NIEER 2017 State of Preschool Report
California results and response from our Executive Director, Patricia Lozano
Yesterday, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) released the 2017 State of Preschool Report, which analyzes how states rank on a variety of benchmarks in providing investment and policies to support young children.
Patricia Lozano spoke with KPCC about the report. You can read the story here.
The report highlights California as a leader in supporting Dual Language Learners by being one of three in the nation to require that Transitional Kindergarten teachers have a bilingual certification. We applaud our state’s efforts but we still have much work to do to ensure that Dual Language Learners are getting the support they need. Early childhood educators need quality training and resources in order to appropriately serve children 0-5 given that language acquisition reaches crucial milestones during that age period.
Early Edge California supports improving the quality of early learning by making additional investments, providing professional development, adequate compensation and training resources for early childhood education professionals. Our goal is that Pre-K and TK communities will take best practices from each other, thereby improving the quality of both programs so that all children can benefit.
While the report shows some challenges in TK, research from American Institutes for Research (AIR) demonstrates clear benefits, including:
- TK students were more advanced than their peers in language, literacy, mathematics and executive function. The differences amount to as much as a five-month head start in kindergarten.
- TK has a significant impact on students’ pre-literacy and literacy skills. The advantage is equal to about five months of learning.
- Students who attended TK outperformed their peers in mathematics at the beginning of kindergarten, which amounts to a three-month learning advantage.
- Participating in TK gives English Learner students a substantial boost in their English language development, including in speaking skills, listening skills, and overall language proficiency.
To view the NIEER report: http://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/State-of-Preschool-2017-Full.pdf
To read the DLL special report: http://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/YB2017_DLL-Special-Report.pdf
We look forward to continuing to work with educators, administrators and other early childhood education champions to improve and build on current efforts.