NIEER

When Play Is Learning PAGE 3

Are New Media Benefiting Children? PAGE 4

matters

A Publication of the National Institute for Early Education Research FUNDED BY July/August 2008 Volume 6, No. 2 know, the Tulsa program has 10 children in the nation produced fairly impressive who attend center-based gains in children’s learning programs do not attend in a series of recent studies. those considered good or Regardless of the rating better. And, in a depressingly system used, the overall con - familiar pattern, young chil - clusion was the same. Few dren from Hispanic and children have access to a African-American back - quality education. Moreover, grounds are least likely to Hispanic and African-Ameri- attend a quality program can children were the least at ages 3 or 4. For African- likely to attend quality pro - American children nation - grams. By itself, this is a ally, only 5 percent attended FROM THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR serious concern given how a program as good as those many children live in Cali- in Tulsa’s pre-K at age 3 or 4. fornia. However, as California When critics of the pre-K is a large and diverse state movement ask why we don’t Taking a Hard with a substantial public see more improvement in investment in early care test scores and other meas - 2 Look at Quality and education, it is not too ures of later educational

S much of a stretch to take the progress due to preschool R E

T Much has been written quality of a random sample quality data for centers in education, we ought to T A about the progress made in of center-based programs California and extrapolate respond that it is precisely M

L early childhood education using the ECERS-R and to the nation as a whole. because public investments O

O in recent years. Since we CLASS. They also reported If anything, the national in quality education are still H C

S began charting that growth on the percentage of children average for quality might pitifully small. I wish it E

R with our State of Preschool P be slightly worse. were otherwise, but until yearbooks, we have shared To derive national this nation decides that it an abiding concern that far The dismal picture estimates, I combined the should ensure that all chil - too few young children have estimates of the percentage dren receive a quality pre - access to the quality of edu - found in California is of programs that are high school education it seems cation it takes to produce the even worse for the quality with national data highly unlikely that most positive lifetime outcomes on attendance in center- low-income and minority that classic long-term studies nation as a whole. based programs by age from children will have access like the Perry Preschool the National Household to such programs. I Project show are possible. Education Survey. The dis - These concerns were from various ethnic back - mal picture on program reinforced by the RAND grounds who attended pro - quality found in California Corporation’s recent study grams considered “good” is even worse for the nation of the nature and quality on the ECERS-R or that as a whole. of early education for pre - delivered an education on a Regardless of the children’s W. Steven Barnett school-age children in par with state pre-K in Tulsa, age or ethnicity or the rating Director, NIEER California. Among other Oklahoma as measured by system used to measure qual - things, RAND measured the the CLASS. As many of you ity, eight or nine out of every

The National Institute for Early Education Research supports early childhood education initiatives by providing objective, nonpartisan information based on research. NIEER is one component of NIEER a larger early education initiative designed, funded and managed by The Pew Charitable Trusts. National Institute for W. Steven Barnett, Director © 2008 National Institute for Early Education Research Early Education Research Carol Shipp, Director, Public Affairs Send comments, opinions, and news to [email protected] . 120 Albany Street, Suite 500 Pat Ainsworth, Communications Director Address Changes: Please include mailing panel on page 12 New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Mary Meagher, Communications Assistant when requesting address changes. 732-932-4350 Jen Fitzgerald, Public Information Officer NIEER is a unit of Fax: 732-932-4360 Sandy Ogilvie, Art Director Rutgers University. www.nieer.org Looking at Play the Healthy Way

Child’s play—particularly at their own pace and discover the kind kids do when they their own areas of interest. Success with a Play-Based Curriculum pretend, play roles and nego - Such free play enables them tiate among each other—is to, in Ginsburg’s words, The Tools of the Mind curriculum, developed by something experts say is vital “create a world they can educational psychologists Elena Bodrova and Deborah to healthy development. It’s master, conquering their Leong, is based on the idea that children learn best also increasingly threatened fears while practicing adult through play. Preschool classrooms using Tools of the in a world dominated by roles.” In the process, they Mind curriculum are filled with activities designed to media, electronic toys, a develop new competencies build executive function skills. Key elements include push for academic learning that help them do such games and other child-directed play activities that at younger ages, and lifestyles things as work in groups, promote self-regulation and require children to plan where children have less free - share, negotiate, and resolve ahead and control impulses. These critical skills help dom or inclination to play conflicts. children follow the directions of others, as well as self- with the neighborhood kids. direct, as they grow older and thereby increase their In his book The Power of Imaginative Play ability to learn in a traditional classroom setting as 3

Play , David Elkind, professor A closely related type of play, they move into elementary school and beyond. J U L of child development at Tufts involving some adult partici - A 2007 study led by University of British Columbia Y / A

