Prekindergarten Expulsion Linked to High Student-Teacher Ratios, Extended-Day Programs, and Teacher Job Stress

Improving Early Child Care and Education (PDF format)

An Evaluation of the Implementation of Gorgia's Pre-K Program: Report of the Findings From the Georgia Early Childhood Study (2002-03) (PDF format)

The Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effects Study (PDF format)

The Impact of Teacher Education on Outcomes in Center-Based Early Childhood Education Programs: A Meta-analysis (PDF format)

Better Teachers, Better Preschools: Student Achievement Linked to Teacher Qualifications (PDF format)

Early Education Quality: Higher Teacher Qualifications for Better Learning Environments - A Review of the Literature (PDF format)

Can A College Degree Help Preschoolers Learn? (PDF format)

Read an article from Education Week on the Pre-K topic (requires registration and login).

Our position: Surplus funds from the state program should be used to enroll more kids, make pre-K better

     December 21, 2007

The story of The Little Engine that Could has inspired kindergartners for generations.

A tiny engine takes on the job better suited for bigger, presumably stronger, brethren: pulling a long circus train up a steep mountain. He chugs and chugs and urges himself on with "I think I can! I think I can!"

It's a story that more Florida kindergartners are well on the way to reading themselves, thanks to the education system's very own Little Engine -- the Voluntary Prekindergarten program.

The results of two early-literacy tests given to kindergartners show that more children were better prepared for academic lessons this year than the past three years. Teachers are crediting VPK, the program voters approved in 2002 with the hope that better-prepared kindergartners could learn to read more quickly.

The voters were proved right, even though lawmakers stopped short of creating the top-quality, six-hour program people wanted. Imagine how many more children would be doing better if they attended VPK classes for a full day instead of the three-hours lawmakers paid for.

Thousands of Florida's 3- and 4-year-olds are locked out because the half-day program can't work for them. Yes, the state pays for three hours of instruction, but what are working parents to do if they can't afford to keep their children in day care the rest of the day? Many find it impossible to leave their jobs in midday to take their kids to neighbors or relatives.

About 500 families in Orange County alone can't get their child into a VPK class because they need a full day's care but can't afford the three hours the program doesn't cover. They're among the 4,000 families on the waiting list for subsidized day care in Orange.

All the more frustrating is the reality that the children of these poor families would benefit the most from a good prekindergarten program.

That's not the only problem with VPK. Only about half the state's eligible kids are enrolled and officials admit they need to do better marketing. So many children aren't enrolling, in fact, that most early learning coalitions actually have money left over each year.

Rather than see that money lost to state budget cuts, the Legislature would be smart to use at least part of that surplus to help parents afford a full day of care for their children. That would boost enrollment and student performance.

Given all this, it's encouraging that one of this year's tests showed 72 percent of the 193,000 kindergartners were prepared for school compared with 63 percent three years ago. But consider the potential -- about 35 percent of this year's kindergartners started at risk for reading troubles.

Given a chance, the state's VPK program could climb that hill.

Copyright © 2007, Orlando Sentinel

Published Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Pre-K Programs Valuable

Educators and people who care about the state of education in our community, as well as our state, should take note of some new information about voluntary pre-Kindergarten (VPK) programs. The first bit of good news comes from the Florida Department of Education, which reported last month that children who participated in Florida's VPK program in the 2005-2006 school year scored higher on standardized tests than those children who did not attend such a program.

The second item of note is found in a new report by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF), an Atlanta-based nonprofit group that studies educational issues in the South, an area it defines as running from Maryland to Texas.

That report, in sum, says Southern states led the nation in offering state-funded pre-K programs to 3- and 4-year-olds. In 2007, 19 percent of children that age were in a state-funded pre-K program, more than double the rate in states outside the region and about a third above the national average.

