A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

School Involvement in Early Childhood, July 2000

What Challenges Do Public Schools Face with Involvement in Early Childhood?

Although increasing numbers of public schools are offering prekindergarten classes, most children do not begin school until kindergarten, and some early childhood and education leaders prefer to keep preschool care and education separate from public schools. The meeting participants talked about the reasons for maintaining the separation and the barriers that discourage schools from becoming involved with preschool children and programs: professional development for personnel, competition among programs for limited resources, and time constraints of program administrators and teachers.

Teachers May Not Be Prepared to Work With Preschool Children.

A 1998 nationally representative survey found that 78 percent of kindergarten teachers have professional credentials in elementary education, including kindergarten, not in early childhood education.⁶⁴ Differences in professional preparation for early childhood and elementary school teachers may help to explain the claim that kindergartens have changed from playful learning environments to classrooms where five-year-old children are expected to achieve specific academic goals within specified time periods.⁶⁵

Without specialized training in early childhood education theories, practices, and research, elementary school teachers may not equate professional preschool practices--more individualized activities with time for children to develop their interests and abilities at their own pace--with real teaching.

Programs View Each Other as Competitors for Limited Resources.

Schools and Head Start programs are funded separately and work hard at justifying their funds, making some leaders hesitant to coordinate their limited resources with other programs. Head Start agencies, working for 35 years with preschool children who are at serious risk of failure in public schools, receive limited funding to serve only a portion of eligible children and may feel threatened by better-funded public schools.

Some private preschool care and education programs, dependent on parent fees, see public school prekindergarten as a threat to their businesses,⁶⁶ and many early childhood leaders worry about the impact of public school prekindergarten on the supply of infant and toddler care. Many private preschool care and education programs balance infant and toddler care--more costly due to adult-to-child ratio and group size requirements--with more lucrative preschool classrooms and may not be able to stay in business if three- and four-year-old children move to public school prekindergarten.

Differences in Credentials and Compensation Can Create Barriers.

Teacher credentialing and compensation differences contribute to tensions and hinder collaboration between schools, Head Start, and child care programs.⁶⁷ Although research has linked children's school readiness and success with high-quality preschool care and education, there is no systemic public infrastructure to pay for professionally certified preschool teachers. State laws require licensed teachers for children in public schools but no professional credentials in child care programs where many preschool children spend 10 hours a day.

Federal regulations do not require certified teachers in Head Start. However, the 1998 Head Start reauthorization moves programs in the direction of public education. It requires that half of all Head Start teachers have at least an associate's degree in early childhood education or a related field by September 2003.

The differences in education, compensation, and status can lead to an informal professional hierarchy that gets in the way of public school, Head Start, and child care teachers developing respectful, professional relationships.

Coordination Can Be Complicated and Time-Consuming.

Public school, Head Start, and child careleaders are often overwhelmed with the day-to-day tasks of operating programs and responding to the needs of children, families, and policymakers, who do not usually demand coordination among programs. It is difficult for leaders to take the time to understand programs when they are not responsible for the success of those programs.

Even if leaders recognize a need to coordinate, it is easy to delay communicating with people whose programs operate within different organizational cultures, respond to different bosses, and where tensions may already exist. It takes a long time of meeting and talking together to build respect and trust and develop collaborations that begin to put the needs of children ahead of individual program requirements.

[What Facilitates School Involvement?] [What Are the Key Issues for Professional Development?]