University, writes that over pation is imaginative play. researcher Adele Diamond found that the children in U G the past two decades, children Research shows that when U

the Tools of the Mind program performed significantly S have lost 12 hours of free time imaginative play is facil itated T better on executive function skills. Diamond concludes, 2 0 a week and that eight hours by a skilled teacher, it helps 0 “Though preschool teachers are under pressure to limit 8 of that is unstructured play build executive function (EF), play and spend more time on instruction, mature social and outdoor activities. While a critical cognitive skill that pretend play in preschool may be more critical for those figures don’t necessarily helps children learn to self- academic success than preschool academic instruction.” apply to preschool children, regulate. In turn, self-regu- they illustrate a trend that lation helps children learn does. In a report on the how to self-discipline and importance of play in child control impulses. the 20th century, says Howard back to its roots. Parental development, published by This skill is as important Chudacoff, a Brown Univer- concerns about the safety the American Academy of a predictor of a young child’s sity professor specializing of their children drive kids Pediatrics, Kenneth Ginsburg future success as academic in the history of childhood inside where passive activi - concludes children who live learning. Imaginative play is play. He says play radically ties often await them, or in poverty as well as children more effective at teaching a changed with the increase to sporting teams or other with abundant resources child self-regulation skills of toys designed for specific organized play. may not be receiving the than video games or even types of play with predeter - Chudacoff notes that in full benefits of play. education-based toys. mined scripts, particularly the second half of the 20th Ginsburg documents Props used in imaginative toys based on movies or tele - century, parents have come several trends that have play are generally not targeted vision shows. Many required to view structured environ - resulted in less time for free for a specific scenario, such less effort and imag ination ments as better for their play, including a decline as role-playing as a nurse or on the part of children. children—something that’s in kindergarten classroom teacher. Rather, children play The importance of play bound to limit free play. recess periods over the past with symbolic props that and research on its role And in school settings, two decades, passive enter - could fit into many different in child development is get - including some preschools, tainment such as television scenarios, depending on ting a boost from the New young children continue and computers that keep kids what the kids choose to York-based Strong National to lose free play as teachers from engaging in free play, imagine it could be. For Museum of Play. The museum prepare them for the tests and a tendency for some instance, a stick could be plans to launch the first inter - they will inevitably face. parents to over-schedule sword for a swashbuckling disciplinary journal on the Chudacoff and others hope structured activities . pirate, or it could also be a subject, the American Journal the new awareness of the He points out that when walking cane for an elderly of Play , this year. developmental importance play is allowed to be child grandmother. Meanwhile, free play of free play will help restore driven, children practice This sort of play was the continues to encounter it to its proper place in decision-making skills, move norm until the second half of obstacles on its journey children’s lives. I Are New Media a Boon to Young Children’s Education?

Patrick was still in pre-K How much they are learning mouse and can even load opportunity for young chil - when he asked if he could from this exposure remains CDs and DVDs in the family dren to play and learn, the visit a place called Club an open question since many computer. And since most quality of children’s media Penguin—that is, a place products are developed with - television shows children varied widely. Some web sites on the computer he’d seen out benefit of the principles watch now have web sites, children visited appeared to at a friend’s house. His of child development and they are gravitating to the have little educational value, mom said okay, just for a little research into their edu - Internet at younger ages. existing solely to extend a visit. Mom recognized Club cational effects exists. In his recent study of brand name. They often frus - Penguin as one of those vir - Children often encounter computer use in families trated children with com - tual worlds she had heard interactive media first in the with young children, Warren mercial messages the kids about where kids develop form of digitally enabled toys Buckleitner, editor of Chil- were ill-prepared to under - 4 their own online identities, and story books. By the time dren’s Technology Review , stand. Two of the 15 children interact with each other and they’re in preschool, the found that while the digital he observed accessing the S

R play games. majority can use a computer world offers a wealth of web were under the age of 3. E T

T She wasn’t sure Club A

M Penguin was appropriate for L

O a preschooler who, after all, O

H couldn’t read. By the time C S

E Patrick was in kindergarten, R P however, he visited Club Penguin regularly—with mom’s assistance on the reading part. Before long, he was impressing his parents with his ability to navigate the penguin world on his own and even read some of the penguin dialogue. Educators know when children are engaged, they learn more. Interactive digi - tal media are engaging more children at younger ages.

