Early Childhood Education is the key to Leaving No Child Behind

Matthew Yglesias has a great post that looks at the supposedly poor education systems in urban areas in the US.

His conclusion is one that I see everyday teaching here in Iowa...

All across the United States we have a problem with kids from disadvantaged backgrounds doing poorly in school. We also see kids from disadvantaged backgrounds overrepresented in urban school systems. Consequently, average results from city school systems tend to be below average. But when you use appropriate demographic controls you see that there's huge city-to-city variation and also a huge amount being determined by the demographics.

From my experience, socio-economic status has a huge effect on how well a students does in school, as well as how prepared students are when they enter school. This is why early childhood education is so vital.

The goals of No Child Left Behind are admirable. However, currently, many students who enter school are already left behind because they have not had the exposure to the kinds of activities that encourage the development of language and reading skills.

In 2006, the Iowa legislature expanded early childhood education throughout the state. Research shows that children's brains develop rapidly at this age and it just makes sense that we utilize this time in a child's life to build a foundation for early literacy skills, as well as getting students "school ready."

Expanding community nursing programs that help parents with parenting skills and emphasizing reading and language development in the home is another step that could help children who come from low socio-economic status. A nurse could make home visits once a month and provide patient education to parents and the child. Classes could be offered to teach skills parents need to help their children learn basic early literacy skills and develop language skills.

There is a huge window in the development of a child's brain in the first 5 years of a child's life. It only makes sense that as a society we structure education programs to get the full advantage of this rapid growth. We will see a huge return later in the child's life for this investment.