As I perused NAEYC’s site I came across this
topic that reflects our issue this week.
I was amazed how closely my thoughts align with theirs. As I delved deeper I discovered they are very
specific and have a step by step approach to achieving excellence in early childhood.
The bottom line is that if we truly want to provide excellence and equity in
early childhood, everyone must work together to make it happen. Below are NAEYC’s
goals and beliefs:
A Call for Excellence in Early
Childhood Education
Early Years Are Learning Years
The demand for
early childhood care and education programs continues to increase not only in
response to the growing demand for out-of-home child care but also in
recognition of the critical importance of educational experiences during the
early years. Several decades of research clearly demonstrate that high-quality,
developmentally appropriate early childhood programs produce short- and
long-term positive effects on children's cognitive and social development.
NAEYC members, most
of whom work directly with young children and families, see daily the toll of
ill-conceived policies on the lives of the children and families we serve.
Existing programs have too often taken fragmented, piecemeal approaches to the
complex issues facing children and families. Effective policies have seldom
been funded at sufficient levels to provide adequate support to all families
who might benefit.
NAEYC believes that
our nation is at a crossroads. We must develop an integrated system of early
childhood care and education that includes comprehensive approaches that
directly involve families and communities in program design, implementation,
and evaluation. We can invest now in our children and families and enjoy
long-term savings, with a more vibrant nation of healthy, achieving children
and more stable families. Or, we can fail to make the investment and pay the
price: increased delinquency, greater educational failures, lowered
productivity, less economic competitiveness, and fewer adults prepared to be
effective, loving parents to the next generation of children. Federal, state
and local government, communities, parents, and the private sector must share
in the responsibility of ensuring the well-being of children and families.
Our nation can and
must do better to create opportunities that help all children and families
succeed. The time for action is now.
A Renewed Call to Action
Our goal is not to
simply defend the status quo. NAEYC’s convictions about early childhood care
and education set forth a vision of a system that is still unmet.
- That all young children deserve excellent early care and education
There are a large percentage of child care classrooms and family
child care homes that are of mediocre or poor quality. An alarming number of
infants and toddlers are found to be in unsafe settings. We know that children
in schools with fewer resources, a larger percentage of teachers that are new
or have emergency certificates, and lacking parental involvement in their
education are not receiving the excellent early education they deserve.
- That high quality early experiences make a difference in children’s
lifelong academic and social success
Several decades of research clearly demonstrate that
high-quality, developmentally appropriate early childhood programs produce
short- and long-term positive effects on children's cognitive and social
development. Specifically, children who experience high-quality, stable child
care engage in more complex play, demonstrate more secure attachments to adults
and other children, and score higher on measures of thinking ability and
language development. High-quality child care can predict academic success,
adjustment to school, and reduced behavioral problems for children in first
grade. Studies demonstrate that children's success or failure during the first years
of school often predicts the course of later schooling. A growing body of
research indicates that more developmentally appropriate teaching in preschool
and kindergarten predicts greater success in the early grades.
- That these programs must be accessible to all families
Access to child care, particularly high quality child care,
remains out of reach for many families. Programs outside of K-12 public
education have the greatest difficulty in meeting the criteria of good quality,
equitable compensation, and affordable access. Unlike K-12 education -- a
publicly financed system with a relatively stable funding base -- most early
childhood care and education services operate in a very price-sensitive market
financed primarily by fees from families and supplemented by public and private
contributions. Many families cannot pay the full cost of quality care, and the
ongoing commitment from public and private contributions is seldom guaranteed.
For other children, there are insufficient numbers of child care providers
trained in or connected to others who can help support their special
educational or other needs to develop to their full potential.
- That early childhood professionals must have excellent preparation,
ongoing professional development, and compensation commensurate with their
qualifications and experience
A key component of quality programs is the quality of teacher.
Recruitment and retention of child care staff is extremely difficult. The
average child care teaching assistant earns roughly $10,500 a year and the
highest paid child care teachers are paid roughly $18,000 a year. Turnover of
staff averages 31 percent. In public schools, although salaries are much higher
than for child care teachers, there is difficulty retaining talented teachers
and recruiting more experienced teachers to troubled schools. Scholarships,
financial aid, and loan forgiveness are insufficient to help many early
childhood educators obtain excellent preparation and ongoing professional
development.
- That effective early education must be both challenging and
appropriate to young children’s ages, individual needs, and culture
To guide their decisions about practice, all early childhood
teachers need to understand the developmental changes that typically occur in
the years from birth through age 8 and beyond, variations in development that
may occur, and how best to support children's learning and development during
these years. Children's development is best understood within the sociocultural
context of the family, educational setting, community, and broader society.
These various contexts are interrelated, and all have an impact on the
developing child.
- That everyone needs to work together to build a successful future
for our youngest children
An equitable and sufficient system of financing early childhood
education in the United States is still elusive. Child care is financed through
a patchwork of government, parent, and private sector resources. Families
contribute roughly 60 percent of the costs of child care; federal, state, and
local governments combined contribute 39 percent, and business contributes one
percent. Public schools are financed largely through property taxes, which has
created an inequitable distribution of resources within school districts and
states, despite additional resources from states and the federal government. An
equitable system of financing child care and early education requires a strong
partnership between government, families, and the private sector.
A Vision for Excellence
All states must
develop a system of early childhood care and education with appropriate
regulatory, governance, finance, and accountability mechanisms so that --
- All Children have access to a safe and accessible, high quality early
childhood education that includes a developmentally appropriate
curriculum, knowledgeable and well-trained program staff and educators,
comprehensive services that support their health, nutrition, and social
well-being, in an environment that respects and supports diversity.
- All Early Childhood Professionals are supported as professionals with a
career ladder, ongoing professional development opportunities, and
compensation that will attract and retain high quality educators.
- All Families have access to early care and education programs that are
affordable and of high quality, and are participants in the education and
well being of their children through family involvement in programs and
schools, as well as opportunities to increase their educational
attainment.
- All Communities are accountable for the quality of early childhood programs
provided to all children, backed by the local, state, and federal funding
needed to deliver quality programs and services.
To achieve these
goals at the national, state, and local levels, policies and decisions must be
guided of principles of Excellence, Access, Equity, Diversity, and
Accountability.
- Excellence: The design, funding, and implementation of systems
necessary to support best practices in all early childhood programs.
- Access: The absence of barriers for all children to attend
high-quality programs.
- Equity: Opportunities for all children, regardless of family
status, income, disability, gender, national origin, ethnicity, religion,
or race to attend high quality programs, with an emphasis on targeting
funding to ensure that those families with the fewest resources are
served.
- Diversity: Flexibility in the ways in which programs are provided
and services are tailored to the needs of families and children.
Responsive and supportive programs that recognize and respect the whole
child and family, their cultural backgrounds, and the community’s culture.
- Accountability: Clearly defined standards for program quality and
personnel, with input from the early childhood professionals, families,
and communities, with ongoing planning and evaluation processes, to ensure
positive educational, health, and social outcomes for children.
Making the Vision a Reality
Early childhood
programs have the potential for producing positive and lasting effects on
children, but this potential will not be achieved unless more attention is paid
to ensuring that all programs meet the highest standards of quality. As the
number and type of early childhood programs increase, the need increases for a
shared vision and agreed-upon standards of professional practice.
Making this vision
of excellence a reality will require a commitment from and a partnership among
the federal, state, and local governments, business and labor, private
institutions, and the public. As we stand at the beginning of a new millennium,
we must join forces to advocate and implement the policies at the appropriate
federal, state, and local levels that will lead to excellence in early
childhood education programs.
References
http://www.naeyc.org/policy/excellence