Five Market Trends Shaping Video on the Web – Spurred by the success of video Children’s Offerings web sites such as YouTube, media companies have developed youth-oriented video destinations such as In her report D is for Digital , Carly Shuler identified Kid Videos. five market trends shaping children’s offerings: Youth-Generated Content – User-generated content Virtual Worlds – Simulated environments (such as Club such as blogs, wikis and podcasts, which originated with Penguin and Webkinz) that children inhabit and interact adults, are finding applications in children’s media. with one another through digital representations of Media Convergence – Television shows, radio broadcasts themselves known as avatars. and movies are no longer confined to the television set, Casual Games – Makers of gaming platforms such as radio or theater. People can receive them on computers Nintendo’s popular Wii are shifting some of their focus and portable media, enabling a multi-platform delivery to casual gaming. of educational programs. While perhaps not typi - effects of the Baby Mozart cal, this doesn’t come as a video when she needed short “Three C’s” Approach to Kid’s Media surprise to Carly Shuler, who breaks from care giving. Content – What is the basic premise of show? How is studies digital media at the It wasn’t long before she it designed? Does it have repetition? Are new words Joan Ganz Cooney Center at learned about the sweeping defined by pointing or labeling? Sesame Workshop. She says recommendation published Context – Who is interacting with the child? How do the trend toward younger kids by the American Academy parents talk about what’s on the screen? Is the child using digital media is moving of Pediatrics (AAP) that learning through a game, then applying that in another quickly. The age at which children under age 2 be activity? Is the child telling stories about what he or she children are using digital exposed to no “screen time.” has experienced? media for gaming dropped Guernsey was struck by Child – How much stimulation can this child take? What from 8.1 years old in 2005 the dilemma she and other scares her? What types of media trigger the most curious to 6.7 years old in 2007. mothers faced. On the one questions, playful reenactments, engagement and joy? All this technology com - hand, companies were bom - peting for a bigger share of barding them with claims children’s minds raises hopes about the educational value limited amounts of screen resource for parents, educa - and worries. The hope, of of their videos for children time harm children under tors, policymakers, and the course, is that, properly as young as two months of age 2, the claims of cognitive public. designed and developed, new age. On the other, the pedia - stimulation made by those A similar sentiment was media can be an even more tricians were recommending selling baby videos should voiced by experts at a semi - 5 J be taken with a grain of salt. nar at the Fred Rogers Center U

powerful educational tool no exposure. L Y / than traditional one-way “I found myself on a Buckleitner says that’s for Early Learning and Chil- A U media such as educational quest to learn everything I not the case for preschool- dren’s Media. They said guide - G U S television. The thinking goes could about screen media aged children. In 2007, he lines for media literacy should T 2 that, in the hands of skilled and children…,” she writes surveyed what research be integrated into early child - 0 0 developers grounded in child in her book Into the Minds existed for a report he wrote hood learning standards, 8 development, new media can of Babes . What she found for Children Now titled The teacher preparation program go a long way toward repli - was that the AAP based its Effects of Interactive Media on standards, and standards for cating the dynamic of a recommendation less on any Preschoolers’ Learning . The accreditation/licensing of motivated, engaged pupil science directly pertaining to research findings varied, with early childhood settings. interacting with a skilled, the effects of screen time on some showing positive effects In the meantime, digital even entertaining teacher. young children and more on of interactive media on cog - media for children remain a “do no harm” approach to nition and others showing no a grab bag of good, not-so- Educational Potential exposing kids who are too effects or no harm. Whether good, and outright inappro - “We think the potential is young to speak for themselves. an interactive product sup - priate offerings. With most great and largely untapped,” Guernsey discovered that ported children’s learning top-selling products for says Michael Levine, exec- with rare exception, the com - depended less on the medium young children making utive director of the Joan panie s selling baby videos itself and more on the content. claims not substantiated by Ganz Cooney Center. He were relying on anecdotal Earlier this year, the Joan research, it falls upon edu- says most new media prod - testimony from parents for Ganz Cooney Center issued cators and parents to use ucts for young children come their marketing claims and a report based on interviews judgment in selecting media. to market with little or no not research. Not only that with 60 leaders from fields Guernsey recommends using input from child develop - but the way the videos pre - that included education what she calls the “Three C’s” ment experts and therefore sented subject matter often media, digital development, approach to evaluating media, there’s little understanding paid little heed to basic prin - literacy, child development, first looking at content , then of the educational science ciples of teaching young chil - and education policy. Titled looking at context , and finally, (if any) underlying them. dren such as repetition and The Power of Pow! Wham! looking at the needs of the (See Newsmaker, page 9.) reinforcement. and written by Rima Shore individual child . (See box That sounds familiar to In 2005, a Henry J. of Bank Street College of above.) author and former New York Kaiser Family Foundation Education, it makes the case Buckleitner says parents Times reporter Lisa Guernsey. report concluded there was that digital media have the and educators should respect As a young mother, she took “a paucity of published potential to provide powerful the power of new media for it upon herself to find out research documenting the learning opportunities for children. He calls them the if the videos she was using impact of educational media young people. “800-pound gorilla”—or in to calm her colicky infant on very young children.” Shore recommends a Patrick’s case, an 800-pound daughter were helping or Guernsey concluded that national initiative to coordi - penguin—that didn’t exist in harming her child. She had while there is no research to nate research and develop - the playroom 10 or 20 years come to rely on the calming support the notion that even ment efforts to provide a ago. I in the trenc hes PRESCHOOL NEWS FROM

