John Vasconcellos,
State Senator
Discussion Questions
The draft Plan suggests ways to get all infants and toddlers ready for school: in brief, health and developmental screenings, better coordination of services for families who need or request them, and voluntary formal preschool for three- and four-year-olds.
- In what ways will implementing these recommendations help students become ready to make the most of their schooling? Will this increase students' achievement in later years?
- How can the early identification of children with disabilities and special needs be sufficiently coordinated with later school learning support programs to make a difference?
- Should preschool be made available to all families who desire it?
- Should kindergarten be required for all children?
To make the most of programs for pre-school-aged children and their families, the draft Master Plan suggests various ways to align or coordinate the early education and K-12 sectors. System issues related to these suggestions include:
- Early childhood education professionals and K-3 educators may have different ideas regarding student performance and developmentally appropriate expectations. How can we create a shared understanding? What do a "standards-based curriculum" and "assessment" mean in school readiness programs?
- What needs to be done regarding current members of the early care and education workforce who are not credentialed or certified, when higher standards go into effect?
- Much of California's wealth of expertise in the field of early childhood education is outside the traditional public school arena. Under the proposed governance structure, how can we ensure that early childhood development programs continue to benefit from this expertise?
Background for the Discussion
- The draft Master Plan
(Introduction)
states that "the students who are faring least well in our public schools, colleges, and universities - largely students from low-income families and students of color - also make up the greater proportion of California's increasing population."
Further, "nearly half of all school age children live in families with low incomes and more than a quarter under the age of five live in poverty." (Draft Master Plan,
Access to the Conditions that Promote Learning). About one in three primary school students are learning English. (EdSource publication
"Who
Are California's Students?")
In the face of these statistics and in line with research findings, the draft Master Plan suggests increasing access of all infants and toddlers to conditions that are expected to promote learning. Recommendations
1 and
2 encourage health screenings for developmental delays or physical problems that could interfere with readiness for school, and effective coordination of health and social services delivery at accessible sites for families who need or request services. Recommendation
3 is for voluntary access to formal preschool programs beginning two years prior to kindergarten;
3.1 suggests an individualized plan for each child, covering their transition from early education to Kindergarten; and
3.2 covers phasing in required, full-day kindergarten. Recommendation
51 proposes that the State should develop and fund a per-child allocation model to finance early care and education.
- The draft Plan includes a variety of recommendations that are intended to align early childhood education with other parts of the educational system, including Recommendations
4.4 and 4.5, on increasing the supply of fully qualified teachers and on more rigorous requirements, certification standards and professional development for specified personnel; Recommendation
11 on compensation that helps to attract and retain excellent personnel (
11.1-11.4 cover postsecondary personnel, encouraging teaching excellence, compensation for continuing professional education and incentives to supervise and mentor student groups); Recommendation
12.1, on aligning standards and curricula for pre-school through primary grades; and
31, on governance, including the allocation of resources to schools to support teaching and learning.
Selected School Readiness Resources
Links to many online resources related to
school readiness
are available on this site.
Related Issues
School readiness touches on many issues; the links below lead to pages on this site that give more information in selected areas.
Working Group Report and Recommendations
School Readiness was addressed by one of the Working Groups convened by the Joint Committee to develop a Master Plan for Education.
Links
Results
The Working Group made major recommendations to move toward:
- Improving school readiness and achievement.
- A stronger statewide system for early care and education services.
- Enhanced family and community support for education.
Detailed recommendations are given in the Report of the Working Group.
Goals Addressed
The School Readiness Working Group, established on behalf of the Joint Committee by the California Children and Families Commission, examined children holistically. The aim was to build a system of early education services that families can use to capture their children's inherent desires to learn and achieve, and thereby create a foundation for lifelong learning. The Group paid particular attention to closing the achievement gap that affects many children across the state, focusing on ready children and schools, a high quality early childhood education system and responsive communities.