Many Happy Returns:School boards and pre-kindergarten

Patte Barth, Center for Public Education

Federation Presidents’ Retreat

August 16, 2008

The Center for Public Education

Agenda

• Why pre-K?

• School boards & pre-k

• CPE’s pre-k initiative

• Making pre-k work

• Federal advocacy

questions

Why pre-K?

Poor children start school behind their more affluent peers academically …

Source: NCES, America’s Kindergartners, Class of 1998-99, February 2000

8 7 6

27 27 27

0

80

reading math generalknowledge

welfare

no welfare

Per

cen

t of

stu

dent

s sc

orin

g in

to

p q

uart

ile

… and socially

Source: NCES, America’s Kindergartners, Class of 1998-99, February 2000

67 69

43

75 78

53

0

80

accept peerideas

formfriendships

comfortothers

welfare

no welfare

Per

cen

t of

stu

dent

s w

ho

eng

age

in p

ro-

soci

al b

ehav

ior

ofte

n or

ver

y of

ten

High-quality pre-k is NOT

High pressure

Mandatory

Low-quality/concerned

only with access

Academic only

One size fits all

Only in schools

Closed to parents

A silver bullet

High-quality pre-k IS

Fun – “can I go to pre-K?”

Concerned with children’s social/emotional/academic development

For all plus more for high-needs children

Often in diverse settings

Welcoming to parents too

Absolutely voluntary

Essential but not sufficient

Adapted from Pew Charitable Trusts, 2006

The benefits of pre-k convey to all children

Source: Cannon & Karoly, Who Is Ahead and Who Is Behind? RAND, 2007. Data from Gormley et al, 2005.

0.99

0.38

0.6

0.76

1.5

0.74

0.89

0.72

0.98

0.52

0.72

0

2

White Hispanic Black NativeAmerican

Appliedproblems

Letter-Word ID

Spelling

Effects of Tulsa Preschool Program on School Readiness by Race & Ethnicity

Eff

ect

Siz

e (g

ain

s)

The benefits of pre-k convey to all children

Source: Cannon & Karoly, Who Is Ahead and Who Is Behind? RAND, 2007. Data from Gormley et al, 2005.

0.45

0.29

0.81

1.04

0.630.65

0.97

0.54

0

2

free lunch reduced lunch non eligible

Appliedproblems

Letter-Word ID

Spelling

Effects of Tulsa Preschool Program on School Readiness by Family Income

Eff

ect

Siz

e (g

ain

s)

Short-term benefits

• More likely to score higher on math and

reading state tests in elementary school

• Less likely to be retained in grade

• Less likely to require special education

services

Sources: High Scopes/Perry Preschool, Abecedarian, Chicago Child-Parent Centers

Long-term benefits

• More likely to earn high school diploma

• More likely to be employed

• More likely to earn high wages

• More likely to be home owners

• Less likely to be a teen parent

• Less likely to be involved in criminal justice

system

Sources: High Scopes/Perry Preschool, Abecedarian, Chicago Child-Parent Centers

And it adds up:Gains per $1 invested

2.363.78

7.14

16.14

0

18

Meta-analysis Abecedarian Chicago Centers High/Scope

SOURCE: CED, 2006

Access to pre-k varies by family income

Per

cen

t of

4

year

-old

s

Source: NCES, Pre:school: First findings, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort Follow up, 2007

22

44

7125

13

1

0

100

lowest 20% middle 60% highest 20%

center-based Head Start

47

57

72

Access to pre-k also varies by race & ethnicity

Per

cen

t of

4

year

-old

s

Source: NCES, Pre:school: First findings, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort Follow up, 2007

53

37 31

55

29

725

19

6

31

0

100

White Black Hispanic Asian NativeAmerican

center-based Head Start

60 62

50

61 60

School boards and pre-k

School board view:Why pre-k

75 72 71

45

0

100

promotes schoolreadiness

boosts studentachievement

narrows gaps saves $ in long-term

SOURCE: NSBA, school board survey 2006

School board view:Challenges to providing pre-K

79

2417 14

0

100

lack of resources finding qualifiedteachers

collaborating withprivate providers

lack of readinessstandards

SOURCE: NSBA, school board survey 2006

School board view:Impediments to starting pre-K

87

58

14 10 9

0

100

insufficientfunds

lack ofclassrooms

limited public-private

collaboration

lack ofcommunity

interest

lack ofqualified

providers

SOURCE: NSBA, school board survey 2006, views from districts that do not currently provide pre-k