Hawaii Takes Big Step Louisiana Governor Jindal Toward State-Funded Pre-K Signs Pre-K Expansion Hawaii’s Legislature took the first steps toward pre - Change is on the way for Louisiana kids who don’t school for all when it passed Keiki First Steps (SB 2878) attend state pre-K. Although he initially opposed it, into law in July, overriding Governor Linda Lingle’s veto. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed into law SB The measure sets in statute the process of creating a 286, which aims to expand the state’s LA4 Early Child- statewide early learning system. An early learning council hood Education Program to all the state’s 4-year-olds. consisting of members from the public and private sectors, The new law phases in expansion over five years some appointed by the governor, will be charged with from 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 using rising family income developing the pre-K system. If it is to meet the goals cut-offs to define eligibility until 2013 when all 4-year- of the state’s early learning task force, it must field well- olds would be eligible. “With Senate Bill 286, we should trained teachers and serve 80 percent of the state’s 4- begin to close the widening educational gaps that have 6 year-olds. An estimated $170 million price tag for full kept too many of our children from experiencing success in school and in life,” wrote Nadra Harrison of Every S

R implementation was one reason Lingle vetoed the

E Child Matters in a letter to The Times Picayune . The law T

T bill. Hawaii currently has no state-funded preschool

A contains language making it clear that each year of the I M education program. expansion is “subject to the appropriation of funds for L

O this purpose...” Louisiana state pre-K currently serves O

H 25 percent of the state’s 4-year-olds. I C S E R

P Evaluation: Thumbs Down for Reading First Who Doesn’t Go The $1 billion a year (NICHD), says the under - Reading First program, whelming results found in To Preschool? developed to better teach this evaluation may be due In 2006, California voters defeated a preschool education reading comprehension in part to deficiencies in the for all initiative partly because “experts” assured them that skills to children in kinder - study design and concludes most children already attend preschool programs and that garten through grade 3, is it’s still too early to com - expansion of public preschool education for all would pri - ineffective at increasing the pletely write the program marily benefit the middle class. A new Rand Corporation percentage of students read - off. That sentiment is shared study now reveals that the California children who have the ing at or above grade in first, by Secretary of Education most to gain from preschool education are the least likely to second or third grade. That’s Margaret Spellings who, participate. They found that while 59 percent of all children the verdict of an evaluation along with President Bush, attend center-based programs, only 45 percent whose moms carried out by the Institute proposed to restore funding have less than a high school diploma attend. Moreover, they of Education Sciences (IES) for the program. The House found that no more than 15 percent of those who could at the Department of Edu- of Representatives Subcom- benefit the most from high-quality preschool education are cation. In addition to find - mittee that oversees educa - enrolled in classrooms that meet quality benchmarks for ing no increase in the per - tion appropriations had instructional supports that promote higher-order thinking centage of children reading other ideas and voted to and language skills. at grade level, the evaluation eliminate Reading First The overall picture of early education in California was also found that students’ funding altogether. alarming as well. Only one in four California preschoolers reading comprehension did The IES plans to analyze attending center-based programs was taught by a teacher not improve over time as follow-up data in a final with a BA degree in early childhood or a related field. Only schools became familiar with report scheduled for release 22 percent of children were in classrooms that were rated and gained experience using in early 2009. In the mean - between good and excellent for space, furnishings, and the Reading First program. time, the Reading First activities. For the study, Lynn Karoly and colleagues sur - Dr. G. Reid Lyon, for- Impact Study: Interim veyed more than 2,000 California households with children merly of the National Insti- Report is available online eligible for pre-K, interviewed teachers and administrators tute of Child Health and at http://ies.ed.gov/. I from 600 pre-K programs, and visited 250 center-based Human Development programs across the state. I ACROSS THE NATION

Census Data: Hispanic Youngsters a Burgeoning Group Recently released census data show that of the nearly 21 million children younger than 5 in the country, roughly 25 percent are of Hispanic descent. The percentage of young children of Hispanic descent is projected by the U.S. Census Bureau to grow, with more than half a million more Hispanics expected to be in this age group by the year 2020. With increasing numbers of Hispanic preschool-age children eligible to enter into pre-K education programs across the country, questions abound on how to reach this population and how to most effectively teach them, especially since some of these children may be English Language Learners. NIEER addresses these concerns and others in a policy brief entitled “Is Public Pre-K Preparing Hispanic Children to Succeed in School?” The brief is available 7 online at http://nieer.org/resources/policybriefs/13.pdf. I J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0

