Benefits And Effects Of Prekindergarten Education

The birth of the Head Start Program was a direct result of President Johnson’s War on Poverty Act. The Office of Economic Opportunities was originally in charge of the program until its transfer to the Office of Child Development in the Department of Health and Human Services. This department is the cabinet department of the United States charged with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. The Head Start Act passed in 1981. Today it is a program within the Administration of Children and Family. The Administration of Children and Families is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, (H.H.S.). The Assistant Secretary heads it for Children and Families; it also has a $47 billion budget for 65 programs that targets children, youth, and families.

program in the community, a population of less than 1,000 persons and residence in a remote area.

A “high-quality” preschool program is curriculum based with certified teachers and a low child to teacher ratio (Robin, Frede, & Barnett, 2006, p. 1)

Statement of Issue: Many minority children and children from low-income families enter kindergarten without the academic skills they need to succeed. Math and reading abilities at kindergarten entry are powerful predictors of later school success. Research shows kids who start school already behind are unlikely to ever get caught up to standards. Hispanic and African American children are anywhere from 7 to 12 months behind in reading and 9 to 10 months behind on math when they enter kindergarten. Access remains extremely low to high-quality early education do to a couple of problems. First, rates of access to early education vary widely as a function of children’s socioeconomic backgrounds. Secondly, the quality of most early education programs is not high enough to substantially improve academic readiness. Considering the tremendous potential for high-quality preschool to improve children’s outcomes, this policy brief will consider how a universal publicly funded pre-kindergarten program in the United States could decrease both disparities in access to early learning and achievement gaps at kindergarten entry.

For example, according to Head Start policies there are only two programs that qualify for public assistance which are “Temporary Assistance to Needy Families” and “Supplemental Security Income” (“Head Start”). Any other services do not meet the requirements of public assistance of a low income family. This will absolutely affect eligibility because “In order to be eligible for Head Start, children must be from families with incomes below the poverty line or families receiving public assistance. Public assistance is defined as either SSI or TANF” (“Head Start”). Eligibility is a process. According to Head Start’s regulations there are “two primary kinds of eligibility…categorical eligibility and income eligibility” (“Head Start”). Categorically speaking, human beings from 0 years old to 5 years old as well as pregnant women are eligible. Income eligibility requires the family income to be classified as “below the income figures published annually by the federal government as the Poverty Guidelines” (Head Start). Grantees go through a verification process to legitimize the claims or reports they have been handed concerning

The Head Start Program, typically referred to solely as Head Start, is offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program was inaugurated in 1964 as a means of preparing children

Children from foster care or homeless, along with pregnant women are also eligible to receive Head Start services.

Several years ago Pennsylvania was only one of nice states that did not invest in a pre-kindergarten program however with the policies and programs for pre-kindergarten programs that are currently in place throughout the state educational communities are beginning to see differences in their students’ academic and reduction in at risk behaviors (Pre-K for PA, 2015). Pre-K Today states in their “Tools for the Campaign” article that due to increased funding by the state of Pennsylvania for pre-school programming and for policies such as the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts there has been a reduction in grade retention and special education placement in elementary school, improvement in standardized test scores, reduction in juvenile crime, and higher

Early childhood education has many benefits and there is the potential for many significant outcomes if universal preschools were put into place. Some feel that children who start kindergarten without previously attended preschool sometimes lack certain skills such as social and communication skills and an inability to follow routines. There were also studies done that found attending preschool could help to close the achievement gap in the grade school years. A child’s first few years of life are most important, and they absorb the most during those years. By providing universal preschool, all children would be benefiting, especially those who are in at-risk families or part of the lower class. As a society, we have a responsibility to help the children in our communities and provide them with the education they need in order to help them succeed in life.

Time and time again, people agree upon the need for and the benefits of an early childhood education system, but very little change takes place. In Georgia, there is a prevalent need for effective programming for children of low socioeconomic status backgrounds. Research strongly claims that children from poor communities that enroll in center care demonstrate positive cognitive effects (Loeb et al, 2004). According to Zimmerman and Pepper Jr., two capitalists invested in prekindergarten programs, ―A child’s brain grows to roughly 85 percent of its full capacity in the first five years of life. These are also the years when a child’s sense of what is

Preschool supports children in their school readiness, and since 1995 early head start has been providing low income families preschool educational support for their young children. Magnuson and Votruba-Drzal (2014) report that disadvantaged children, those from homes suffering from early and chronic poverty, are at risk for lower levels of achievement and discuses education as being an impactful intervention to address poverty. However, like any social program, a cost-benefit analysis will be employed. The cost of preschool is sizable, Duncan (2001) states that the application of effective preschool programs, as well as the cost of research to assess effectiveness, is an investment. An effective preschool program is innately more expensive, characteristics such as low teacher to student ratios, small class sizes, teacher work conditions, and professional development are key to effectiveness as well as a cost factor. Yet, Barnett (2011) indicated that the cost of preschool was better than the cost of potential supports through special education and retention as indicated through a comparison study. Long term impacts also include a reduction in:

The Preschool Puzzle article talked about whether universal pre-K is worth the cost for taxpayers or not, the article included both political and scientific arguments about the topic. The article talked about two long-term studies that have been made on the affects of pre-K. The first is the Abecedarian Project, in this study, researchers had four infants assigned to a full-time early education program from birth to the age of five and followed them through their adulthood. The researchers found that these children scored higher on tests, were more likely to go to college, and had greater academic achievements. The second method is called the Perry Preschool Project, this study involved low-income children who were assigned to an intensive

18). As more and more educators become aware of the affects to the teachers as well as the children, the states have been working together to improve and develop early educator competencies that provides adequate education and pay. Notably, education is an essential tool to ensure children learn in a high-quality environment where the teachers have the credentials of teaching age-appropriate curriculum while enhancing the children learning capacity to the next level. In fact, according to Demma (2010), “A growing body of child development research, neuroscience, and program evaluation demonstrates that high-quality early childhood care and education programs improve school readiness and later outcomes for young children” (p. 1). As facts layout the importance of early years of education, it is right to claim that early childhood educators should be able to get a higher pay just like the Kindergarten teachers. With successful advocacy in the community, it has brought a portion of light to the field in which states are moving for higher pay for higher education.

The years before kindergarten are among the most crucial time in a young child’s life to learn. School readiness, a multidimensional concept, has the ability to convey advantages in academic success in school. Children who enter school with early skills in math and reading tend to have more academic success, attain higher levels of education, and have a higher chance of securing employment (1). Their ability to recognize letters, read words in a book, write their own name, and count numbers are all factors that display early literacy and cognitive development, and in the past years, the number of young children with these qualities has increased over time. During the beginning years of a child's life, whether it’s from socioeconomics, ethnicity, daycare, or all of them combined, multiple factors influence a child’s readiness for school.

Early childhood education has not always been the top priority in the education world. Although, research has proved that it should be the top priority as the benefits of Early Childhood Education are innumerous. Extensive neuroscience research has discovered that the brain is build over time and it is built from the bottom up. Early childhood experiences directly affect the quality brain development. Establishing a sturdy foundation through a high quality early childhood education experience, will dramatically develop child's brain. As a result, they will have a brighter future. In this essay, I will propose a plan for the children of 2020 and how to ensure the best early childhood education experience. I personally believe that racially, culturally, linguistically and developmentally responsive practices parental involvement are critical to the sturdy foundation that is essential to the positive early childhood experience.