By Steve Frey
There has been a lot of discussion in the Commonwealth lately about the importance of expanding the possibilities for career destinations for students exiting high school. Opportunities for free community college courses and certification, expanding Career and Technical Education programs and coordinating curricula among high schools, community colleges and universities have all had a significant focus. However, unobtrusively, at the other end of the educational spectrum, preschool and early education programs are also being improved in a variety of meaningful ways.
Last August, it was announced that about three million dollars had been earmarked for a new kindergarten readiness assessment in all schools in Virginia. This new assessment program was developed by researchers at the University of Virginia to measure kindergarten readiness with foundational skills in four areas: math, self-regulation, social skills and literacy.
Teachers will be able to quickly assess children and use the computer-generated results to help guide kindergarten instruction and also provide early intervention with skills if needed. This program builds on another UVA program, the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS), which is currently used by many school divisions and measures literacy skills alone.
Next, in December, Governor Ralph Northam announced that the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) and the Virginia Department of Education had partnered to fund grants of $250,000 each for innovative approaches to expand access to high-quality preschool experiences for at-risk children through partnerships with community-based early childhood programs.
“The investments we make in quality preschool education today will have long-term returns for our children, our future workforce, and our economy. In recent years, these grants have produced tremendous results across the Commonwealth. With this new funding, we will continue to support innovative partnerships between public and private entities, increasing the number of children served by these programs, and giving more of our students the opportunity to enter kindergarten poised for success,” Governor Northam said.
The New River Valley Regional Commission received one of the grants, which will provide professional development and quality improvement interventions to several child care centers serving communities with high numbers of Virginia Preschool Initiative-eligible children. The project will aid the centers in establishing relationships with various providers of early childhood family support services. They will be able to connect families with critically needed supports to improve the impact of early care and education.
“Every community has its own unique needs and circumstances—and opportunities for expanding access to high-quality preschool programs,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane. “The innovative approaches funded with these tailored mixed-delivery grants will make a difference in the lives of children and their families.”
Just into the new year, Virginia also received a one-year, $9.9 million competitive federal Preschool Development Grant (birth through age five) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families. A press release from Governor Northam’s office stated: “These federal funds will be used by VDOE (Virginia Dept. of Education) and its partners to support statewide initiatives that bolster Virginia’s early childhood system. These initiatives include producing a statewide needs assessment and strategic plan, aligning early learning standards, and developing kindergarten-readiness tools for teachers and families.”
About 1,000 publicly funded infant, toddler, and pre-K classrooms will be evaluated to “better understand the quality landscape.”
“Working closely with partners and local communities, Virginia can strengthen teaching, more deeply engage families and increase the number of children who enter kindergarten with the skills needed to be successful,” said Lane.
Why the heavy emphasis on preschool/early childhood education? Because during a child’s first five years, neurological studies have shown that a tremendous amount of learning and growth occur that can set the stage for further education and later careers. The environment the child grows up in can stimulate this growth or hamper it.
Children living in poverty may not have access to opportunities that would be conducive for growth, and they then come to kindergarten with significantly lower foundational skills than their peers. These skills are sometimes challenging to remediate. However, if children have access to an excellent preschool experience, they begin kindergarten prepared to “take off” with their learning.
The governor, state department of education, preschools, social services and school divisions are finding ways to better coordinate efforts to reach every single child. All Virginia children should have the opportunity to come to kindergarten ready to excel, and when in kindergarten, get the early intervention assistance they need to fill any gaps in readiness that could make learning difficult for them. These efforts will pay dividends for children and families all through school and better prepare graduates to be successful after high school.
Do you remember Robert Fulghum’s book, “All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” that was all the rage back in 1988? Today, we know that some things like playing well with others, exploring shapes, playing rhyming games (and so many other foundational skills) can be enhanced through a good preschool program, too.
Virginia’s helping to ensure that every child gets off to an excellent start that will lead to great experiences throughout school—and life. That makes “no child left behind” much more than a mere cliché.
Steve Frey is a writer and CEO of Ascendant Educational Services based in Radford.
