Laura Bornfreund: All Related Content

“The PreK-3rd grades lay the foundation for a student's success throughout their years in school,” said Laura Bornfreund, author of the report and senior policy analyst for New America's Early Education Initiative, in a prepared statement. “The ...

What is the best way to use data to measure teacher impact on student learning? States and school districts are attempting to navigate these uncharted waters. As of 2012, 20 states and DC require evidence of student learning to play a role in evaluating teacher performance. As a result, better information on student learning is in high demand, and no grade level is immune. Historically, most states have required standardized testing only in grades three through eight.

More than 20 states now require measures of student achievement to carry significant weight in teachers’ effectiveness ratings – even in the earliest grades, in which children do not participate in state standardized testing. As a result, states and school districts are struggling to find sound methods to measure young students’ learning.

Last week, the National Journal Education Experts blog asked if funding pre-K with cigarette taxes was a good idea.

I argue that seeking out new and creative funding streams has merit and that the tobacco tax is worth talking about. But I also caution that such a tax should not and cannot realistically be the long-term solution:

Updated 4/10/2013 5:00 PM to reflect newly published information about the state matching portion of the Preschool for All plan.

President Obama released his fiscal year 2014 budget request earlier today, which would include $75.0 billion* over 10 years for his “Preschool for All” proposal. On top of this, the president proposes other boosts for early learning, including funding increases for Head Start, Child Care and Development Block Grants, IDEA special education programs, and the home visiting program. He also proposes budget increases to several other programs under the Department of Education that could support early learning.

That's “really important for making sure the gains that are made in preschool programs are sustained all the way up,” says Laura Bornfreund, senior policy analyst for early education at the New America Foundation, a public policy think tank in Washington.

What knowledge and skills do teachers of young children, from preschool through third grade, need to best serve their students? Through a new, 18-month study of the pre-K-3^rd teaching force, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services are working with the National Academy of Sciences, to answer this big question.

The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) has released new policy proposals to better recruit, prepare and build the capacity of effective principals. One of these new proposals is to strengthen elementary principals’ knowledge about early childhood development, which is an important step in helping principals know what to expect when they walk into kindergarten through third grade classrooms.

At a Georgia preschool last week, President Obama sat in a tiny wooden chair and played a science game with a group of four-year-olds. He held up a magnifying glass and peered playfully at the little boy next to him. For a second it looked as if he was trying to figure him out. It is an apt metaphor of where our country stands on education these days. Obama's preschool plan builds on a decade's fascination with studies on brain growth.

In President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday, he called on Congress to expand high-quality early learning opportunities to low- and moderate-income children. Today, with the release of a White House document and a speech at a Decatur, Ga. pre-K center, Obama sketched more of the plan’s details.

This week's National Journal Education Experts blog asks about the big takeaways from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's MET study on effective teaching. My colleagues Lisa Guernsey, director of the Early Education Initiative, and Anne Hyslop, education policy analyst, weighed in. 

This week’s question on the National Journal Education Expert’s blog asks if policymakers should focus on providing pre-K for every child.

In my response, I discuss three reasons why universal pre-K should be the goal. Here’s one: