1. 7 th Meeting of the OECD Network on Early Childhood and Care: Financing ECE Services Paris, France June 22, 2010 Jacqueline Jones, PhD Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Early Learning Us Department Of Education Washington, DC Early Learning in the US and the Economic Crisis
28. Four Assurances Raise standards and improve assessments . Recruit, retain & support effective educators , and ensure equitable distribution. Build robust data systems that track student progress and improve practice. Turn around low-performing schools , focusing on dropout factories and their feeder schools.
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Aligned early learning and development standards that lead to school readiness and are integrated with program quality to guide curriculum and program development. An evidence-based quality rating system structured with progressive levels of quality – which may be used across early learning settings and programs. An effective system of program review, monitoring, and improvement applied across all programs and settings. An evidence-based system of professional development to prepare an effective and well-qualified workforce of early educators, including appropriate levels of training, education, and credentials. Strategies for families and parents to better assess quality in their child's early learning program and better support their child's learning. Systems to facilitate screening and referrals for health, mental health, disability and family support. A coordinated zero to five data infrastructure to collect essential information on where young children spend their time and the effectiveness of programs that serve them. An age- and developmentally-appropriate curriculum and assessment system that is used to guide practice, improve programs, and inform kindergarten readiness.
[Acknowledgements, etc.] But before I get into our proposal, I want to talk a little about why this reauthorization is so important to us. Student outcomes. First, and foremost, our education system isn’t delivering the results students deserve. 40% of children enter kindergarten without the skills they need to succeed in school. 25% of high school students don’t make it to graduation. 40% of college students need remediation. Millions of jobs go unfilled each year for lack of trained workers. NCLB. NCLB did some things right… Shined a spotlight on achievement gaps. Holding adults accountable for student results. … but there’s a great deal we need to fix. Standards too low. Growth vs. snapshots. Mislabeling schools & targeting resources. Too focused on teacher inputs. Process/bipartisanship. Law is overdue for reauthorization, and there is potential for bipartisan bill. Law was originally up for reauthorization in 2007; long overdue. We believe this can be a bipartisan bill, and have been working with Democratic and Republican members of Congress. Education can be the one issue that rises above partisanship and that unites adults together to do what’s best for students.
Of course, early learning is woven throughout each of these six areas. The achievement gap begins very early and is unacceptably large. Across the country, states and LEAs have increased their commitment to high-quality preschool programs. However, even high-quality preschool in not a magic bullet. The quality of our kindergarten through third grade early learning programs must improve to order to close the achievement gap and to keep the gap closed. A strong focus on early learning is necessary to ensure that children start off “on track” to be college and career ready.