President Obama wants to regain position as the world leader in college graduation by the year 2020. State and federal policy leaders are beginning to realize that quality education must begin before Kindergarten in order for all children to have a successful lifetime of learning. This article will discuss various issues affecting early childhood ...
Preschool teachers must focus on providing stimulating learning activities, basic concepts and socials skills. To succeed, here are some trends that will affect the future of early childhood education. • New Curriculum – Scientific research suggests that experiences during the first years of life have a lasting impact on how the brain develops. This information promotes healthy learning and development. New curriculum is being built around child development and stress child directed approaches. • Population Diversity - Programs must be culturally and linguistically compatible with the children it serves. Various cultures must be represented and accepted by educators by providing bilingual/multilingual opportunities through books, tutors, and resources. • Technology – Requiring students to understand the ins and outs of the digital world at an earlier age brings more demands and pressure from parents, administrators and policy makers. More creative and specific methods of using computer centers need to adjust to student’s learning style. • Teacher training programs – Well-educated, trained teachers help protect excellence in early education. Bachelor-level education may be required in order to obtain restrictive allocated federal and state funds. • Accountability Standards - Assessments of very young children has experienced rapid growth & advancement. Federal and state funds may require explicit performance standards, systematic testing and consequences for results. “Best Practices” guidelines promote sustained and continuous assessment for young children to progress through developmental areas. Accountability standards for observational assessments to developmentally appropriate practice must be developed by states to align preschool standards with K-12 standards. • Incentives - Policy makers highlight new assessment and accountability systems but this will not occur independently of investments. Initiatives and incentives are required to drive education reform.
Wisconsin, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Maine, Oklahoma and Illinois use some form of Universal Preschool. These state-funded programs are available for all children of a certain age regardless of income or other risk factors.
Pre-K teachers must be fit and be physically able to lift, bend, run and often sit on the floor but health insurance and retirement accounts are almost nonexistent . Children often have challenging needs and can be difficult to manage. Yet, childcare is already expensive, and families find it difficult to pay more.
Due to the recent news that the US has fallen dramatically in its world rankings for college graduates, especially in science, early childhood education has gained a tremendous amount of public attention. President Obama wants to regain position as the world leader in college graduation by the year 2020.