The website that I chose to explore for this class is the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). The link to this website is http://nieer.org
According to the NIEER website, the mission of NIEER is to conduct and communicate research to support high quality, effective, early childhood education for all young children and to offer independent research-based advice and technical assistance to policy makers, journalists, researchers, and educators.
I received my first newsletter from the NIEER website. The newsletter contained a link to a blog dealing with “Privatizing” Pre-K. The reason for the newsletter is a proposal by the North Carolina legislature to completely privatize all pre-K classrooms by the summer of 2013. This would involve all pre-K classes being moved from the public schools to childcare centers. The income eligibility for families would also decrease from $50,000 to $22, 000. This blog is written by the director of NIEER, Steve Barnett, who is concerned that such a move would result in “relegating the children most at risk of school failure to programs that will more closely resemble babysitting than anything that enables children to start school ready to learn” (Barnett, S. 2012, March 6, para 2). The co-chair of the committee that created the plan reports that privatization will help “shrink government”. Barnett (2012) suggests that this type of action is an attempt to avoid paying for education for young children and for allowing legislatures to “funnel public funds to the religious and business organizations of their choice” (para 4). Barnett (2012) ends by stating that public education is best suited to coordinate a comprehensive state system for early education. Following the blog post are several replies some of which agree with Barnett and some that do not.
The issue addressed in this NIEER newsletter is related to the issue of changing demographics and diversity. The blog states that the children most at risk for school failure would be directly affected by the proposed legislation. According to Fortuny, Hernandez & Chaudry (2010) North Carolina has seen a 578% increase in children ages 0-8 of immigrant parents between 2007 -2008. It is likely that some of the children Barnett (2012) refers to as being most at risk for school failure are the children of immigrants and those who are linguistically and culturally diverse.
The NIEER website has many resources that could be used to learn more about the topic of changing demographics and diversity and related issues such as dual language learning, as well as research about the benefits of pre-K programs for children.
Barnett, S. (2012, March 6). "Privatizing" Pre-K Is About More than Saving Money. [Blog message]. Retrieved from http://preschoolmatters.org
Fortuny, K., Hernandez, D. J., & Chaudry, A. (2010). Young children of immigrants: The leading edge of America's future (Brief No. 3). Retrieved from the Urban Institute website: http://www.urban.org
Geralyn,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your research on NIEER and the Privatizing Pre-K article. I found it very interesting. I, myself, have worked in two different privately owned Pre-K programs. Though they are not in a public school system, both programs have been successful in preparing children for the public school setting, as various academic topics and skills are taught and addressed, students have been assessed on progress, and a set schedule with lesson plans is followed daily, much like a public school setting. Both companies were also mindful of the NYS standards and asked that those be followed when implementing curriculum as well. I struggle with the quote from Barnett that you mention above, because neither of the centers I have worked with are like a babysitting service, though they are privately owned. It makes my hair stand up to hear those words because of my own experience. I do, however, understand that not all locations are run this way and can understand concern if the programs are following different rules/routines that may not prepare children for Kindergarten.
I do also believe that preschool public school programs are very beneficial, as it prepares children for what is to come throughout their public schooling. One of the main reasons why I am a huge supporter of Pre-K in public schools is because the program is state funded, allowing children to come regardless of their parents socioeconomic status. I think this is only fair for the children, as it gives them an equal and fair start to the rest of their schooling, which we as early childhood educators know is so important.
Thanks for sharing!
-Erika
Hi Geralyn!
ReplyDeleteI found your first newsletter from NIERR on the topic of Privatizing Pre-K to be interesting. I envision major advantages and disadvantages should this action become law. The advantages that I envision with Privatizing Pre-K are decreased pressure among children to achieve academic standards, greater availability for free-play and exploration, and increased opportunities to receive the combination of education and nurturance that pre schools typically provide. The major disadvantage that I envision with Privatizing Pre-K is financial strains placed on families as a result of prolonged daycare cost. Presently most preschool children attend daycare until they reach the age of 4 years old. After the child’s 4th Birthday, his/her parents have the option to remove the child from daycare and enroll him/her into a public or private school of their choice. Parents who chose to remove their child from daycare typically eliminate the daycare expense for that child or reduce the monthly expense in the case of enrollment into private schools. If parent’s option to remove their children from daycare upon their entrance into Pre-K is eliminated, financial hardships may increase within families. These hardships will be most apparent in families where parents cannot afford extended daycare cost and unable to receive subsidized daycare through their state due to their failure to meet income eligibility requirements.
The NIERR director's blog sounded interested. I have often wondered how things would be effected if schools were privatized but have never really come to a conclusion. I am going to have to look up that article and read it in full. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGeralyn,
ReplyDeleteMy only reservation about privatising preschool is the lack and lose of esential services like speach, physical therapy and behaviour modification training. My youngest child entered a preschool program at a local elementary school because the state would provide the her learning services free of charge just like she was in a primary grade.
Before that all her services were billed to the insurance company through her doctor. Not to mention that I was incarge of transporation to and from private preschool and public preschool programs provided transportation to and from school daily.