Democrats for Education Reform today released a new policy briefing memo by DFER board member Sara Mead called Partners In Closing The Achievement Gap: How Charter Schools Can Support Quality Universal Pre-K. (You can download a PDF copy here.)
Mead, director of the Early Education Inititiative at the New America Foundation, writes that these two movements (the early childhood and charter school movements) have the potential to become important partners in improving education for America’s children. She writes:
But despite their similarities and shared goals, these movements generally operate on separate tracks, with little cooperation or exchange of ideas between the two sectors. That’s unfortunate, because both sectors face similar challenges such as building capacity and ensuring high quality across diverse providers, and could help one another develop solutions. For instance, charter schools offer a potential source of new pre-k capacity. And, by the same token, policies to incorporate charter schools into state pre-k programs could support growth and quality in the charter movement. Because achievement gaps are in place long before children start kindergarten, charter schools seeking to narrow achievement gaps must be able to begin working with children in pre-k.
Mead’s specific policy recommendations include:
— Eliminating state policies barring charter schools from offering Pre-K
— Allowing public charter schools to access per-pupil funds to educate 3- and 4-year-olds
— Build charter authorizer capacity and expertise in early education
— Allow charter schools to access state and federal Pre-K funds
— Ensure adequate Pre-K funding to ensure quality
— Include Pre-K charters in the Federal Charter Schools program
— Eliminate caps on the number of charter schools which may serve children
Give the report a read. Sara does a much job making her case than I do in highlighting the juicy parts.
It would seem that two of the most significant concerns with many Pre-K programs – namely wide disparities in perceived quality and a sometimes glaring disconnect between early childhood programs and elementary schools – could be addressed head-on by tapping into the accountability measures and structural flexibility that charter schools provide.