Investing in Quality

1
Investing in Quality Early Childhood
Education Kathleen McCartney, Ph.D. Dean of the
Faculty of Education Gerald S. Lesser Professor
in Early Childhood Development
2
What is early childhood education?

• Nursery school
• Preschool
• Childrens centers
• Pre-kindergarten
• Center-based child care
• Informal child care
• Head Start

3
Early childhood education supports two national
priorities of industrialized countries

• Helping families work.
• Ensuring that children enter formal school ready
  to succeed.

4
Purposes and goals of early education

• All children will have access to high-quality
  preschool programs.
• Every parent will be a childs first teacher.
• Children will receive the nutrition, physical
  activity experiences, and health care needed to
  arrive at school with healthy minds and bodies.

National Education Goals Panel, 1997
5
Culture and context matter

• The purposes and goals of early education vary by
  culture and context and are driven by factors
  such as policy initiatives and demographic
  shifts.
• The effects of early childhood education programs
  must be interpreted within the context of the
  goals, values, and practices established by each
  country.

OECD, 2001 Lamb, 2006
6
Common indicators of quality
Hofferth Chaplin, 1994 NICHD ECCRN, 1999, 2000
7
Features of quality programs

• Learners must be healthy, well-nourished, and
  ready to learn.
• Environments must be healthy and safe and provide
  adequate resources and facilities.
• Content must reflect appropriate and relevant
  curricula and diverse materials for the
  acquisition of basic skills.
• Teacher education must focus on child-centered
  teaching approaches.
• Outcomes must encompass knowledge, skills and
  dispositions.

Adapted from UNICEF, 2000
8
Developmental benefits of high-quality early
childhood education programs

• Reduces inequalities
• Gaps in school readiness for children at risk are
  reduced.
• Provides foundational skills for learning and
  life success
• Children exhibit higher verbal, cognitive and
  social outcomes.
• Strengthens families
• Families exhibit increased knowledge and more
  positive attitudes about child-rearing as well as
  decreased stress.

Benasich et al., 1992 Bowman, 1997 McCartney et
al., under review Myers, 1995
9
Economic benefits of high-quality early childhood
education programs

• Schooling
• Children are less likely to be retained a grade
  or be placed in special education.
• Welfare
• Children are more likely to obtain better paying
  jobs and earn more money.
• Criminal justice
• Children are less likely to break laws or engage
  in other delinquent behaviors

Barnett Hustedt, 2003
10
Strategies for investment

• Government regulation
• Ratio/group size
• Teacher education
• Accreditation
• National Association for the Education of Young
  Children (NAEYC) model
• Teacher education
• To build capacity
• To support quality programs

11
Government regulations Ratio/group size
aAmerican Public Health Association bModigliani
Bromer, 1997
12
International comparisons of child-adult ratios
for 3-6 year olds
OECD, 2001 Weikart, Olmsted, Montie, 2003
13
Government regulations Teacher education
OECD, 2001 Weikark, Olmsted, Montie, 2003
14
NAEYC accreditation standards

• Standard 1 Relationships
• Standard 2 Curriculum
• Standard 3 Teaching
• Standard 4 Assessment of Child Progress
• Standard 5 Health
• Standard 6 Teachers
• Standard 7 Families
• Standard 8 Community Relationships
• Standard 9 Physical Environment
• Standard 10 Leadership and Management

NAEYC website
15
Teacher Education

• Inservice programs workshops
• Higher education programs
• Online programs

16
Universal challenges

• Fragmented delivery systems
• Access
• Equity
• Cost
• Practitioner education
• Implementation

17
Principles for policy-making

• Support families in making the best choices for
  their children.
• Tax incentives and subsidies can encourage
  families to use high-quality programs.
• Ensure that high-quality settings are available
  to all families.
• Teacher education efforts.
• Subsidy systems.
• Support family employment.
• Parental leave policies.

Cost, Quality and Outcomes Study, 1995
McCartney, 2006 Waldfogel, 2006
18
Lessons from Early Education for All in
Massachusetts

• Begin with an assessment of early education and
  care data.
• Supply side What is the current status of early
  education and care workforce?
• Demand side What are the needs and preferences
  of families?
• Align early education standards with K-12
  standards.
• Provide continuity for children.
• Standards inform teacher education.
• Involve leaders.
• Engage influential unlikely allies to work in
  partnership with likely allies.
• Powerless children need powerful friends.

Early Education for All, 2006