Head Start

A continuation of our predictions of big issues for 2011...

Will this be the year that policymakers make some true progress in reforming the tax code? President Obama has said that he wants to push for reform, and progressives and conservatives are saying they do too.

A continuation of our predictions of big issues for 2011...

In the next few months, the U.S. Department of Education will officially open its Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy competition. States will be able to apply for awards worth up to $30 million.

A continuation of our predictions of big issues for 2011...

Don’t expect the debates on teaching quality to end anytime soon. We suspect that data from test scores (a la the Los Angeles Times series of 2010) will continue to be used to determine a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom.

A continuation of our predictions of big issues for 2011...

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will issue final rules for “re-competition” this year. (Comments were due on December 21 after the department issued a proposal in the Federal Register.) The re-competition program – officially known as the Designation Renewal System – may require 25 percent of Head Start programs to re-apply for funding that, until now, was nearly guaranteed (with the exception of instances of real financial problems).

A continuation of our predictions of big issues for 2011...

Each year we ask the same question: Will Congress reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, aka No Child Left Behind? And each year, hopes have been dashed. There’s plenty of room for doubt this year too, but it’s not inconceivable.

Congress has decided not to finalize fiscal year 2011 spending levels until next year. Until it finalizes funding, Congress has temporarily funded most federal programs at the 2010 level.

What this means is that the next Congress, which will be sworn-in in early January, will ultimately determine the final fiscal year 2011 spending levels.

On December 8, the House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (CR) to maintain funding levels through the end of the fiscal year, which ends September 30.

Before we close for the holidays, it’s time to take stock of what transpired in 2010 and look back on the many issues we’ve covered. We can’t tie it all up with a bow, but consider this click-and-find list our gift to you. Happy New Year!

A few months ago, an education analyst asked me why we need to focus on improving the quality of educational experiences for young children. From what he had seen on international tests, it looked like American children were scoring well on tests in 4th grade compared to their counterparts in other countries. It was in the later grades, he said, that Americans' test scores started to look so lousy.

A column today by Daniel Willingham, a cognitive scientist at the University of Virginia, provides part of the answer.

When we last reported on federal appropriations, Congress had just passed a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government operating through December 3, 2010. The CR was subsequently extended through December 18, 2010, allowing Congress more time to pass a federal spending bill for fiscal year 2011.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed what it is calling the “Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011.” It is effectively a continuation of the CR through fiscal year 2011 (which goes through the end of next September). It does adjust some funding levels between programs and accounts but maintains overall discretionary spending at fiscal year 2010 levels.

Anyone who has followed early education issues knows there is a big disconnect between the ideal learning environments for young children, age 3 to age 8, and what they experience on a daily basis in their schools and pre-k or childcare centers. A relatively new program called FirstSchool, an initiative led by the FPG Child Development Institute and the education school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, aims to bring the ideal much closer to reality.