Why is that important? Well, as Florida Education Commissioner Jeanine Blomberg told The Associated Press when Florida's results were announced, "The more time children spend in a quality VPK program, the better prepared they are for kindergarten." Blomberg added that the state must continue to advocate for greater participation in VPK programs "so that all Florida's children enter kindergarten ready to learn."

As so we should. Learning is a lifetime activity, and nothing sets a child on the right course to being a productive citizen than having a strong foundation. VPK, in Florida, offers children that opportunity.

Under the state's VPK program, children can receive as many as 540 hours of instruction during the school year at no charge at both public and private providers. Children can get an additional 300 hours of intensive instruction during the summer.

As with so much dealing with education in Florida, funding is an issue.

The SEF report notes that the Sunshine State - which created a VPK program in 2002 only after voters amended the state Constitution, and after state lawmakers were dragged kicking and screaming into developing it - ranks 29th nationally in per-pupil spending among states with VPK programs.

Florida spends $2,625 per student, roughly $1,000 less per child than the national average. Florida also ranks 11th in per-student spending among the 15 states SEF identifies as Southern.

Yet VPK has proved to be popular in Florida. The state ranks No. 2 nationally in enrollment, SEF notes, with 32 percent of its 3- and 4-year-olds participating in a VPK program. Only Oklahoma (33 percent) has a higher percentage.

"This low per-child funding endangers the long-term promise of pre-K in Florida and helps fuel a vastly uneven quality of service throughout the state," SEF President Lynn Huntley notes in the report. Florida should beef up funding to "realize major academic and economic gains. As advocates in Florida know, quantity without quality in pre-K will have limited positive impact."

The SEF researchers wisely tout the value to a child academically of being better prepared to enter full-time school. But they also draw attention to a very important aspect of this program that affects the entire community: the economic benefits of early education.

Citing sources such as the Business Roundtable, which represents Fortune 500 companies and the Federal Reserve, SEF notes the benefits of such programs in terms of creating productive citizens. They focus on the research of James Heckman, a Nobel laureate economist from the University of Chicago, who "believes that Pre-K is the single most effective and efficient investment in building human capital."

We spend a great deal of time in this state worrying about how children perform on a single test each year. It's time we start investing the funds to give the best opportunity possible to succeeding on it, and in life.

Kids and crime? Let's quit gripes and start action - article from the Orlando Sentinel from April 24, 2007 - click here to read the article.

Governor joins call for certified pre-K teachers

St. Petersburg Times, 4/3/2007

Mark down Gov. Charlie Crist as a yes on the question of whether Florida prekindergarten teachers should have bachelor's degrees by 2013. 'How do you argue against having certified teachers? I don't want to make that argument,' Crist, a former education commissioner, told the St. Petersburg Times during an editorial board meeting Monday.

Over the weekend, six former Florida governors and the widow of a seventh called upon Crist and the Legislature to live up to the 2002 voter mandate for high-quality prekindergarten.

It could be done, they said, by requiring pre-K teachers to have four-year degrees. Right now, that's just a goal in the law. 'I wasn't asked to sign onto the letter,' Crist said. 'I would have. I'd sign onto it today.' He acknowledged the concept is not in his budget proposal, but said that could change. 'The real negotiation on the money begins next week, so there's great opportunity to tweak and modify and realize new priorities,' Crist said. Some estimate the cost could run into many millions of dollars.

His comments sent a charge through the ranks of early education advocates who have pressed for more stringent prekindergarten teacher qualifications. 'He's absolutely going down the right path,' said Roy Miller, president of the Children's Campaign, which helped organize the former governors to take a stand on prekindergarten. 'Charlie has spoken passionately about following the will of the voter. He has spoken about high-quality teachers,' Miller said. Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, has a bill pending that would make the changes the former governors called for. There's an identical bill in the House moving just as slowly. Rich called it exciting for Crist to join the cause. 'We may not be able to do it this year,' Rich said. 'But knowing he supports it, maybe next year we'll be able to move ahead.' 'It really is an economic issue,' said Senate Education Appropriations chairman Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville. 'I think everybody wants quality in pre-K. ... It's just a matter of how we really put the plan together so we don't put ourselves in a bind.' Rep. Joe Pickens, the Republican chairman of the House Schools and Learning Council, harbored similar doubts. In addition to the money question, he said, there's also the issue of whether Florida could find enough qualified teachers.

Still, he continued, a governor has a way of making things happen. 'Like the governor said, the last four to five weeks of session are a fluid thing,' Pickens said. 'If something within the purview of my council becomes a priority of the governor, it makes me stand and take notice.' Danny Morris, past president of the Florida Association for Child Care Management, said his group would oppose such a change. Private providers could not afford to pay better-credentialed teachers, he said, if they could find them.

He also questioned whether prekindergarten teachers need bachelor's degrees. 'Do they need more than they've got now? Yes,' Morris said. 'We would like to see something between what is existing now, in the child development associate credential and the four-year degree.' If Florida were to require prekindergarten teachers to have four-year degrees, it would not be alone. Already, 22 of the 37 other states that have pre-K programs have that mandate, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.

Staff writer Adam Smith contributed to this story. Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached.

Letter to the Tampa Tribune, April 14, 2007

Governor Crist is not over-reaching in supporting the requirement for voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) teachers to have a college degree. The research is very clear: the higher the educational level of the teacher, the better the outcomes for children. Brain research highlights the critical importance of a well-educated teacher for young children to reach their full potential.

Currently, the requirement for only the lead VPK teacher is a Child Development Associate Credential which is 120 clock hours of education.

The amendment change has no current fiscal impact. It changes the word, "aspirational", to "shall". The governor has taken a reasonable approach to allow 6 years for providers to increase their education.

If Florida fails to move teachers from CDA's to college degrees, high job-turnover and low expectations for children will remain. Children need nurturing teachers who understand child development and have the knowledge to implement research-based best practices.

Suzanne Gellens, Executive Director
Early Childhood Association of Florida
3026 W. Main Street
Tampa, FL 33607
813-878-9973; 813-404-1382

Professionalize the ranks of pre-K teachers

By Martha Barnett

The Florida Constitution says it best: "The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida."

In 2002, the people underscored this commitment to quality early-childhood education when they added to the constitution the requirement for a universal pre-kindergarten learning opportunity for every 4-year-old.

Yet, nearly half of the children in Florida start school behind, creating an achievement gap that widens with each passing year. We all have an enormous stake in ensuring that children enter school ready to learn.

Those children most at risk as a result of poverty, chaotic households or any number of other social problems often do not receive the foundation they need before they start kindergarten and first grade. It should come as no surprise that Florida's third-grade reading failure rate exceeds one in every four children.

Qualified teachers are the backbone of any educational system. Teachers guide their students' personal and mental development and make them want to achieve. Most of us can point to that special teacher who made a lasting difference in our lives.

I, personally, will always remember Albert Smith who not only taught me the mechanics of math, but also inspired me to challenge the rules, even the mathematical ones, and in doing so to be a risk-taker. Those lessons served me well, if not better, than algebra and geometry.

The emerging research clearly shows that better educated pre-k teachers with specialized training are more effective, respond more sensitively to children's needs, and provide more positive feedback and encouragement. Their students score better on language tests, have higher self-confidence, are more sociable, and present fewer behavior problems.

Those children with learning disabilities are less likely to go unnoticed or fall between the cracks when a degreed teacher is in charge. I saw these positive impacts firsthand many years ago as a summer volunteer for Head Start. I was amazed at what a big difference even a small investment of time could make in a child's readiness to enter school.

Why then, when so much is at stake, is the state hesitating to guarantee that the lead teachers in our pre-K classrooms are degreed and qualified at the very time when our youngest children are most ready to learn?

The law implementing the universal pre-K program is phased in over six years. By 2008 at least one teacher in each pre-K classroom should have an associate degree in early-childhood education, and by 2013 at least one teacher in each classroom should have a bachelor's degree. The current law, however, is only aspirational. It should be mandatory.

