PreK-3rd

What might President Barack Obama’s second term mean for education? In short: four more years. Education Secretary Arne Duncan—a member of Obama’s Chicago circle, with whom the president played basketball on Election Day—has indicated he would like to stay in his job, and Obama’s campaign trumpeting of education policies such as Race to the Top show the administration’s aggressive approach to competitive grant programs, meant to cajole states and districts into embracing favored reform strategies, will likely continue.

Early learning advocates will be pleased programs such as Head Start are less likely to be severely cut with a Democratic Senate and White House to help safeguard them. And the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education now have the chance to continue to forge needed links between their agencies. But those who thought Obama’s early education policies were “too little too late” might remain disappointed. The president made almost no effort to outline a plan for early learning during this campaign, especially compared to the promises of 2008, and has not specifically indicated what he proposes to do for the youngest learners. That said, there are murmurs from Obama insiders that a broad-spectrum approach to early childhood education, including the often-forgotten early grades (K-3) of elementary school, could emerge as a theme in the second term. A Tuesday night press release from the nation’s largest teachers’ union, the National Education Association, hinted at a desire to hold the president accountable for making headway on early childhood investments. “Throughout the campaign,” the statement said, “the president pledged to invest in education—especially in early childhood education—and to make higher education more affordable.” 

Last week the National Journal Education Experts blog asked about Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s first term legacy.

In my response, I highlight Duncan’s work to set the stage for improving early learning from birth through 3rd grade. I also suggest priorities for Duncan should he get the opportunity for a second term:

The November 6^th elections are fast approaching, and in addition to the important implications of the presidential race for students, teachers and education advocates, hundreds of down-ticket races will determine policy across the country.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve highlighted some of these key races for you during our biweekly education podcasts.  Take a look back before the campaigns hit the final stretch!

As the presidential election dominates the news over the next few weeks, PolitiFact – a fact-checking website sponsored by the Tampa Bay Times – has released an analysis of then-Senator Obama’s 2008 campaign promises, as well as promises made by Republican party leadership during the 2010 congressional elections.

It’s telling that not one of the 57 GOP promises rated by PolitiFact is directly related to education or children.

But of 508 of the president’s promises rated, several dozen are early childhood- or education-related. They range from home visitation for low-income expectant mothers (Promise Kept) to requiring that all schools of education be accredited (Stalled).  And a surprising number of them are promises specific to early education.

On this week’s podcast, Laura Bornfreund, Senior Policy Analyst for the Early Education Initiative, and Albert Wat, Senior Policy Analyst for Education at the National Governor’s Association, discuss states that have enacted literacy laws that include a requirement to retain third graders who do not pass the state’s reading test. Also on this podcast, Clare McCann, Program Associate for the Education Policy Program, highlights the Washington gubernatorial race. This is the second of three installments about key state and Congressional elections.

States are starting to enact laws that retain third graders who are unable to score at proficient levels on states’ reading assessments. In 2002, under the leadership of Governor Jeb Bush, Florida instituted one of the first such policies as part of its comprehensive reading law. And that is key – the retention policy is just a piece of the law. Florida has made significant investments in literacy, PreK-12, and has seen improvements in children’s reading proficiency since the law’s implementation.

On October 2, 2012, Lisa Guernsey gave a presentation on technology's role in early education at a meeting in Indianapolis for the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The presentation, Digital Intersections: Where and How Digital Technology Should Meet Early Childhood Policy, explored the science of learning via media for young children and charted several areas, such as teacher training, library partnerships and parent engagement models, where state leaders could encourage more thoughtful adoption of technology among early educators. 

There has been some debate throughout the presidential election of education, including early childhood education. But in spite of its implications for working families and social mobility, quality, affordable child care has rarely been noted by either of the candidates.

Millions of children are not able to read on grade level by the end of third grade. In response, state legislatures are passing new reading policies, many of which require students to repeat third grade if they are struggling readers.

Florida, an early adopter of literacy policies that include this threat — known as retention — has been joined in recent years by several states with similar policies for holding children back. But is retention an important or even necessary part of the solution to children's reading deficiencies? That is a question left unanswered.

On September 13, I visited the Oyler School in Cincinnati, a pre-K-12 public school that serves a high-poverty community known as the Urban Appalachian, made up of families who migrated to Ohio from Kentucky and West Virginia after World War II, looking for work. Oyler is a “community learning center,” meaning the school is a hub for community activities as well as for educational and social services such as tutoring, college mentoring, adult education and health care. Oyler also houses an early learning center for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.