Questions for Arne Duncan

On Tuesday, January 13, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Education Secretary-Designate Arne Duncan. New America’s Education Policy Program has put together a list of 20 policy questions that we hope Senators will ask Duncan tomorrow–including questions about Duncan’s views on early education issues:

1. You have talked about the importance of education reform to narrow achievement gaps for poor and minority children. But research shows that as much as half of the achievement gap exists before children enter first grade – and that high-quality early education programs can help narrow those gaps and have a long-term, positive impact. What role do you believe quality pre-k and early education should play in efforts to improve student achievement and narrow achievement gaps? How should the federal government be involved in supporting and expanding access to high-quality early childhood education?

2. As you know, the federal government’s largest early education programs, Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant, are under the oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Department of Education also operates numerous programs-including Title I, Even Start, Early Reading First, and IDEA Preschool and Infants and Toddlers Programs-that provide early education. What steps will you take to improve coordination and collaboration among early education programs at the Department and between these programs and those operated by HHS?

Read the whole list here.