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Duncan defends preschool funding proposal to House committee
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appeared Tuesday before the House Education and Workforce Committee to promote what he called the “centerpiece” of the administration’s 2014 education budget proposal, the $75 billion plan to expand public preschool through a funding initiative that would encourage states to offer preschool to low-income and middle-class children. “What is the smartest use of our education dollars?” Duncan asked rhetorically during his remarks to the committee. “The answer, I believe, is that high-quality early learning is the best education investment we can make in our children, our communities, and our country.” While Duncan made a point of highlighting the bipartisan support for preschool by citing the Republican governors and voters who have supported expanded early education programs, the House Republicans on the committee were skeptical of the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Funding and Taxation, Obama Preschool, Quick Hits
Early education advocates disappointed with governor’s revised budget
Early education advocates in California were hoping for increases in preschool and child care funding in the governor’s revised budget, released Tuesday. No such luck. “The governor talks a lot about educational equity and equality of opportunity,” said Scott Moore, policy analyst for the early education advocacy group Early Edge California. “He is really missing the boat … Read entire article »
Filed under: Child Care, Early Childhood, Featured, Kindergarten and Preschool, Reporting & Analysis
Kindergarten ‘redshirting’ not very common, study finds
Kindergarten “redshirting,” when parents keep a child eligible to start kindergarten out of school for an extra year, is not as prevalent as previously believed, a new study suggests. On average, only 4 percent to 5 percent of children start kindergarten a year late, according to the study by Daphna Bassok of the University of Virginia and Sean Reardon of Stanford University. The term “redshirting” originally comes from the practice of keeping a freshman athlete out of intercollegiate sports for a year to give him or her an extra year of NCAA eligibility. It’s not thought that many parents hold their children out of kindergarten for athletic advantage, but to give him or her more time to “mature.” However, the study found that most children who were held back might not really … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Quick Hits, Transitional Kindergarten
Many charter schools to begin offering transitional kindergarten in fall 2013
After a year’s delay, many charter schools will begin offering transitional kindergarten classes in the fall. There had been some disagreement with the California Department of Education over whether charters were required to offer the new program for children who turn five in the first few months of the school year. While school districts rolled out the transitional programs at the beginning of this academic year, many charters did not. The state’s two largest charter advocacy groups said … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, Transitional Kindergarten
Pasadena center at forefront of early math programs for young children
PASADENA — While many preschools struggle to integrate math into their programs, an early education center housed at the California Institute of Technology has long made math a central pillar in a program that uses the scientific method to engage children as young as 6 months old. The Children’s Center at Caltech, which places … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Featured, Kindergarten and Preschool, Reporting & Analysis, STEM
California earns mediocre marks on national study of early childhood education
California earned a lackluster rating on state spending, preschool access and program quality for early childhood education for the 2011-12 school year, according to the annual State of Preschool Report released Monday by the National Institute for Early Education Research. Since early childhood education is not part of the K-12 system in most states, funding for and provision of the service varies widely. The annual report by the Rutgers University-based research organization is the only national … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Featured, Kindergarten and Preschool, Reporting & Analysis
California’s preschool access gap bigger than national average
One out of every four 3- and 4-year-old children in California is not enrolled in preschool of any kind, according to an interactive map created by the left-leaning Center for American Progress. The map, which uses U.S. Census Bureau data to illustrate how the “preschool access gap” varies across the country, puts California in the middle of the pack. California’s state-funded preschool program and Head Start combined only enroll 25 percent of the state’s preschool-age children, according to the interactive map. Another 31 percent are enrolled in private preschool. The rest, 44 percent, are not enrolled in any preschool program. The Center for American Progress has come out strongly in favor of the president’s plan to invest $75 billion over the next decade to help states provide preschool to every child. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Obama Preschool, Quick Hits
Family fee for half-day state preschool likely to be rescinded
A much-disputed daily fee for families with children in state-funded preschool programs will likely be removed from next year’s state budget. Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, who chairs the budget subcommittee on education finance, said the fee, which was added to the budget for the first time last year to offset state costs, was a mistake. “We did it for a year and it didn’t work,” she said. “We have the opportunity to evaluate it and say … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Featured, Kindergarten and Preschool, Reporting & Analysis
Q & A: Early learning revolves around emotional connections
Ross Thompson is a distinguished professor of psychology at University of California, Davis. He studies healthy adult-child attachments and how they relate to learning and uses his research to inform public policy. Thompson is a frequent speaker on early childhood education and has testified in the state Legislature about the need for better funding for early childhood programs. Thompson’s wife, whom he refers to often when speaking about his research, is a preschool teacher. As … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cognitive Development, Early Childhood, Featured, Q&A, Reporting & Analysis
Obama budget would allocate $75 billion over next decade to preschool
In an ambitious and highly anticipated budget plan, President Barack Obama called Wednesday for allocating $75 billion over the next 10 years to expand public preschool by raising the federal tax on tobacco products. The plan offered the first concrete proposal for funding the “Preschool for All” initiative the president introduced in his State of the Union address in January. If approved, it would be the largest influx of federal funding for preschool since Head Start … Read entire article »
Filed under: Early Childhood, Featured, Obama Preschool, Reporting & Analysis
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