K-12 Groups Call for Federal Policies Embracing PreK-12 Education

A group of seven large education associations came together last week at the U.S. Capitol to call on Congress to reshape education policies to embrace early education. The group – known  as the Pre-K Coalition – wants to see pre-K included more robustly in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act coupled with policies that support a stronger more seamless education for students from pre-kindergarten through third grade.

Their report, Ensuring America’s Future, is an important signal of support for early education from groups that are not typically seen as early childhood advocates.  Although many Washington insiders doubt that Congress will make any real headway on fixing the law this year, the endorsement comes at a critical time: Later today, leaders of the Senate’s Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee are expected to release a draft of a revised law (also known as No Child Left Behind).  Senators on the HELP committee are scheduled to pore over that draft October 18.

Five principles undergird the report: equitable access, program quality, quality workforce, program coordination and “P-3” alignment (also known as PreK-3^rd alignment).  Under each of these principles, the Coalition spells out several recommendations for reshaping policies.

For example, the group recommends that the law be written to “allow schools to adopt a comprehensive P-3 restructuring strategy as one component of a potential model for school improvement.”  Under current law, districts receiving funds from the federal School Improvement Grant program must adopt one of four models to help struggling schools, none of which focus on early learning interventions. Although the U.S. Department of Education has acknowledged (in written guidance to states) that pre-k programs or full-day kindergarten would be allowed as part of a “transformational” model, early learning has not taken center stage in dialogue about turnarounds. The Coalition is recommending a more pronounced emphasis on early education to guide states and school districts. 

This is among many of the Pre-K Coalition’s smart recommendations, and one that has been the subject of murmurings at early education forums and discussed in our ongoing coverage of Early Learning in ESEA. It is heartening for those of us at the Early Education Initiative to see the coalition’s array of suggestions for alignment between pre-kindergarten and elementary schools, as well as its focus on access and equity in high-quality pre-K programs.

“While each organization has its own priorities for improving the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,” wrote Anne L. Bryant, executive director for the National School Boards Association, “teachers, principals, superintendents, state and local school board members and chief state school officers all agree it is time to reframe the law to better support policies and practices that ensure young children are ready and able to succeed in school.”

In addition to theNational School Boards Association, other collaborators in the Pre-K Coalition include the American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, Council of Chief State School Officers, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of State Boards of Education and the National Education Association.

A branch of one of those groups – the National Association of Elementary School Principals Foundation – released a report this summer that included similar recommendations. Some of the same ideas also pop up in a consensus letter signed by 15 research and advocacy groups a little over a year ago.  What’s more, the Continuum of Learning Act, introduced in the House earlier this month and expected to be introduced by Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) in the Senate as early as today, has been endorsed by multiple early childhood and children’s advocacy groups. The bill features an emphasis on alignment and quality from pre-kindergarten through the third grade.

Taken together, the actions of these groups point to a consensus around several common themes – shared professional development, aligned standards, coordinated data collection and an emphasis on equity and high-quality early learning experiences for children in their early years.  It’s high time these ideas made their way into a revised ESEA. Let’s hope that Congress is listening.