Synopses & Reviews
Targeted or universal pre-K? Direct instruction or learning through play? These and other debates are heating up as more and more young children across the country gain access to pre-K programs. Now there's a single volume that spotlights today's most urgent pre-K debates, explores each one from all sides, and paves the way for sound, educated decision-making.
Edited by a founder of Head Start and two other highly respected experts, this forward-thinking book gathers a who's who of more than 40 leading thinkers in early childhood education for a rigorous examination of the most-debated pre-K issues. In a clear and compelling point-counterpoint format, this book gives current and future decision-makers multifaceted perspectives on critical questions:
- Should pre-K be targeted or universal?
- What kind of teacher preparation should be required, in terms of credentials and education?
- When should pre-K services be provided and for how long?
- Where should pre-K be provided-in public schools only or in other early childhood programs?
- What should the primary focus of instruction be— academics or the whole child?
- Should pre-K be structured around direct instruction or learning through play?
- How can we ensure quality and accountability in pre-K programs?
Readers will also get a helpful synthesis of the major themes of the pre-K debate, investigate lessons learned from model programs in two states (New Jersey and Oklahoma), and identify key issues for future research and debate, including education policies for English language learners and children with special needs.
Whether used as a reference or a preservice text, this landmark book will prepare early childhood administrators, policy makers, and researchers to make informed decisions about the future of preK— so all young children will have the best chance at school success.
Review
A comprehensive collection of options for helping educators reach informed decisions about making preschool universally available and maximally effective for all young children in the United States.
Synopsis
More than 40 leading thinkers tackle the most-debated issues in pre-K education, in a rigorous point–counterpoint format. Includes compelling debates on teacher preparation, quality and accountability, targeted vs. universal preK, and more.
About the Author
Debra J. Ackerman, Ph.D., Associate Director, Understanding Teaching Quality Center, Rosedale Road, MS 02-T, Princeton, New Jersey 08541. Dr. Ackerman is an education policy researcher. Her work focuses on the effects of policies and program elements on teachers' practice and students' learning outcomes.
Dr. Barnett is the Board of Governors Professor and Co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His research includes studies of the economics of early care and education, including costs and benefits, the long-term effects of preschool programs on children's learning and development, and the distribution of educational opportunities. He earned his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan and got his start in the early childhood field working on the Perry Preschool Study at the HighScope Educational Research Foundation.
Sandra J. Bishop-Josef, Ph.D., Assistant Director, the Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy, Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, 310 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511. Dr. Bishop-Josef's research interests include child maltreatment, child and family services, and the application of research to social policy.
Barbara T. Bowman, M.A., Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development, Erikson Institute, 451 North LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654. Dr. Bowman is one of the founders of the Erikson Institute and served as its president from 1994 to 2001. In addition, Professor Bowman is Chief Officer in the Office of Early Childhood Education, Chicago Public Schools, where she administers a program for 30,000 preschool children, including 24,000 3- and 4-year-olds in an educational program and 5,000 infants and toddlers in a prevention program.
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Ph.D., Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Child Development and Education, Teachers College and College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, Box 39, 254 Thorndike, New York, New York 10027. Dr. Brooks-Gunn directs the National Center for Children and Families (http://www.policyforchildren.org). She is interested in factors that contribute to both positive and negative outcomes across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, with a particular focus on key social and biological transitions over the life course.
Margaret Burchinal, Ph.D., Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, FPG Child Development Institute, CB 8185, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599. Dr. Burchinal is a senior scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute. She has served as the primary statistician for many child care studies, including the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study of early child care and youth development; the Abecedarian Project; the National Center for Early Development and Learning 11-state prekindergarten evaluation; and the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study.
Rachel Chazan-Cohen, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology at George Mason University in Virginia. Previously, she was a senior research analyst and Coordinator of Infant and Toddler Research in the Office of Planning Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She trained in developmental and clinical psychology at Yale University, where she earned a doctoral degree, and at Tufts University, where she earned a master’s degree. She is particularly interested in the biological, relational, and environmental factors influencing the development of at-risk children and, most especially, on the creation, evaluation, and refinement of intervention programs for families with infants and toddlers.
