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October 23, 2006
Preschool Preview
Today I get to do a brief presentation at a preschool planning conference. The recent Preschool For All initiative was not passed, but preschool is still on the minds of lots of folks around the state and the country for that matter. If you haven't guessed, I've been a fan of quality preschool programs since my children were little. I certainly don't expect preschools to take the place of a wonderful, loving family environment, but I do expect them to provide children with opportunities they might not have at home.
I've thought this way for a long time, but a couple years ago I had the opportunity to visit schools in Texas and Oklahoma. I went to Texas because that was first of all where my son was graduating from his Air Force training so it was a great personal reason to go, but secondly because Texas is where No Child Left Behind has its roots. I spend great periods of my work life dealing with issues around NCLB and it seemed only right that I should find out why I do that. I arranged to visit several schools in Texas and in each case I wanted to know what was working, what made a difference and why we should be proceeding down this path. I found out a great deal of valuable information about English Learners, Special Education, and High School issues, but the area I found really fascinating was the preschool arena.
Aldine Independent School District is in Houston, Texas. I visited with Nadine Kujawa, the district superintendent. I am still using her quotes today about what she found in their district when they started a preschool progam. They started a voluntary program for 4-year-olds. She indicated that was the only thing they did differently that year. After operating their preschool program their special education program dropped from 12% to 9%.
When I visited the Oklahoma State Department of Education, I talked with Ramona Paul. She was the State Assistant Superintendent who had started the preschool program in Oklahoma. She talked about Oklahoma being considered the "nanny-state" for having taken on such a hair-brained idea. Now she was having people from all over the country ask what she did and how. Preschool programs had made a difference in Oklahoma and other people were beginning to see what they could do.
I've always been a believer so this was good reinforcement for me. Today I will go talk about those experiences, those and the ones I see when I visit the preschool programs we operate. When I walk into a classroom and see children listening to stories, playing with toys, blocks, sand, and water, using vocabulary that I know they didn't have before they came to preschool, I am excited for them. I see the language they are developing and I know how much easier it will be for them in school. And it's fun. The kids and adults have a great time while all that learning is taking place.
I do enjoy talking about this topic. Wonder how I'll fit all of that into 7 minutes??
Posted by Dr Joni at October 23, 2006 06:08 AM
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