The lead teacher in each classroom should be a qualified, degreed teacher. This was the vision of Florida voters when they passed the pre-K amendment. The Legislature should adopt a plan during this session to mandate that every pre-K child in Florida has a qualified degreed teacher in every pre-K classroom.

After all, the education of our children is a fundamental value.

Subject: UPKey: Pre-K program needs stronger standards

As 2006 winner of the Chiles Advocacy Award, presented to individuals who demonstrate that children and families deserve the special attention of society and its representatives in governmental office, I salute Governor Crist, the former governors and Rhea Chiles, for speaking out in support of degreed teachers for pre-K programs. These leaders understand that high quality early childhood programs contribute to meaningful improvements in school readiness. Children participating in quality preschool and early learning settings have higher high school graduation rates and higher college achievement. Research, and my own experience as a preschool teacher and early childhood program administrator, indicate that the most effective preschool teachers are those with at least a four-year degree and specialized training in early childhood.

When Floridians overwhelmingly voted to pass the constitutional amendment calling for high quality pre-Kindergarten in 2002, we naively expected state legislators to uphold the voter's will. We're still waiting. The current and former governors understand that our patience is growing thin. All Floridians have a stake in investing in our children's future. Last time I checked, that included state legislators.

Ann Levy
annklevy@comcast.net
Leon County ELDER Captain, Generations United's Seniors4Kids

Our view: Delivering on pre-K

Space Coast families have much at stake in ramping up state program

Breaking promises to four-year-olds and their families is high on our list of ignoble actions.

That's what state lawmakers have done by ignoring a 2002 voters' mandate that Florida create -- and fund -- a high quality universal pre-K program.

Instead of following recommendations from the state's own task force to set up a pre-K that met national standards for excellence, lawmakers delivered a bare-bones plan full of loopholes.

Call it the knock-off version of pre-K.

That's essentially what the National Institute on Early Education Research said in its latest yearly report on states' preschool initiatives.

Florida's pre-K ranks near the bottom of the barrel, according to the NIEER analysis.

It's 35th out of the 38 states offering pre-K for the dollars it ponies up -- $2,560 per child as opposed to the $3,899 required for a quality program-- and scores poorly on a high-standards checklist.

Such as not requiring all pre-K teachers have degrees in early education.

The 750 pre-K students served by Brevard public schools this year are taught by certified teachers. But about 2,500 others attend private pre-Ks that receive state funds but are exempted from the four-year degree requirement.

They're also no requirement to use a state-approved curriculum. And the state failed to require that pre-K providers offer a long enough day to make attendance practical for working families or use strong assessments to measure learning results.

The shoddy standards are bad enough for the kids who could be shortchanged -- and an invitation for taxpayer dollars to be wasted.

But lawmakers also broke faith with the future of Florida when they decided to do pre-K on the cheap.

That's because investing in young children's education pays a tremendous return for society.

Research by Florida TaxWatch shows every $1 invested in early education saves taxpayers $7 in remediation, welfare and criminal justice costs and benefits the state in the form of a more skilled workforce to sustain the economy.

A call from Gov. Charlie Crist, State Financial Officer Alex Sink, and six former Florida governors to mandate college degrees for all pre-K teachers by 2013 -- and set up a new Office of Early Learning to consolidate oversight of the programs -- gives us hope for change.

Making sure all students find a qualified teacher in the classroom is a first step towards boosting pre-K quality. More should follow.

But in a tight budget year, child advocates are facing an uphill fight to garner any support for the youngest Floridians, who have no voice at the ballot box.

That's why parents and other citizens concerned about the state's future must speak up for them, to let legislators know early education matters.

And that 2013 is too long to wait.

Each year lawmakers turn their backs on the constitutional guarantee for a quality pre-K, another class of four-year-olds gets a dicey chance on a good start in school, and life.

For more information: http://www.qualityprek.org/