Secretary of Education’s Speech at NAEYC

Hello everyone,

I hope you are not too overwhelmed with all the activities of this busy holiday season!

This November, Arne Duncan was the first Secretary of Education to address the National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference.  Just in case you were unable to attend the meeting in Washington DC, I have summarized the key points Mr. Duncan made to NAEYC attendees:

1. “It is time to transform early learning from a system of uneven quality and access into a system that truly and consistently prepares children for success in school and in life.”
2. The first three years are the “most active period” of child development. 
3.  A significant achievement gap exists in our country prior to entrance into kindergarten. 
4. NAEYC supports closing that gap in its Call to Action. The Call to Action states that the goal of NAEYC “is not to defend the status quo” and presents recommendations to prevent the gap.
5. Programs must begin to shift from evaluating inputs (teacher/child ratio, credentials, cost of services) to evaluating outcomes for young children.
6. The bar for early learning programs must be raised and K-12 must be improved.
7. Many states have created Early Learning Standards. Developmentally appropriate learning standards enable teachers, parents and members of the community to understand what young children should learn and do and guide educational outcomes.
8. New monies are flowing into early childhood education. Recently, President Obama signed into law $5 billion to grow Early Head Start and Head Start. In addition, The Early Learning Challenge Grants, passed by the House of Representatives, totaling $1 billion a year for the next 8 years, would give young children from limited income families the opportunity to enroll in high quality early childhood programs. The bill is yet to be passed by the Senate.
9. Because it is believed that early childhood education needs to be better aligned with the K-12 system, the Department of Education developed a birth through grade three early learning agenda.
10. A new partnership has been developed between Health and Human Services and the Department of Education to support healthy child development and school readiness. Both departments have come to recognize that health, social and academic issues all contribute to school preparedness and school success.
11. There are successful early childhood programs throughout the country that should be considered by communities who want to help children at risk.  These include: Chicago’s model Child Parent Center (an effective program ), Oklahoma’s State Preschool System, Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts, North Carolina, Alabama and New Jersey.

12.  Two major challenges.      

           A. Creating a system of early care and education for young children from birth through grade three.

           B.  Basing the quality of programs on outcomes of children’s development and school readiness through documentation and assessment and making curriculum or program changes accordingly.  For ecample recent research in early math instruction indicates that early learning in math leads to better math outcomes in later school years. 

What do you think about Secretary Duncan’s remarks about early learning?

Do you agree or disagree with any of his proposed policies?

Wishing you the happiest of holidays.

Sincerely,

Dr. Vardin