There are many changes that need to be made to help close the achievement gap, but what is the most important? Some will argue that the problem is teacher quality, parent involvement or the reading skills that students from low income families lose when they leave school for summer vacation. Although those problems may be true, universal preschool learning is the biggest adjustment that needs to be made to help close this gap.
According to Dartmouth economist Elizabeth Cascio, universal preschool is most likely to help low income children if their classmates come from a range of family incomes. The study by Cascio finds that universal programs have a significant positive effect on the reading scores of lower income children, while targeted programs do not. The effect on math scores is also positive but not statistically significant. Even though this system will be much more expensive because it serves more children, Cascio states that universal preschool is the most cost-effective because lower income students did that much better. Most middle class American families whom decide to send their children to preschool usually select some form of private preschool. The program is mutually beneficial for both middle class families and lower income families because middle class parents will no longer need to pay for expensive private preschool and their children will be helping their lower income peers improve at the same time.
According to the Center of American Progress, researchers find that providing high quality “prekindergarten” to all children nationally would dramatically reduce inequality in academic preparedness at kindergarten entry. In this report, these researches discuss how many ethnic/racial minority children and children from low-income families enter kindergarten without all the skills they need to succeed in school. Compared to their higher-income peers, these children begin kindergarten months behind in reading and math. According to the researchers, “The larger problem is that these measures of children’s academic abilities at kindergarten entry are strong predictors of later school success—these “achievement” gaps begin early and are only modestly closed after kindergarten entry. They remain large as children progress through school, and are difficult to close.”
According to Yale graduate and current public policy researcher Halley Potter, in 2017, only 19 states were offering a universal preschool program. Potter states that the reason why all 50 states don’t have a universal preschool program implemented is because of state and federal funding. However, the study done by Elizabeth Cascio explains that although universal preschool is expensive, it is worth it. There are many ways to address this problem however if we start early to try and solve this major issue of the achievement gap, then lower income students will be equally ready to learn as they move forward with their education.
Post by: Matthew Hanna