As I am researching the importance of ECE, Early
Childhood Education, in children I see a lot of good feedback. One of the
things that I mentioned was that I wanted to know how much school district
board members, taxpayers and parents know about ECE. It was brought to my
attention the Common Core State Standard. After reading about the Common
Core Standards I was most confused of why ECE was not included.
I would like to start with what the Common Core
State Standard is. According to their website the Common
Core State Standards are guidelines for
children from kindergarten to 12th grade of what they should know and be able
to do in math, arts and English language arts. With this standards teachers can
measure their student’s progress to make sure they are in the right path
academically. They mention that these standards were design by experts and
teachers across the country to ensure that students are prepared for their
success in entry-level careers, freshman-level college courses, and
workforce training programs focusing in developing the critical-thinking,
problem-solving, and analytical skills that they will need.
I see a lack of attention to preschool. The website only mentions the 2% of early childhood education teachers in the Reaction on March 2010 draft of CCSS
(Common Core State Standards) Since the CCSS has been implemented to K-12TH grades the
Kindergarten students are expected to have a certain skill level to succeed.
Does in it make sense to pay more attention to preschool?
I then found an interesting article
from The Washington Post. In the article, "A tough critique of Common Core on early childhood
education", Edward Miller and Nancy Carlsson-Paige let us know
that "the process for creating the k-12 standards involves too little
research, public dialogue and input from educators". The article explains
that there were 135 people in the panels with no teachers from K-3rd and no
early childhood educators. It then says that the CCSS website is misleading in
different ways. With the CCSS not having convincing research,
not making public comments they said they had, and opposing statements from
early childhood professionals.
Reading these resources makes me wonder even more how much parents really know about their children education, including my-self!
I'm excited to see that you went in depth on Common Core Standards. I also thought it was interesting how they did not include ECE in the standards. Why do you think they decided to keep it out? For our DPS population, a lot of it has to do with funding. Not a lot of our families can afford or are informed enough to put their students in ECE. If you could develop Common Core Standards for ECE students, what would they be?
ReplyDeleteTo answer your first question. I just can't figure out why they wouldn't include ECE if it's were it all begins. Like you said maybe it has to do with funding. The second question you ask is a very good one that I am still thinking about. From what I have seen in classrooms, I think I would not expect children at a certain age to know something. Because everyone is different, everyone learns at a different pace and in a different way. But they do need maybe a level that they would have to be at... I don't know something like that.. I am still thinking about it.
DeleteI have been reading about the importance of ECE in my human development class so it helpful to read about it in the real world. Why do think parents are not as informed as they could be?
ReplyDeleteI think it could be a language barrier or maybe they don't know they can qualify for reduced tuition or even free enrollment. I still need to figure that out. I will sure dig into that.
DeleteWhen reading your section on the standards of testing to ensure that children and teenagers are capable and ready for the next grade or level, it makes me wonder what happens to those who do not have passable scores? Is there adequate help for those who may not be quite prepared- or do their scores just sort of get lost in the mix. It was also intriguing to find out the ECE is not part of the Common Core standards, and it makes me question why? Are there no standards in preschool? What sort of education is taught in preschool?
ReplyDeleteI wondered the same thing on standards for preschool and I found out they have readiness goals and they work with the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework (HSCDELF). Which I think it's awesome! It is a great question on what happens to those who don't have passable scores on tests. I will sure look into that.
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