Deborah Daro, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, 1313 East
Table of Contents
About the Editors
About the Contributors
IntroductionEdward Zigler, Walter S. Gilliam, and W. Steven Barnett
An Overview of Preschool
Chapter 1: Effective Child Development Strategies
James J. Heckman
Chapter 2. The Right Policy at the Right Time: The Pew Prekindergarten Campaign
Sara D. Watson
PART I: THE DEBATES
Debate 1: Targeted versus Universal Preschool
Chapter 3. The Economic Case for Targeted Preschool Programs
Art Rolnick and Rob Grunewald
Chapter 4. Preschool as Public Entitlement: Advancing Children or Political Interests?
Bruce Fuller
Chapter 5. Four Reasons the United States Should Offer Every Child a Preschool Education
W. Steven Barnett
Chapter 6. About Everyone's Child: Winning Public Support for Early Learning
David Lawrence, Jr.
Chapter 7. Universal Plus: What's Worth Doing Is Worth Doing Well
Sharon Lynn Kagan and Jocelyn Friedlander
Debate 2: Teacher Credentials versus Competencies and Supports
Chapter 8. Minimum Requirements for Preschool Teacher Educational Qualifications
W. Steven Barnett
Chapter 9. Bachelor's Degrees Are Necessary But Not Sufficient: Preparing Teachers to Teach Young Children
Barbara T. Bowman
Chapter 10. College Credentials and Caring: How Teacher Training Could Lift Young Children Bruce Fuller Chapter 11. A Degree Is Not Enough: Teachers Need Stronger and More Individualized Professional Development Supports to Be Effective in the Classroom
Robert C. Pianta
Chapter 12. B.A. Plus: Reconciling Reality and Reach
Sharon Lynn Kagan and Rebecca E. Gomez
Chapter 13. Competencies and Credentials for Early Childhood Educators: What Do We know and What Do We Need to Know?
Margaret Burchinal, Marilou Hyson, and Martha Zaslow
Chapter 14. The Importance of Early Childhood Teacher Preparation: The Perspectives and Positions of the National Association for the Education of Young Children
Barbara A. Willer, Alison Lutton, and Mark Ginsberg
Debate 3: Cognitive/Academic Emphasis versus Whole Child Approach
Chapter 15. The Cognitive/Academic Emphasis versus the Whole Child Approach: The 50-Year Debate
Sandra J. Bishop-Josef and Edward Zigler
Chapter 16. The Importance of Kindergarten-Entry Academic Skills
Greg J. Duncan
Chapter 17. Academic Preschool: The French Connection
E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
Chapter 18. Classroom Practices and Children's Motivation to Learn
Deborah Stipek
Chapter 19. Classroom-Based Intervention as a Way to Support Low-Income Preschoolers' Emotional and Behavioral Development: Pressing Challenges and Potential Opportunities
C. Cybele Raver and Genevieve Okada
Chapter 20. The Great Balancing Act: Optimizing Core Curricula through Playful Pedagogy
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
Debate 4: Public Schools Only versus Other Sites
Chapter 21. The Case for Public Preschool
Kathleen McCartney, Margaret Burchinal, and Todd Grindal
Chapter 22. Preschool Programs Should Be Coordinated in the Public Schools with Supports from Head Start and Child Care
Walter S. Gilliam
Chapter 23. Public Schools as the Hub of a Mixed Delivery System of Early Care and Education
W. Steven Barnett and Debra J. Ackerman
Chapter 24. Applying Choice-Based Multivenue Education Concepts to Preschool Education
Daniel E. Witte
PART II: THE ISSUES
Issue 1: How Can Quality and Accountability in Preschool Programs Be Ensured?
Chapter 25. A Model Preschool Program
Edward Zigler
Chapter 26. How to Make Early Childhood P