What To Do About Universal Pre-K?
One of the big problems with the universal preschool thing that's going around is that few of the folks touting it to get elected know or care anything about the implementation challenges, and few of those aedvocates who know better are willing or able to risk losing their big chance at expanding coverage by saying, 'hey, wait a second..."
How do you make universal preschool any good if so many preK teachers remain woefully under-educated and underpaid? One possible answer mentioned in this Slate magazine article (Do preschool teachers need college degrees?) is to "fold preschool into the existing public-education system, as New Jersey has done." Well, it's an answer if you don't mind everything that comes from enlarging the current public school system. But rolling out low-quality preschool initiatives isn't the answer, either.
How do you make universal preschool any good if so many preK teachers remain woefully under-educated and underpaid? One possible answer mentioned in this Slate magazine article (Do preschool teachers need college degrees?) is to "fold preschool into the existing public-education system, as New Jersey has done." Well, it's an answer if you don't mind everything that comes from enlarging the current public school system. But rolling out low-quality preschool initiatives isn't the answer, either.
posted by Alexander Russo at 10/20/2006 11:21:00 AM
1 Comments:
The warmth and supportiveness that the Slate article associates with college-educated preschool teachers does more than make preschoolers feel good. Ross Thompson, an expert in child development and learning at the University of California, Davis, stresses that for young children learning is a highly social activity. Teachers who can create warm, stimulating, happy interactions with their children are fostering their intellectual as well as their emotional growth. Such interactions must be created intentionally and purposefully. If teachers who have a college education are more likely to create those interactions, then it seems logical that states ought to create policies and budgets that makes sure the teachers have that background.
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