Study: Some Preschoolers Need Higher Quality Care

Josue Juarez reached a milestone Tuesday in his young life. He graduated from preschool.

Compared with many children his age, the 5-year-old from Redwood City has an academic edge going into kindergarten this fall.

"I learned the numbers, the ABC and sounds of letters," said Josue, who spent two years in the San Mateo County Office of Education’s Preschool for All project.

Many more Latino children like Josue and other student groups should participate in high-quality programs such as Preschool for All, according to a new study released today by the independent, nonprofit research organization RAND Corp.

The study represents the first comprehensive statewide look at the quality and use of early childhood care and education programs.

Among its key findings, the study showed that the children who could especially benefit from preschool are the least likely to be in it, such as, Latinos, blacks, those whose parents have low education and those from economically disadvantaged families.

Fifteen percent of these children are in a high-quality program, according to the report.

"These low participation rates in high-quality programs represent a missed opportunity to promote the cognitive and social development of more disadvantaged children," according to the report.

Although the study suggests many preschools fail to prepare children for the next level, some educators said the emphasis for preschool children should

be on social development and not on academics.

"We are not looking for Harvard graduates," said Rey Almeida, a director at Aurora School, a private K-5 program in Oakland. "We are seeing children entering kindergarten that are better prepared academically but lack social skills."

Increasing pressures to perform well on standardized tests have played a major role in how children, including preschoolers, are taught today, officials said.

"Students are losing the value of play," Almeida said. "I look at kindergarteners and first-graders playing basketball, and I see interaction and problem solving. They are socializing. Those skills are just as important to learning phonics."

RAND researcher Lynn Karoly described the San Mateo County’s Preschool for All as a model for programs statewide to follow.

"It’s one example in California where a program is able to achieve high quality," Karoly said.

That’s partly because Preschool for All increases funds to classrooms based on higher teacher qualifications, she said.

The program also is on par with or even exceeds standards found nationally, she said.

Preschool for All, for instance, requires its teachers to have a bachelor’s degree and 32 units of early childhood education courses. In comparison, the state Department of Education asks for 16 units of general education and 24 units of early childhood education.

"There are efforts that are beginning to get interested in replicating many of our activities," said Jeanie McLoughlin, director for Preschool for All.

Preschool for All offers free early-education services to families, regardless of income, within targeted areas of the Redwood City and Ravenswood school districts.

The county office serves about 1,350 children, mostly from low-income families, in its Preschool for All program and three kinds of state programs.

The RAND report also showed that programs serving preschool-age youth statewide enjoyed adequate class sizes and a good child-to-staff ratio.

Programs scored high in providing emotional support and engaging students, the report added.

But, according to the report, programs fell short on promoting language development and thinking skills. Teacher training, the use of research-based curricula, and basic health and safety measures also need improvement.

The study comes as state education leaders have made closing the achievement gap a high priority.

That gap shows that Latino and black youth, in particular, continue to lag behind their Caucasian and Asian counterparts in academic performance.

Education leaders have identified preschool as a critical strategy in tackling that disparity.

"We know quality preschool will close the readiness gap" before children attend kindergarten, said state schools chief Jack O’Connell. "It may be the best thing we can do to close the achievement gap."

O’Connell said efforts are under way to expand quality preschool across California.

Assembly Bill 2759 would consolidate all of the existing state preschool, prekindergarten, family literacy, general child care and development programs. It would then create the California State Preschool Program, the largest state-funded effort of its kind in the nation.

Senate Bill 1629 would establish a commission to develop a framework for improving the quality of preschool programs. This system would feature a rating scale of programs to help parents make informed decisions for their children. It also would include a graduated funding model to help preschool programs reach higher levels of quality — similar to what Preschool for All already does.

Josue’s mother, Esperanza Juarez, believes preschool has laid solid academic and social foundations for her son’s future. "The teachers taught him manners, to wait his turn and to say ‘thank you,’" she said. "This is a very good program. It will help him be more successful in his life."

To read the study, visit www.rand.org