State-funded Pre-K Programs 0 Deliver on Promise 8 Two new reports from NIEER show that state-funded pre-K programs are providing outcomes consistent with the promise of Colorado’s Education Package preschool. The first of these studies, “Longitudinal Effects of the Arkansas Better Chance Program: Findings from Kindergarten Includes Preschool Expansion and First Grade,” estimates the effects of state-funded pre-K in Arkansas on children’s language, mathematics, and literacy skills A number of education and kindergarten programs, through the end of first grade, finding positive and statistically bills recently signed into calling for 22,000 more significant outcomes on these measures. A second study, law by Colorado Governor 4- and 5-year-olds to be “Impacts of New Mexico PreK on Children’s School Readiness Bill Ritter will boost the sta - enrolled over the next six at Kindergarten Entry: Results from the Second Year of a tus of preschool education years. In addition, the state’s Growing Initiative,” found similar results for children entering in the state. Collectively content standards, which kindergarten after attending that state’s pre-K initiative. Both known as the Colorado currently cover third to reports are from ongoing studies, which will continue to collect Achievement Plan for Kids, 10th grade, will address data until the children reach the fourth grade in Arkansas and the new laws plan to prekindergarten through the first grade in New Mexico. I increase access to preschool the first year of college. I

Preschool for All Benefits Kids From All Backgrounds Oklahoma’s state-funded preschool for all program boosts children’s skills dramatically, whether they are from disadvan - taged families or middle-income families, concludes a study from Georgetown University. William T. Gormley and col - leagues measured the skills of 3,500 incoming kindergartners in Tulsa, finding that those who had been enrolled in the state’s preschool education program had improved reading, math and writing skills compared to those children who attended no public preschool program at all. They also found that children attending Head Start programs staffed with fully certified teachers paid at public school scale through participation in Oklahoma’s pre-K program made large gains. Gains for disadvantaged students, however, tended to be largest in the public school classrooms. “These findings from a large and rigorous study provide strong evidence that preschool education for all has positive impacts for all children, especially those in poverty,” says NIEER Director Steve Barnett. Findings from the study appear in Volume 320, Issue 5884 of the journal Science . I New Tool Costs Out Quality Pre-K Those bright-eyed young - and program design and increased by about 11.3 with early childhood creden - sters walking through the goals. Still, the cost grids percent. tials paid at typical kinder - pre-K doors for the first time provide a general guide to On the other hand, garten teacher levels to a are an eager bunch—eager to assess the potential change according to the report: teacher with a CDA creden - explore, learn, and hopefully in costs for moving from one tial. The cost analysis calcu - • A six-hour program with a acquire skills that will benefit level of quality to the next. lated the per-child cost of maximum class size of 20 them over a lifetime. The each of the 12 levels of qual - For example, the report led by teachers with child extent to which those long- ity for three-, six- and nine- pointed out that: development associate term gains occur depends in hours-per-day pre-K pro - (CDA) credentials would great part on program qual - • Reducing the class size of grams. The estimates are cost only 18.3 percent more ity. And, quality costs money. a six-hour program with based on a 185-day program. by reducing class size to 15. Having an authoritative han - BA teachers with early The hours-per-day options dle on the costs of various childhood credentials and • The same 20-child class that included in the study were a quality components and the paid at typical pre-K level improved teacher quality half-day with two daily ses - ability to run scenarios to wages from 20 to 15 would to the highest level would sions at three hours each; a determine what yields the increase a state’s per-child- result in a 29.8 percent school-day session of six 8 best bang for the buck can hour costs by approximately increase in per-child-hour hours; and a nine-hour be a tremendous help. 20.5 percent. costs. workday session. S R

E Help has arrived by way • If that same program The cost estimates con - Table 1 summarizes per- T T

A of a cost estimation model kept class sizes at 20 but sidered the cost of quality child costs on a per-hour and M developed by the Institute for improved teacher quality per-year basis for each com - L based on three class sizes—

O to BA degreed teachers with O Women’s Policy Research 20, 17 and 15 children per bination of teacher-qualifica - H

C (IWPR) and Early Childhood early childhood credentials classroom as well as four tion/pay, class size, and hours S E

