REFERENCES
“Ann Arbor, MI | 2018 10 Best Places to Raise a Family.” Best Places to Live, Livability, 19 Oct. 2018.
This article was the results of a Liveability.com study, which ranked Ann Arbor as the best place to live — and 2nd best place to raise a family — in the United States in 2018. A large reason for this high ranking is listed as the prestige of the Ann Arbor School District — which has a faculty to student ratio of 17:1. The article also mentioned other kid-centric benefits of living in Ann Arbor — for example, access to almost 160 parks and the best kid-friendly restaurant. In the context of my piece, I will use this article to explain how Ann Arbor can be an even better place to live and raise a family through implementing universal preschool.
Barnett, W. Steven, et al. “Cities Emerge as Preschool Champions.” National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers Graduate School of Education, 22 May 2018.
This article begins by stating that support for accessible preschool is nearly universal. Everyone, from parents to elected officials, believes that funding these programs is the right thing to do. Despite this, there’s been no movement on the nationwide scale to implement these programs. However, many cities across the country have implemented their own universal preschool programs to make up for the lack of support at the federal level. Like most times in history, cities are paving the way in educational advancements. To make its case even stronger, the article also contains some examples from different cities across the country who’ve successfully created and funded these programs. In essence, because cities have the highest concentration of children who would benefit from these programs, they are the ones who must take initiative when the federal government doesn’t.
Clark, Anna. “As Michigan's Poorest 4-Year-Olds Wait for Classroom Seats, Free Pre-K for All Kids Seems Elusive.” Chalkbeat, Chalkbeat, 22 Oct. 2018.
This article explains the problems with Michigan's Great Start Program. Although this program is well intentioned — with the goal of providing access to education to all children in the state from low income backgrounds — it’s been subject to inadequate funding. As a result, thousands of qualifying families are sitting on waitlists across the state. Furthermore, the article mentions, the state of Michigan is also experiencing a teaching shortage. Consequently, any attempt to implement universal preschool must also address this problem. While this article goes on to get into the weeds of the different possible funding options, its main argument is that we must first ensure that the Great Start Program is properly funded — and its effects are properly studied — before we can move on to creating truly universal preschool coverage.
Chaudry, Ajay, et al. “Child Care Choices of Low-Income Working Families.” Urban Institute, Jan. 2011.
This study — conducted by the Urban Institute — examines why early childhood education programs, including preschool, are often inaccessible for low-income families. To answer this question, the researchers chose low-income areas and conducted in-depth interviews with parents about their childcare choices. The results of these interviews found that many parents were working low-paying jobs with unreliable and unpredictable hours. Unfortunately, these hours often don’t align with traditional preschool hours, so many parents could not take advantage of preschool even if the cost was subsidized by the government. Instead, they often relied on relatives and other members of their social network. Ultimately, the piece argues that for preschool programs to be truly effective — that is, in order for them to actually be beneficial to vulnerable populations — they should have flexible policies that reflect the realities of the families living in the community.
“FAQ for The Lifecycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Program.” The Heckman Equation, 8 Feb. 2017.
This article — written by James Heckman, an award-winning economics professor at the University of Chicago — explains his well-supported claim that investment in early childhood education programs yield at 13% return-on-investment. In short, this is because of the long-term educational, career, and health benefits that children who attend preschool programs grow up to receive. Additionally, Heckman argues that governments should focus on the value, not cost, of early childhood education programs. High quality programs will yield high quality results. And although the cost of these programs will be high, the long term effects will more than counterbalance this.
Harrington, Theresa. “Early Childhood Education Pays Big Dividends, Study Says.” EdSource, 13 Dec. 2016.
This article contextualizes the results of the Heckman study, which is also included in this bibliography and found many positive benefits of attending preschool programs. Namely, these benefits are increased future health and decreased future engagement in criminal behaviors. It then goes on to reiterate that investing in early childhood education programs is a solid investment with a large ROI. Specifically, for every $1 invested into these programs, society at large will see a return of $6.30. Additionally, the article goes on to reference another study which found that the return on investment for preschool programs is even higher than the 13% cited by Heckman. In short, this article offered a useful and more digestible framing of the Heckman study.
Katie. “6 Ways That Preschool Teachers Foster Independent Children.” Mom Moments, Mom Moments, 27 Mar. 2018.
This article — a blog post written by a mother for mother's — begins by praising preschool teachers for their ability to manage a classroom of young children. The author credits this to the independence that many preschoolers have — independence which is cultivated in preschools due to the structures of the institution. She then goes on to describe the different ways that preschool teaches children how to be independent thinkers and doers. These six reasons are that kids must clean up, they are allowed (and encouraged) to make their own decisions, they have to learn how to act on their own before asking for help, they have classroom chores and responsibilities, they can take risks, and they can solve problems. These behaviors instill a sense of independence in children, and they can all be taken back to the home to create similar effects.
McCoy, D. et al. “Impacts of Early Childhood Education on Medium and Long Term Educational Outcomes.” Educational Researcher, 46(8), 474–487. 2017.
This report studied the medium and long term effects of preschool attendance for children in the United States. It did this by aggregating data from studies between the 1960s and the modern day, and then by analyzing those results. It found a statistically significant decrease in special education placement and being held back a grade for students who attend preschool — and an increase in graduation rates for this same group. It also goes on to state that these effects are even more pronounced in children from low-income backgrounds, which it’s why so concerning that such a low number of children in this SES group attend preschool programs.
“Pros and Cons of Preschool.” Our Kids, OurKids.net, n.d.
This article discusses the various benefits and drawbacks of enrolling children in preschool programs. Each pro/con is presented as little more than a bullet point with a short sentence describing it. However, most points are fairly intuitive — so an extensive explanation is not necessary. The largest pros include preschool’s structure, social interactions, and safety. It then went on to summarize the academic, social, and language skills gained from preschool attendance. The downsides were all listed in comparison to keeping a child at home. These downsides included the lack of one-on-one support, separation anxiety, and the school’s rigidness. At the end, it summed up the pros/cons and made similar lists for home care and daycare, and then ended with excerpts of expert assessments of preschool vs other option. This source did not, however, make any recommendations.
Rock, Amanda. “What Is Universal Pre-K and How Can It Benefit My Preschooler?” Verywell Family, Verywell Family, 16 July 2018.
This article explains the details of what universal preschool actually means. In short, universal preschool is government-funded early childhood education programs for all students — regardless of their family’s financial situation. Although 39 states fund some sort of preschool program, only four actually offer truly universal preschool. It wraps up by discussing what parents should evaluate when choosing a preschool program for their child, and then going over the benefits of preschool attendance (namely, better academic and social performance later in life).
United States, Department of Health & Human Services, Department of Education, “High-Quality Early Learning Settings Depend on a High-Quality Workforce: Low Compensation Undermines Quality.” 2016.
This report — filed jointly by the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Education — extols the importance of early childhood education programs (which they define as programs for children ages 0-5 years old). However, for these programs to be worth it, they must be effective. For them to be effective, they must be high quality. And for them to be high quality, they must have high quality teachers. As a result, this report advocates for raising pay for teachers. This is not only so that smart and hardworking people are more motivated to go into teaching, but also to improve the home lives of teachers as well. Overall, this report focuses on larger, more structural/societal problems and then proposes broad solutions (ex: increase teacher pay, increase funding for early childhood education programs, etc) to solve them. It supports these broad proposals with demographics, pay, and other data from across the country.