I’m at an age when a lot of my friends are trying to figure out where to send their children to preschool. Because of what I do for a living, and because I serve on a board that oversees charter schools in the District, some of my friends ask me for advice about preschool options. More often, they simply want to complain to me about the frustrations of navigating what is an incredibly fraContinue Reading »

How many teachers should be rated “unsatisfactory”? Matt DiCarlo looks at “the ineffective rating fetish” and how it could hurt efforts to implement new teacher evaluation systems. (Shanker Blog)

Long-term benefits of preschool. A study of New Jersey’s universal pre-K programs shows learning gains through fifth grade, debunking some beliefs that preschool gains aren’t maintaiContinue Reading »

$15 billion. Alex Holt breaks down the math behind funding universal pre-K. And while we’re on the topic, Sara Mead—the newest member of Education Sector’s K20 Task Force—explains why, yes, preschool expansion is coming. (Early Ed Watch/Policy Notebook)

“Preschool daze.” In a series of letters to his two-year-old daughter, this Washington, D.C., parent explains his quest to find her the Continue Reading »

Getting more high-schoolers on the graduation stage. Flexible, online courses; tuned-in counselors; and technical training programs at the high school level are some of the initiatives noted in states that are making headway with graduation rates. The national average could reach 90 percent at this pace, the new analysis notes. (Reuters)

“Why preschool isn’t enough.” President Obama’s plContinue Reading »

A (potential) IOU for preK. A Utah lawmaker wants to ask private investors to pay for preschool programs—with a catch. If the programs prove successful after seven years, the investors will get their money back and the state will begin picking up the tab. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Giving all high-schoolers a taste of college. Virginia lawmakers have asked the state’s community colleges to estaContinue Reading »

The cute pictures of proud 5-year-olds in their miniature caps and gowns “graduating” this year from preschool are probably still being exchanged by family members via the Internet. Such ceremonies are a great excuse to feed kids cake and, for teachers especially, celebrate the end of the year.

Photo by Paul Schultz

But therein is an opportuniContinue Reading »

Kudos to Sara Mead for this nice post on what the preschool quality debate should be about. As I have written earlier, preschool quality is a critical issue for all K-12 school reformers and Head Start may be the place to start. Proposed Head Start regulations will use a standard based observation tool, the CLASS, to determine the quality of preschool instruction. These observation measures wouContinue Reading »

In recent article by Daniel Willingham on whether the Obama reform agenda is research based on not, Daniel suggests that the only part of his reform that is researched based is its early childhood education proposal.  This got me thinking, is the preschool research really any more compelling than the charter school research? I am a fan of expansion in both areas, but my take on what the researcContinue Reading »

Kevin, fresh from demonstrating that he is soooooooooo much cooler than I can ever hope to be, offers such a spot-on and funny take down of this week’s WaPo article on one slightly hysterical mom’s quest to get her two-year-old into the “right” preschool that I hate to add anything to it. But I gotta. You see, the mom in question, Petula Dvorak, indicates she lives on Continue Reading »

A new CED report makes the economic case for greater public investment in universal preschool, looks at how much different policy alternatives here would cost, and also discusses some interesting alternative funding mechanisms. Some of this will not be new to early childhood geeks, but the analysis around policy and funding alternatives is worth checking out. Tweet Continue Reading »