R Policy Research (ECPR), but paid at typical kinder - teacher qualification/pay per day. The complete report P that enables policymakers garten teacher levels, the levels ranging from a bache - is available on IWPR’s web - to determine a per-child per-child-hour costs lor-degree-holding teacher site: www.iwpr.org. I estimate for pre-K programs across 12 levels of quality. The estimation model is Table 1: Summary of Costs Per-Child/Hour and Per-Child/Year by Quality Level based on a study that assumes Per-Child, Annual Per-Child Costs, all high-quality pre-K pro - Per-Hour Costs 185 days per year grams should possess the characteristics that provide Class Size 15 17 20 15 17 20 benefits to children and Teacher Qualifications 3-Hour Program families according to IWPR’s Bachelor’s Degree I $8.82 $8.12 $7.33 $4,893 $4,506 $4,071 report, Meaningful Invest- ments in Pre-K . “The esti - Bachelor’s Degree II $7.91 $7.32 $6.66 $4,390 $4,062 $3,694 mated costs of a six-hours- Associate’s Degree $7.11 $6.62 $6.06 $3,947 $3,672 $3,361 per-day program range from CDA $6.76 $6.30 $5.79 $3,751 $3,499 $3,214 $5.17 per child hour at the Teacher Qualifications 6-Hour Program lowest-quality level, to $8.18 per child hour at the highest Bachelor’s Degree I $8.18 $7.49 $6.72 $9,076 $8,313 $7,454 level,” says Barbara Gault, Bachelor’s Degree II $7.27 $6.69 $6.04 $8,070 $7,425 $6,700 primary author of the study. Associate’s Degree $6.47 $5.99 $5.44 $7,184 $6,643 $6,035 Those costs in annual terms CDA $6.12 $5.67 $5.17 $6,792 $6,298 $5,741 showed the lowest-quality Teacher Qualifications 9-Hour Program program would cost about $5,741 per child and the high - Bachelor’s Degree I $8.20 $7.42 $6.54 $13,649 $12,348 $10,884 est- quality program would Bachelor’s Degree II $7.14 $6.48 $5.74 $11,889 $10,795 $9,564 cost about $9,076 per child. Associate’s Degree $6.21 $5.66 $5.05 $10,338 $9,427 $8,401 Gault cautions that the CDA $5.80 $5.30 $4.74 $9,652 $8,821 $7,887 actual costs for different quality improvements depen d Source: Pre-K Now, using IWPR calculations. upon each state’s current Notes: 1) Costs include direct and indirect service costs and system infrastructure costs except workforce development. 2) Data on teachers’ salaries come from the “National Prekindergarten Study” (Gilliam 2006) and U.S. Department of Labor, pre-K costs, quality level, Bureau of Labor Statistics 2007b (for Bachelor’s Degree I). news maker PEOPLE MAKING NEWS Michael Levine: Man with New Media Mission

Michael Levine heads up value of interactive digital children enter a whole new we are making it up as we go the new and, many would media for children and begin world where they interact along. say, much needed organiza - to harness its educational with others online and par - tion dedicated to research value. They consulted with ticipate in those communi - Q: How does the Cooney and development in the area experts in scholarly and ties. A recent example of this Center figure in the solution? of digital media for children. industry perches and came which has a wonderful cur - A: We are fortunate in that, Named for the legendary co- up with a plan for the riculum focus is Panwapa, a while we don’t have enough founder of the Children’s Center. We launched at the virtual world launched last answers about new media, Television Workshop and end of 2007 and are off to year by Sesame Workshop. we do know a lot about how creator of Sesame Street, the a running start in 2008. More than 110,000 kids children develop. The folks at Joan Ganz Cooney Center worldwide in more than 100 Sesame Workshop—and the Q: How did you get involved? countries are now learning Joan Ganz Cooney Center— A: I was busy managing from each other about global have 40 years of success with interactive media and global connections and financial educational television to 9 J U

education initiatives at Asia literacy through this virtual draw upon. Our mission L Y /

Society. I had gotten to world. at the Center is to support A U

know the folks at Sesame Another growing segment research, innovation and G U S

Workshop when I was doing is sophisticated game plat - investment in technology to T 2

