Preschool Matters… Today!

With an eye towards boosting high school graduation rates, the Anchorage School District plans for its share of stimulus funding include adding preschool. According to a June 25 editorial in the Anchorage Daily News, the district “will begin offering preschool classes in parts of town with the biggest need, and where there are schools with space available.” In the editorial, schools Superintendent Carol Comeau notes that “some children head down the path toward eventually dropping out during their pre-school and kindergarten years.”

The district also plans to use the stimulus funds to keep marginal students in school, help students set career and education goals, and for early alert monitoring for students in danger of failing, as well as for one-time expenses such as staff training, technology upgrades, building projects, and new textbooks.

The Anchorage Daily News editorial can be found here:
http://www.adn.com/opinion/view/story/844011.html.

We want your ideas!! There are many ways early education can capitalize on the billions being made available in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and State Education Agencies (SEAs) have access to a number of funding streams to further efforts that include professional development, quality improvement, program expansion and infrastructure development, just to name a few. Doing so, however, requires creative thinking, an assessment of need and an understanding of the avenues ARRA makes available, and stipulations for each.

Share Your Thoughts. We want to know what you think about ways pre-K can benefit from the ARRA, experiences you may have had in applying, or questions you may have. There are, to be sure, far more approaches than the few outlined here. Knowing how others in the field are approaching ARRA can be a big help in formulating your strategy.

Toward that end, NIEER has launched the Idea Factory to serve as a forum for sharing ideas and successes with others.

• Using Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding to provide professional development for special education and regular education teachers in math, literacy and behavioral supports.
• Using the State Fiscal Stabilization funds to construct preschool facilities that provide features like play areas where children can exercise their motor skills, food and snack preparation areas, learning centers, and conference space for parents and teachers.
• Applying for competitive grants from the “Race to the Top” program to build upon and expand pre-K programs that have been shown to make progress in narrowing the achievement gap.
• Applying for grants from the Innovation Fund to improve recruitment and placement of high-quality teachers.
• Using Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funds to supplement spending on early care and education for low-income families – as long as the money doesn’t “supplant” state budget reductions under specific conditions.
• Using Title I funds to expand pre-K programs, deliver early childhood screening, provide professional development or temporarily increase income eligibility to serve more families.