Transcript The Children’s Budget, 2000-01

Benefits of Pre-K, Full-Day K and Reduced Class Size
Who We Are
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Pennsylvania Partnerships for
Children
Advocacy organization
– Independent, non-profit
– Prevention-focused, research-based
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is a
strong, effective and trusted voice for
improving the health, education and wellbeing of the Commonwealth’s children.
–
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Who are the Children?
Pennsylvania is home to approximately
152,000 4-year-old children;
 Children least likely to attend pre-K are
those whose parents have the least
education and least income and whose
mothers do not work outside the home.
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(Source: Preschool Policy Matters, National Institute for Early
Education Research, Aug. 2004)
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Child Well-Being
1
in 3 children in PA lives in poverty
 1 child in 6 is born to a mother with
less than a high school education
 1 child in 11 is born to a single,
teenaged mother
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Pre-K In PA
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66.5% of income-eligible children ages 3 and
4 are enrolled in Head Start
10,127 children were enrolled in public school
pre-K in 2004-05
– Impact: Early education fosters cognitive,
social and emotional growth. Kids exposed
to pre-K do better in school and experience
fewer incidents of special education
placements and grade retentions.
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Pre-K in other States
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Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma are the only
states that make pre-K available to all 4-yearolds. Florida’s new universal pre-K program
received first-year funding of $387 million
Illinois governor just committed to UPK
New York and West Virginia have multi-year
plans to implement pre-K for all 4-year-olds
Five states – Maine, Oklahoma, Vermont, WV
and Wisconsin – plus DC – include pre-K as
part of their school funding formulas
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Why Pre-K Matters
Kids in pre-K learn social skills, self
confidence and the ability to deal with
others;
 Pre-K creates successful students;
 Pre-K creates solid citizens;
 Pre-K creates better communities
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Why Pre-K Matters
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Ninety percent of brain growth occurs before
kindergarten;
Kids who start behind, stay behind;
Nearly 90% of children who are poor readers
in first grade will still be poor readers by
fourth grade;
One-third of children entering kindergarten
cannot recognize the letters of the alphabet
and more than half do not know basic math
concepts. (Source: Pew Center on the States and
National Conference of State Legislatures)
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Successful Students
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Children who enter kindergarten from quality
pre-K have better reading, language and
social skills than those who didn’t go to
preschool;
Pre-K increases high school graduation rates.
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Chicago children who attended a pre-K program were 29%
more likely to graduate from high school than their peers
who did not have pre-K. (Source: Chicago Longitudinal Study)
Pre-K helps children do better on
standardized tests.
Children from quality pre-K get better test scores in later
grades and are likelier to graduate from high school. (National
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Research Council, From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of
Early Childhood Development, 2000.)
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Successful Students
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Pre-K reduces grade retention.
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Maryland fifth graders who attended pre-K were
44% less likely to have repeated a grade than
their peers who did not attend pre-K. (Source: "State
Efforts to Evaluate the Effects of Pre-Kindergarten,” Yale
University Child Study Center);
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Pre-K reduces the number of children placed
in special education.
- Among Chicago children, those who attended preK were 41% less likely to require special
education services than their peers who did not
attend. (Source: Chicago Longitudinal Study)
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Why Pre-K Matters to Proficiency
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2004-05 PSSAs
 35.8%
of fifth graders scored below proficient in
reading
 31% of fifth graders scored below proficient in
math
 36% of eighth graders scored below proficient
in reading
 37% of eighth graders scored below proficient
in math
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Pennsylvania schools face NCLB mandate of 100%
proficiency by 2014
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Solid Citizens
As adults, children from quality pre-K are
likelier to be married, with higher educational
attainments and better-paying jobs. (University
of North Carolina, Early Learning, Later Success: The
Abecedarian Study, 1999)
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Pre-K reduces crime and delinquency.
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Chicago children who did not attend pre-K were
70% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime
by age 18 than their peers who had been pre-K
participants. (Source: Chicago Longitudinal Study)
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Solid Citizens
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Pre-K lowers rates of teen pregnancy.
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North Carolina children who attended pre-K were
less likely to become teen parents than their peers
who did not attend pre-K: 26% vs. 45%. (Source:
The North Carolina Abecedarian Project)
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Pre-K leads to greater employment and
higher wages as adults.
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Forty-year-old adults in Michigan who attended
pre-K as children were more likely to be employed
and had a 33% higher average income than their
peers who did not have pre-K. (Source: The
High/Scope Perry Preschool Project)
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Better Communities
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Every $1 invested in high-quality pre-K saves
taxpayers up to $7.
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Pre-K results in savings by reducing the need for
remedial and special education, welfare, and
criminal justice services. (Sources: The Economics of
Investing in Universal Preschool Education in California, RAND
Corporation; The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project);
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Pre-K is a vital part of workforce development.
- Pennsylvania’s employers support pre-K
investments because they equip young learners with
the skills for school success and after graduation,
workplace competence.
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Better Communities
Stewardship: giving to children today
who give back to society later;
 Increased tax revenue;
 Increased competitiveness and more
skilled labor force/workforce
development – if young people aren’t
prepared for learning today, they’ll fail in
school and as young adults, fail at work
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Full-Day K in PA
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Accountability Block Grant Spending
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63.6% percent of districts used 58.6% of
Block Grant funds for full-day K making it
the most popular use
51% of PA kindergarteners are enrolled in
full-day K compared to 65% nationally
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Full-Day K in other States
Just nine states require school districts
to offer a full-day program
 29 states and the District of Columbia
provide additional funding for full-day K
programs.
 Full-day K is most prevalent in the
southern U.S. (NIEER, March 2005)
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Why Full-Day K Matters
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Children in full-day kindergarten
programs make more progress in
literacy and math than those in half-day
programs, concludes a new study
published in the (February 2006 issue of the American
Journal of Education.)
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Children who attend full-day K have
lower retention rates in the primary
grades
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Why Full-Day K Matters
Children in full-day programs have more
time to participate in meaningful
learning activities than children in halfday programs
 Children from disadvantaged
backgrounds have been found to benefit
the most (NIEER, March 2005)
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Why Full-Day K Matters
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Parents and teachers report greater
satisfaction with full-day programs
Studies indicate that children who attend fullday K receive better report card grades in
literacy, math, general learning skills and
behavior
Full-day kindergarteners outscore children in
half-day programs on standardized
achievement tests up to two years after
kindergarten (NIEER, March 2005)
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Class Size
Teachers with small classes can spend
time and energy helping each child
succeed. Smaller classes also enhance
safety, discipline and order in the
classroom.
 When qualified teachers teach smaller
classes, kids learn more.
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Class Size in PA
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Only 16.8% of students in pre-K through
third grade are in classes with 17 or
fewer students
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Class Size
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Accountability Block Grant Spending
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18.6% of districts used 6.9% of all Block
Grant funds to reduce class size in K-3
classes
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Why Class Size Matters
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Tennessee’s longitudinal class-size study Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) showed that those enrolled in small classes
as youngsters were more likely to:
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Graduate on time — 72% of students, versus 66%
from regular classes
Complete more advanced math and English
courses
Complete high school — 19% dropped out, versus
23% from regular classes
Graduate with honors
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Why Class Size Matters
 Smaller
classes increase parental
involvement
 Reduce disciplinary referrals
 Improve teacher morale and
retention
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To Contact Us
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
www.papartnerships.org
800-257-2030
Joan L. Benso
President & CEO
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