child development work at forms like Wii that open up advance children’s learning 0 0 Carnegie Corporation of new avenues for children to in much the same way Mrs. 8 New York. When they called interact with others through Cooney’s early research led about the opportunity to group and family play. These to the Children’s Television direct the newly endowed hi-tech group activities are Workshop and the develop - Center, it sounded like a analogous in some ways to the ment of Sesame Street. Of dream job—a chance to old board games like Chutes course, these days we’re make a difference in an area and Ladders, Parcheesi and looking at a more diverse was launched by Sesame that’s growing rapidly, yet Candyland. Wii games for technology environment that Workshop last December. an area about which we 3- and 4-year-olds are on the is moving more rapidly. Levine brings impressive cre - know little in terms of its way, and many of the most dentials to his new challenge. effects on kids or its educa - innovative games on this Q: Obviously, the folks at Prior to joining the Center, tional potential. platform already are geared Sesame Workshop and your he served as Vice President towards childhood fitness center see promise in the of New Media and Executive Q: We hear lots about new and activity levels we have new media as far as educa - Director of Education for media for young children. never seen before in an tion is concerned. How so? Asia Society, managing the Could you talk a little “interactive” media product. A: We think the educational global nonprofit organiza - about what that covers? We also shouldn’t forget that potential is great and largely tion’s interactive media and A: Billions are being spent cell phones are increasingly untapped. There are pockets educational initiatives. Before on digital applications that aimed at younger children. of innovation in wonderful that, he oversaw Carnegie engage kids 24/7. The key And then there are electronic research laboratories around Corporation of New York’s here is interactivity—as learning aids like those devel - the country, including the groundbreaking work in opposed to traditional one- oped by Leap Frog that have MIT Media Lab, which is early childhood develop - way media like television. been around for a few years. doing new work on projects ment, educational media Videogames are highly to advance learning. We need and primary grades reform. interactive and now target Q: How do we know the to find a way to take these “gamers” as young as 6, with educational value of all this? pockets of innovation, and Q: How did the Joan Ganz some 3- and 4-year-olds A: Well, that’s our dilemma. connect them to the capital Cooney Center come to be? already aspiring to learn all Commerce is not standing needed to penetrate the mass A: About two years ago, the new technology. A num - still. These applications are market. We will be trying to senior executives at Sesame ber of the major entertain - coming to market before build a few new models our - Workshop saw the need for ment companies now have we know a lot about their selves. For example, we at a research and development virtual worlds like WebKinz underlying science or their the center are creating an center that could explore the and Club Penguin where effects on children. In a way, CONTINUED ON PAGE 11>> Related Reading Ready or Not: Leadership Choices in Early Care and Education

Stacie G. Goffin and Valora Washington, 2007 and education. It is now common for funders, economists, Teacher’s College Press health care professionals, and even CEOs to know of the com - New York, NY pelling cost-benefit ratios of classic studies like the Chicago 128 pp., ISBN 978-0-8077-4793-3 Parent-Child Centers, the Perry Preschool Project, and the $19.95 Abecedarian Project. However, the authors point out that even our biggest accomplishments might pose a future problem if the field continues to waiver with uncertainty and indecision. In Ready or Not: Leadership Choices For instance, Goffin and Washington refer to a performance gap. in Early Care and Education , the The performance gap is the distance between the results we have authors define integrity as the willing - attributed to early care and education and the field’s ability to 10 ness to speak and act on behalf of what deliver these results due to the lack of quality in some of our

S you know is right. By calling the ques - current programs (p. 28). The authors offer the harsh—yet R

E tion, “What defines and bounds early accurate—criticism that the field has failed to own up to the T T

A care and education as a field?” these disparity in quality. This disparity in quality may come back to M

L women challenge the early care and haunt us once funders, policymakers, and program evaluators O

O education field to define and delineate conduct longitudinal studies expecting to see the same long- H

C its boundaries. Goffin and Washington term benefits for which the field has become famous. S E

R call for a “leadership manifesto” (p. 4) The truth is that very few (if any) of current early care and P by posing six questions that force members of the early care education programs have the standards, array of services, or and education field to decide: the longevity of the three classic studies. As a field we fail to 1. What is the early care and education field’s defining intent? openly talk about the limitation of all of the current programs 2. Does the field’s intent vary by setting or by auspice (e.g., in comparison to the classic programs. Even more so, we are centers and schools; regulated family child care; license- afraid to seriously consider what raising the standards would exempt family, friend, and neighbor care)? mean for the field. The authors pose the question of whether 3. What chronological span describes the ages of children early childhood teachers should be required to have bachelor’s served (e.g., birth to the start of kindergarten; birth to degrees. All of the classic programs employed teachers with age 8; prekindergarten through grade 3)? bachelor’s degrees. The authors do not have an agenda or pre - conceived notion for such a question, but they recognize that 4. What is the field’s distinctive contribution and competence by mandating such a requirement some programs (or sectors) as a collective entity? would take a “loss.” The field has historically not been willing 5. Is early care and education a single/unified field of endeavor to make tough choices that would result in any program or or a field comprising subfields (such as health care)? section taking a loss, but this avoidance behavior is not accept - 6. To what extent are we, as a field, willing to hold ourselves able, especially in light of the fact that we are going to be held accountable to one another and to be held publicly accountable for the benefits we have promised to produce. accountable for results in return for the autonomy to This book is for those who are committed to growth in early deliver programs based on the field’s knowledge base? care and education, and it should be required reading for all One useful feature of this book that will help the field dur - leaders in the field. The tone is inspiring because the authors ing decision-making is the chart of the history of the field in remind the reader that leaders are not always those who are in Appendix A. This chart shows that over the last several decades positions of authority, but those who are fighting against the the field has grown tremendously. Currently, the field is being established norms. The authors argue that our goal should be defined from the bottom-up with state and local initiatives to stop relying on individual leaders and move toward a com - cooperating to creatively use their resources and funding. munity of diverse leaders who are committed to adaptive lead - Although states have made tremendous efforts in building the ership. Adaptive leadership necessitates that we begin to engage local infrastructure of our field, the authors charge us to take in reflective examination that may require us to acknowledge a national focus, with the federal government taking on some the field’s shortcomings and failures as well as its successes. I of the responsibility for early care and education. One of the reasons for the field’s growth is that we have Reviewed by Stephanie Curenton done an excellent job of convincing parents, policymakers, Assistant Professor, Bloustein School of Planning and Public foundations, and business owners of the benefits of early care Policy and NIEER discoveries SCIENCE NEWS YOU CAN USE

