Researcher Sara Mead of the New America Foundation, is among them. She points out that on the National Assessment of Educational Progress -- what some call ...
Washington DC -- Today, the New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative
released an issue brief proposing 10 new policy ideas to improve access, quality, and alignment in early education from
preschool through the early elementary school years. The 111th
Congress will have numerous opportunities to enact policies that improve early
As a new congress and new administration take their places
in Washington,
early education is attracting more attention. The 111th Congress
will have numerous opportunities to enact policies that improve access,
quality, efficiency, and alignment in early education, including the
forthcoming economic stimulus package and the scheduled reauthorization of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left
Behind (NCLB). The New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative proposes
KIPP’s preschool classrooms also contribute to the overall growth of early-childhood classrooms in charter schools, suggests Sara Mead, a senior research ...
As Congress debates a roughly $825 billion economic stimulus
package, many interest groups want to make sure their pet programs get a piece
of the action. The education community is no exception.
Various advocates are urging Congress to use the stimulus to
fund universal pre-k, expanded after-school programs, education technology, and
new teacher compensation packages, among other education initiatives.
... practice and research,” Sara Mead, the director of the Early Childhood Initiative for the Washington-based New America Foundation, said in an interview. ...
"I think any sort of Head Start expansion should be addressed outside the stimulus," said Sara Mead, director of the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation. "The stimulus is all about getting money out the door fast.
Advocates for early childhood education are understandably excited about their prospects under President-elect Barack Obama's administration. During the campaign, Mr. Obama pledged to increase federal early education spending by $10 billion annually.
Currently, the two largest federal early childhood programs, Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant, spend about $12 billion annually combined. A $10 billion increase would almost double that investment.
Data show that children who are born in poverty to young,
poorly educated parents have much lower chances of succeeding in school,
college, and the workforce than their less-disadvantaged peers. They are also
at greater risk for a host of negative outcomes, including poor academic
performance, being held back a grade, dropping out of high school, being
unemployed, and participating in criminal activity.
