Elements of a ‘High Quality’ Preschool Education

For the past several years, President Obama has been an advocate for early childhood education (specifically preschool education). The dialogue following the President’s push to support early childhood education for all four-year olds has resulted in conversations among Congress, educators, and parents who now wonder how we define ‘high quality’ preschool education. The education team at NPR has been hard at work to “unpack the words ‘high quality’ to understand what separates best preschool programs from the rest.” According to their research, there are three elements that define a ‘high quality’ preschool from the rest:

Interrupting ‘a spiral of failure’ is important because breaking the spiral of failure ensures long term success not only in school but in life. Motivated, inspired, resilient students are successful adults.
The role of the teacher is also important because preschool teachers must be able to pre-assess students in order to properly “instruct in pre-math and pre-literacy.” It is not only important to teach the academic skills but teachers must also be able to support the “social emotional development of each child” (regardless of their background). Additionally, this relationship is “key in helping students feel good about school.”
Establishing a link with parents is also important because we want parents and teachers to have “direct communication” about a student’s overall health and well-being. I would argue that parents commitment and support to the program is a direct contributor to student success.

There are no clear and easy answers; however, I hope the conversation continues because I believe funding for early childhood education is essential to the future success of all children. Let’s keep the conversation going. Learn more from npr.org. tlb