Universal preschool: Important but no panacea
President Obama at a preschool in Georgia
President Obama just released his proposed 2014 budget, which includes a push for universal preschool for low- and middle-income four year olds, fulfilling a promise he made in his recent State of the Union message.
Research over the years has shown that quality preschool programs benefit all children, especially those from disadvantaged families. (You can see a review of what the research says and doesn’t say here.
There is good reason to applaud the Obama effort to expand preschool, but also to take note that expanding access is not enough. Here is a post that looks at all of this by Larry Cuban,a high school social studies teacher for 14 years, a district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA), and professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, where he has taught for more than 20 years. His new book is “Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice: Change without Reform in American Education.” This post appeared on his blog.
By Larry Cuban
In the political gridlock that has marked cutting federal budgets, gun control, and immigration legislation, one issue brings together both CEOs and educational progressives, political conservatives and liberals: investing in tax-supported preschool for three and four year-olds. President Obama has called for increasing children’s access to prekindergarten and assembled legislators applauded across the aisle separating political parties.
He said in his recent State of the Union speech:
Study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road. But today, fewer than 3 in 10 four year-olds are enrolled in a high-