care more affordable for working families to give children a strong start" and 78 percent said making voluntary
home visiting programs available for first-time parents was important.
In response to questions about specific child care policies, 81 percent of the electorate -- including 74 percent of voters who supported Trump -- support providing a child care tax credit to help parents better afford quality child care and early education, with low- and
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| In the survey, only 1 in 5 voters said Congress and the president are paying enough attention to early childhood education. |
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middle-income parents who need more help getting a larger credit. Seventy percent are in favor of increasing the amount of the existing child and dependent care tax credit from $3,000 to $9,000 for one child to better
reflect today's child care costs. That includes 60 percent of Trump voters.
Download a summary of the study
here.
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California students who attended transitional kindergarten were more engaged in the learning process and better prepared for math and reading when they entered kindergarten than children who did
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Credit: Alison Yin, EdSource
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not, according to a new study by the American Institutes for Research.
The
study compared the skill levels of kindergartners who had attended transitional kindergarten with those who had attended preschool or had not been in formal preschool the year prior.
"Transitional kindergarten gives students an advantage of three to six months of learning in literacy and mathematics skills at kindergarten entry, which is quite notable, especially given that a large majority of the students attended preschool," said Heather Quick, principal researcher of the study.
Go here to read more.
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Child advocates are applauding the
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Credit: Alison Yin, EdSource
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budget approved in mid-June by the state Legislature, especially a long-sought agreement to raise the income eligibility limit so more low-income families qualify for subsidized child care.
The budget for the coming fiscal year requires the Department of Finance to calculate income eligibility for subsidized child care based on the most recent state median income information. It will also adjust that number based on family size.
Families in California are eligible for state-subsidized child care if their total family income does not exceed a certain percentage of the state median income. However, California
has not increased its income eligibility limit since the 2007-08 fiscal year.
"To get this priority win is really gratifying," said Ted Lempert, president of
Children Now, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization. Lempert said more than 500 organizations joined forces in the final stages of the state budget process to push for child care access for more working families,
which the new budget will provide. "We really are thrilled that the Legislature and administration heeded that call," Lempert said.
To read the full story
go here, or to find out more about how the state's $3.2 billion in education budget increases will be broken down,
go here for EdSource's interactive budget graphic.
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Credit: Erin Brownfield, EdSource
A student receives his "Diploma de Kindergarten" at a Spanish dual-immersion elementary school
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In a recent commentary for EdSource, Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio voices strong support for dual-language instruction, along with
Proposition 58, the initiative approved by voters last November effectively ending the ban on bilingual education in California. "Scientific evidence clearly points to a universal, underlying human capacity to learn two languages as easily as one, and the years before children enter kindergarten represent the golden moment for bolstering capacity in both languages," she writes.
According to Blanca, "Implementation of Proposition 58 offers
schools the opportunity to consider implementing a multilingual/biliteracy program. Beginning next month, if parents of 20 students in one grade level, or 30 students schoolwide, request a multilingual/biliteracy program, it will trigger exploration and implementation of a biliteracy progra
m in that school."
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Facing costs of up to $2,605 a month for infant care, parents in San Francisco are struggling to find affordable day care and preschool options. In response, city leaders are considering easing the process for opening new centers. Currently, schools and centers have to obtain conditional use permits to open in many neighborhoods, which legislators say is too expensive and time-consuming, and limits the city's supply. Separately, child care advocates are pushing the city to set aside $10 million in its next budget to fund education programs for young children.
Los Angeles Universal Preschool is trying to do something about preschool suspensions. This month, the first group of teachers graduated from a special training program with a new qualification: the Exceptional Populations Certificate. The program helps arm teachers with tools to deal with students at most risk of suspension: those with developmental delays, physical and medical disabilities and emotional and behavioral issues.
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