Early childhood system for Boston public schools

Table of contents

Table of contents2

Introduction3

Background3

Discussion5

Early Care and Education System5

Impact on the Developing Brain6

The Importance of Quality6

Defining Quality7

The Role of Curriculum in Quality7

Impact on the Achievement Gap8

Boston Public School8

Kindergarten9

Community/Direct Service9

The Role of Colleges and Universities in Training Kindergartners9

Research and Advocacy10

Future Directions11

Conclusion11

Early childhood system for Boston public schools

Introduction

Early childhood education system refers to a range of programs and services that support young children within the context of their family. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), considered to be the leading organization in the education of young children, identifies birth through 8 as the age span that comprises early childhood. From Friedrich Froebel's “child's garden” of the late 19th century, which encouraged freedom and play; to Maria Montessori's theory grounded in respect for young children and what she coined as their “absorbent minds”; to programs today that are based on “developmentally appropriate practices,” early childhood education has taken many forms.

The goals and purpose of the field have changed throughout history to reflect the concerns of the society at the time. Today, the importance of quality early childhood education has been recognized as a critical element in closing the racial and economic achievement gap and also as a route to educating more effectively for the global economy of the 21st century. This entry explores some of the critical reform issues associated with the field of early childhood, including the shift to Early Care and Education; the role of brain development research; the impact of quality on child outcomes; and the role of Boston Public School as an institution in programs for young children.

Background

Early education varies around the globe as to perspectives that support services for all as a social common good—or beliefs that would standardize curriculum for all young children—or decentralizations that depend on privately practiced programs that are funded by customers. These circumstances have affected curriculum. Although examples could be drawn from around the globe, the remainder of this entry discusses recent actions in the United States that illustrate how this neoliberal market early education has been applied to kindergarten, primary, and in some cases preschool programs for young children in public schools and the critical inquiry of such actions.

The passage of No Child Left Behind federal legislation created a lens through which schools and teachers are evaluated, and critical theorists note that it marks schools and teachers as failures based on child test scores resulting in curriculum that focuses on test content. For example, Head Start, government programs for young children from poor backgrounds that have for 40 years supported parent and community involvement in curriculum content and design, has in recent years been revised to focus on reading achievement (interpreted as test scores).

Free market, school decentralization proponents who unsuccessfully advocated for government financial vouchers that could be paid to private schools, have effectively promoted schools of choice (termed charter schools) that can be administered by a range of groups that include private corporations within publically supported ...