A lesson For Pre-Schools: When it’s Done Right, The Benefits Last
Elissa Nadworny | MindShift | Twitter
Is preschool worth it? Policymakers, parents, researchers and us, at NPR Ed, have spent a lot of time thinking about this question.
We know that most pre-kindergarten programs do a good job of improving ‘ specific skills like phonics and counting, as well as broader social and emotional behaviors, by the time students enter kindergarten. Just this week, a study looking at more than 20,000 students in a state-funded preschool program in Virginia found that kids made large improvements in their alphabet recognition skills.
So the next big question to follow is, of course, Do these benefits last?
To read more visit MindShift
Save The Children Calls For More Funding For Early-Years Education
Evening Express | Twitter
Campaigners have called for more resources to be put into the early years of education as they warn that “poverty is damaging too many children’s learning”.
Save the Children is urging the Scottish Government to increase the number of teachers working in nurseries as well as staff with specialist training in speech and language development.
The call comes as a survey of primary one teachers found 88% believe youngsters with these problems fall behind other pupils in their learning.
Of the 100 teachers questioned, 84% said children whose speech and language development is delayed can struggle to concentrate in the classroom while 59% said they were less likely to enjoy school.
To read more visit Evening Express
Bilingual education vote in California another shift from bitter 1990’s conflicts
Louis Freedberg | EdSource | Twitter
The overwhelming approval by California voters of an initiative to end restrictions on bilingual education in its public schools marks another significant shift from the political expressions of racial and ethnic resentments that swirled across the state during the 1990s.
Its passage highlights the changes that have occurred in California over the past two decades – the inexorable shift to a multiracial and multiethnic society – along with a realization that multilingualism is a benefit, not a disadvantage, in a world of global communication.
With a 72.6 percent yes vote, the passage of Proposition 58 last Tuesday could not have been more definitive. The initiative received majority support in each of the state’s 58 counties.
To read more visit EdSource
Bilingual education is making a comeback in California. But some educators say the fight is just beginning
Jazmine Ulloa | The Los Angeles Times | Twitter
Proposition 58, which cruised to an early victory on election night with 73% of the vote, overhauls English-only instruction in California, granting public schools more power over their own bilingual and multilingual programs.
To many educators, the move is a symbolic reversal of what they say was a discriminatory policy that required Latino immigrant children to speak and learn only in English and failed to prepare all students for a global economy. But the measure does not require schools to create new courses or curricula. It simply gives them permission to do so if they so choose.
To read more visit The Los Angeles Times
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- U.S. News & World Report – A Bright Year for Early Childhood Education
- Voice of America – California Prepares to Resume Bilingual Education
- The Washington Post – A hitch in California as bilingual education is restored