NIEER's Contribution to my greater understanding

I am always grateful for the depth and quantity of information shared by the NIEER website (nieer.org).  Not only do they offer information covering the broad expanse of early education, but they also collaborate with other organizations which work more specifically within the field.  Over the past month, along with reporting their own research, the online newsletter Preschool Matters…Now! offered articles from CEELO (Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes and NAEYC PDI (National Associate for the Education of Young Children, Professional Development Institute). 

This week, to coincide with this week’s topic of the economic impact of early childhood education and development, there were several articles related to budgets and spending.  Several states posted updates on the economic payback for universal and/or non-regulated preschool, pre-Kindergarten and full-day Kindergarten programming.  It saddened me a bit to think that there are so many children nationwide who will suffer a future with less due to a lack of opportunities in their youth; however, at the same time I was enlightened by how many states were actively working toward improving early childhood conditions.  The more we can share our knowledge, the greater importance we can bring to the topic at large.

One of the most interesting articles I read this week had to do with achievement gaps.  Not only can we now recognize the well-established achievement gap between the lower-income and higher-income families, but there is now a gap developing between what would be considered “middle class” and “wealthy” defined in “lay” terms as the opportunity gap (McManus, 2014).  Up until recently, there has been an obvious income disparity which has resulted in conditions of poverty among a large sizable portion of the nation, however education used to be the way out for those forced to live modestly.  Currently, as the economic gap widens, the “have nots” are suffering more than ever and the effects are reaching an ever-growing population.  What the United States refers to as the middle class has taken a huge hit over the past decade regarding economics, employment opportunities, and housing.  As such, they are now also experiencing an opportunity gap as the top pulls away from the middle.  Research has shown that the most obvious difference is among children in the first few months of Kindergarten.  When testing is conducted at this point it indicates just how important preschool education and high-quality out-of-home care can be—something that many “middle class” families have put on the backburner in order to pay for more immediate expenses.

References

McManus, D. (2014, May 18). To achieve the American dream, mind the opportunity gap. Los Angeles Times.  Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mcmanus-column-opportunity-gap-20140518-column.html

NIEER. (n.d.) National Institute for Early Education Research. www.nieer.org