CPE pre-k initiative

• Making pre-kindergarten a public priority

• Intensifying efforts in partner states: Kansas, Ohio, Texas. We hope to add Alabama and Kentucky

• Reaching out broadly to other states and nationally

Action in the partner states

• Kansas – holding broad-based

community meetings, working with the

governor, expanding pilot projects

• Ohio – outreach to members, making P-

12 case

• Texas – taking lead role in TX early ed

coalition, working to expand eligibility

Making pre-K work

Universal vs. Targeted

• Arguments for universal:

all children benefit – no one is denied access

broader base of support for program

• Arguments for targeted:

high-needs children benefit the most

costs less

Mixed delivery vs. Public school pre-k

• Arguments for mixed deliverymaximize community resourcesless threatening to private providers

• Arguments for public school pre-kless concern about quality controlless concern about “backdoor vouchers”

Full-day K vs. Pre-K

• Arguments for full-day K

schools already have the children

easier to find certified teachers

easier for working parents

• Arguments for pre-K

readiness gaps are present at age 5

A federal role

NSBA’s Pre-K Legislative Committee

• Advocates for federal pre-k agenda to include more investment in high-quality pre-k

• Includes over 300 NA, FRN and CUBE representatives at present

NSBA’s Federal Policy Recommendations

• New federal grant program to fund portion of costs to develop and expand voluntary quality preschool programs in local school districts.

• Key caveats:

– School district participation discretionary– Parent/student participation discretionary– Not at expense of K-12 funding– Doesn’t foster vouchers

NSBA’s Federal Policy Recommendations (cont.)

• Programs adopt developmentally appropriate early ed standards aligned with state’s K-12 standards.

• Require outside pre-k providers to collaborate with local districts.

• Encourage states to upgrade teacher certification / licensure systems to include BA & early ed training

NSBA’s Federal Policy Recommendations (cont.)

• Devote resources to districts to develop / implement joint training and professional development programs for early ed instructors.

• Tools / incentives to replicate effective models and improve program quality.

State trends in Pre-kAccess AND Quality

Access

• 38 states fund pre-k programs

• 22% of all 4-yr-olds enrolled in state pre-k – up from 14% in 2002

• 2/3 of children served are in public school settings

Source: NIEER, 2006 & 2007

Access to state pre-kFour-year-olds

Top States No program

OK 73% FL 62% GA 58% WV 55% VT 54% TX 49% NY 45% WI 44% SC 44% MD 40%

AK NH HI ND ID RI IN SD MS UT MT WY

SOURCE: NIEER, 2007, includes special education students

Pre-k funding by state, FY09

Orange: increase Black: decrease Tan: Flat * inc. HeadStart or local only

Blue: Inc, expected White: no state pre-k Gray: no budget Map: Pre-K Now, 2008

More state dollars for pre-kdespite pinched budgets

FY 2005 FY 2009*

# of states increasing pre-k funding 15 21

Total state pre-k dollars $2.9 billion $5.2 billion

*Governors’ proposals. Source: Pre-K Now, Leadership Matters, 2008

NIEER’s 10 quality indicators• Early learning standards• Lead teachers with B.A.• Lead teachers with early ed training• Ass’t teachers with CDA• Min. 15 hrs PD• Max. class size of 20• Min. staff-child ratio 1:10• Health support• Min. 1 meal• Site visits

Source: National Institute for Early Education Research

States meeting standards

• 2 states – AL and NC -- meet all 10 indicators

• 8 states – AR, IL, NJ, NM, OK, SC, TN & WA - met 9 quality indicators

Source: NIEER, 2007

Nationally…

• 22 states required lead teachers to have BA

• 33 states required class size ≤ 20

• 34 states required child/staff ratio 10:1 or better

Source: NIEER Yearbook 2007

Pre-K newsletter

Visit our websitewww.centerforpubliceducation

questions?

For more information …

Center for Public Education www.centerforpubliceducation.org

or email me

Patte Barth, pbarth@nsba.org