Effects Of Early Intervention Programs On School Readiness

In the article “School Readiness for Infants and Toddlers? Really? Yes, Really!” by Sandra Petersen, she discusses how from birth to age three are crucial for school readiness. The “exuberant period” which is the months before and after birth is the time when the brain creates connections, “each capturing a moment of learning.” During infancy, foundations are built in each developmental area – language, motor, cognitive, and social-emotional. These later develop into skills such as curiosity, paying attention, memory, gathering information, problem solving, and working through frustration are learned. These skills are established in infancy and toddlerhood, but they are used throughout your whole life. These are essential skills that teachers look for.

Early childhood education is crucial for success in the formalized education system. Many children born into lower income communities do not obtain this advantage. According to Kozol, simply based off accident of birth a child will lead completely different educational lives (2005). For example, a white toddler in an upper middle class neighborhood might attend a prestigious educational preliminary kindergarten. These respected early education schools are often referred to as “baby ivies” (Kozol, 2005). The child participates in pre-numeracy skills along with pre-writing skills. Conversely, a child of minority descent living in an underprivileged neighborhood may not initiate school until they are five years old. In the three previous years a

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.

Education-based intervention and prevention play a crucial role in influencing young children from at-risk communities. Many researchers have concluded that early interventions improve the child’s academic performance, behaviours and learning abilities in the short and long term (McMahon, Washburn, Felix, Yakin & Childrey, 2000). Based on developmental and social theories, the child’s experiences in the earlier years have great impact on their future achievement. In turn, the foundation of a child’s academic success is formed at a very young age, before they enter the school system (Ansari & Gershoff, 2015). Intervention strategies that target young children, have a greater impact for future development since they provide them with guidance,

Recent studies on early childhood education have shown that children who have access to quality pre-kindergarten education tend to have higher educational attainment than those who do not have the opportunity. While the literature is by no means uniform on this, the bulk of current evidence suggests that such policies will likely be helpful, especially for students in low - income and minority school districts. Only time will tell, of course, if such programs can help to make inroads into the seemly intractable achievement gaps, but based on current evidence, it is a policy worth

Early intervention is a process which involves stepping into a child’s life as soon as possible to tackle problems. ‘Early’ does not necessarily mean at an early age but in this case it refers more to the stage in the development of a child’s problems. Early intervention is important as the earlier a problem is identified; the more likely it is that the problem can be corrected before serious consequences arise, sometimes resulting in a child’s death (Mahoney 2007, p-3).

Early childhood. During the 1990s, the nation was inundated with reports on the importance of the early years on children's brain development and later cognitive achievement. While some of the reports may have overstated the issue and understated the importance of a child's later years on development, evidence suggests that the early years may be a critical period of development in which family poverty has particularly strong effects on young children. As seen in Table 1, poverty occurring early in a child's life (age two to four) is associated with large effects on indices of child school readiness and cognitive outcomes.

The studies found that all pre-school programs have the potential to prepare disadvantaged preschoolers to enter school at the same level, but since the children in this study were so much more disadvantaged and lower intellectually, they had no way to go but up. Since Head Start is designed for economically and intellectually disadvantaged children, these deficits can be specifically corrected. Simple knowledge like colors, street signs, and discipline are taught, but often assumed by other preschoolers who are more privileged they have already mastered those skills. Meeting the children on their own level brings them up to close the gap with other children. However, this gap appears in other

Niños Barrio Inc.five year plans include developing the strategies and actions to accomplish measurable achievements in kindergarten readiness. The strategies that are presented are grounded in evidence-based practices, and are exclusively intended to be used as a guide for policymakers, legislators, caregivers, early care and education providers, healthcare providers, and other concerned community members to expand on our ideas and concepts to make access to this beneficent nuance program available in every Hispanic and low-income community around the United States.

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.

The Head Start program contributes to early successful learning and contributes to overcoming youth’s educational setbacks. It prepares children from low-income families for elementary school and beyond. The children enrolled in this program are giving a better opportunity to succeed in school. In order to prepare a child for success in school, the program has to meet educational, health, social needs for every pupil. In addition, the program includes special services for those who qualify. In this specific study, researchers try and find out if former Head Start students that received special education in preschool transferred to kindergarten with the same services.

One main reason behind students not being successful later in school is related to the readiness of the child when they enter school. “Evidence suggests that children’s academic skills at school entry are linked to their later school achievement (Entwisle & Alexander, 1993), and that test scores in the elementary school years are associated with long-run economic outcomes such as employment and earnings (Krueger, 2003)” (Magnuson, Ruhm & Waldfogel, 2005).

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.

According to Maxwell & Clifford (2004), “School readiness involves more than just children. School readiness, in the broadest sense, is about children, families, early environments, schools, and communities. Children are not innately “ready” or “not ready” for school. Their skills and development are strongly influenced by their families and through their interactions with other people and environments before coming to school” (p. 42). Interaction of children with their teachers, parents and surroundings provide enriched and learning experiences to the child that lays the groundwork for further learning and development. Although school readiness is a multi-dimensional concept that has many advantages, but it has been becoming a discourse within the field of early childhood education. There are certain fixed goals, procedures and outcomes and child is viewed as ‘incomplete’ which has to ‘become complete’ by engaging in certain activities that enhance their learning and development. The children are classified into