Monfredo: Early Education - A Necessity we Can’t do Without

Saturday, May 09, 2015

John Monfredo, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

It’s time that Massachusetts gets serious about early learning opportunities for those children at risk due to poverty. Early education is needed for those children who are below the poverty level, homeless or are English language learners. As a state we need to recognize that so many children arrive in school with a gap in language skills, cognitive deficiencies, and fewer social and emotional skills. According to research, by the age of four the average child in a middle class family hears 30 million more words than the average child who is affected by poverty. Thus, research has determined that our ability to make up vocabulary deficits in school, is extremely difficult to achieve in those early grade levels.

Research shows that the achievement gap that exists in kindergarten tends to widen through the school years and many children never catch up. Many states are starting to recognize that more needs to be done at an earlier age for one either pays now or pays substantially more for remediation services. Experts tell us that 90% of all brain development occurs by the age of five. Should we not be concerned about those early years?

One state, New Jersey, was the first state in the nation where the courts decided that educationally “at risk” children are entitled to an early education. The 1998 Abbott v. Burke decision formally established a well planned, high quality pre-school” as a constitutional right for all three and four year olds in New Jersey’s 31 poorest school districts.

In addition, research has found many pre-k programs effective in improving the math and literacy skills of low-income children, a target of many state initiatives. Universal, preschool-for-all programs in Georgia and Oklahoma have documented progress in reducing the school readiness gap facing at-risk children.

While research shows that all children benefit from a high quality childhood education, children from poverty consistently show the greatest gains. However, these are the same children who are least likely to be enrolled in early education programs. These are the same children who have fewer books in their homes, have no one read to them, and are less able to develop the cognitive and emotional skills necessary in academic settings.

Even the business sector sees the value of early education for business leaders have an acute understanding of the importance of a well-educated workforce to support a strong economy, keep America competitive globally, and ensure a vibrant democracy. Right now 20 percent of the American labor force is functionally illiterate or innumerate. High-quality child care and early education builds a strong foundation of cognitive and social skills in young children that can improve their engagement in school and increase per capita earnings and economic development. This is especially important for the growing proportion – almost half - of American young children currently living in deprivation and poverty. Yet, only a fraction of children access such services. Our nation now faces tough choices to renew the economy, but fiscal prudence cannot be served at the expense of under-investing in the well-being and future of our children – and thereby preventing unnecessary remedial expenditures. The Committee for Economic Development believes it is vital for our country’s future that investments in our youngest children remain a major national and state-level priority.

To summarize the research, we find that children taught at an early age usually benefit in the following way: improved social skills, less or no need for special education instruction during subsequent school years, better grades, and enhanced attention spans. Likewise, some researchers have concluded that young children enrolled in pre-school programs usually graduate from high school, attend college, have fewer behavioral problems, and do not become involved in crime in their adolescent and young adult years.

So the question remains why are we not doing more for our children in those most important years from birth to age eight?

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Monfredo: Early Education - A Necessity we Can’t do Without

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