Get the Lead Out. Childhood Lead Exposure and Crime: Is There a Connection?

Researchers from the were 18 years old until the by almost 50 percent. lead in the blood continued long-running Cincinnati end of October 2005, were Among the limitations of to decline. Lead Study have associated obtained from local criminal the study, the authors note The Cincinnati study childhood lead exposure justice records. that the measure of arrest produced strong local reac - with criminal behavior, From a total of 250 chil - likely underestimates actual tion, from incredulous let - including violent behavior, dren who were followed criminal activity because ter-to-the-editor writers and in adulthood. While other at least through age 6, the most criminal behavior never the media. In response, co- studies have suggested this researchers identified a total comes to the attention of author John Paul Wright association, they relied on of 800 arrests, including 108 authorities. They also suggest explains in a Cincinnati indirect measurements of for violent offenses. Other that impaired intelligence Enquirer op-ed that the lead- 11

childhood lead exposure. arrest categories included from lead exposure could crime connection remained J U L

These new findings, gar - offenses against property, make it more likely that a even after adjusting for vari - Y / A

nered by correlating the drug offenses, fraud, criminal offender will be ables, including poverty and U G blood data with arrest obstruction of justice, seri - caught, while noting that “bad parenting.” He points U S records, provide a clearer ous motor vehicle offenses, other studies suggest that to accompanying research T 2 0 link between early lead and disor derly conduct. The lead affects social behaviors using brain-imaging that 0 8 exposure and subsequent researchers noted that data independently of intelligence. found specific areas of the violent behavior. on convictions was not col - Other news about the brain affected by childhood For five years, starting in lected because criminal con - effects of lead exposure lead ingestion. The affected 1979, researchers recruited victions from a trial repre - includes a recent article in areas relate to self-control pregnant women from low- sent less than 10 percent of the Orlando Sentinel that and decision-making, factors income areas of Cincinnati all criminal arrests. Using cited studies at Johns he says are clearly related to where there was a high con - negative binomial regression Hopkins University and the criminal behavior. centration of lead-contami - models to estimate the asso - University of Michigan link - The findings from the nated housing. The women’s ciation between blood lead ing mental decline in seniors Cincinnati Lead Study are blood lead concentrations concentrations and arrest with the amount of lead available at http://www. were measured during preg - rates, the researchers found absorbed decades before. plos.org/press/plme-05-05- nancy and the children’s lev - that for every five micro- Meanwhile, the Baltimore dietrich.pdf. The UC Health els were measured regularly grams per deciliter increase Sun reported that, according News press release about until the age of 6 ½. Infor- in blood lead levels at 6 years to the state and city health the study is available at mation about how many of age, the risk of being officials, the number and http://healthnews.uc.edu/ times the children were arrested for a violent crime percentage of Baltimore chil - news/?/6986/. I arrested, from the time they as a young adult increased dren with elevated levels of

Michael Levine: Man with New Media Mission

>> CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 world creation. We also have The Global Schoolhouse intergenerational game for the Wii platform that helps teach Project in which we’re reviewing educational media materials, kids essential reading skills. In it, adults and children partici - web sites and game content that focus on literacy and other pate in a new literacy and play pattern. We are also going to skills that we hope can help transform education for low- develop a new comic strip tool that will enable 5- to 10-year- income and minority children around the world with rich olds to create their own strips interactively and put some of multimedia content. Part of that initiative is the International their favorite characters into play. Children’s Digital Library which houses the world’s most diverse collection of open source digital children’s books. Q: Applications like these have the potential to reach around It has over 2,000 titles from 40 countries in more than a the world. Could you talk about your global initiatives? dozen languages that children and families can download A: I already mentioned Panwapa, the Workshop’s first virtua l in a variety of formats. I NIEER

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