It's Time to Try an "Upstream" Solution--Funding for School Readiness Programs
Last week, Diette Courrege, in a article in the the Post & Courier, reported that the Charleston County School District recently measured the progress of the children in the district's 4 year old pre-kindergarten program. The results were amazing. At the beginning of the year, the children were 38% below the national average (or in the bottom 22 percentile). After completing the district's pre-K program these same children scored in the 82nd percentile (or in the top 25% in the nation). Stunning.
Stunning, maybe, but not surprising. Ms. Courrege points out that the effectiveness of child readiness programs is undeniable and well documented. If we know something works this well, why is it that this kind of program is available to less than half of the children in Charleston County? (Ms. Courrege points out that Charleston County could double the number of Pre-K 4 year old programs and still only accommodate 80% of the county's 4 year olds. And this says nothing about the services needed for 2 and 3 year olds. She also quotes school district officials who point out that given current budget restraints, the only way to fund additional school readiness programs is to take money away from programs for older students.)
Why do we struggle so to find the money to pay for programs which are so undeniably effective?
We find it difficult to answer this question because programs such as school readiness and pre-K represent an upstream solution to the problems faced by at risk children, and this runs contrary to most of our public policy which focuses downstream. Think about it, we build strong courts, corrections, and law enforcement systems to be able to confront crime. While that system may operate well, our system “shines” only after the crime is on the books, only after the criminal acts. That means that society and neighborhoods suffer before the “system” can operate. In this example, the crime is the long-delayed visible result of a lengthy process of failure on the part of the criminal.
We all know that it is more cost effective to deal with the problem upstream, ahead of social dysfunction. But most of our effort currently goes downstream, once a problem manifests. There are a number of reasons for this: 1) We often need to “see” a crisis before we act. When a child has committed a crime, we see the problem and can move to address it. It is tough to see someone going sour when he or she is just entering kindergarten. 2) With constant funding uncertainties, local governments have a tough time just providing basic services. In the face of budget crunches, it can be a political liability to advocate for providing support services for youth when it is impossible to determine or measure outcomes.
But it's time for a change. It's time to try an upstream solution.
An upstream approach will have to be multi-faceted and involve a continuum of services and programs--one of the most critical of which will be school readiness programs such as the one described in Ms. Couregge's article. It is well documented that the 1st 5 years of a child’s life are critical to brain development, social development and feelings of self worth. Research indicates that from birth to age 5, 85% of a child's intellect, personality, and social skills is formed. Basic emotional and social responses are learned, including that all-important characteristic, trust. By the age of 3 most of a child's working vocabulary is in place. Certainly, we should channel our human, monetary, and capital resources to provide services to children during these first few years of life.
Assume every waking hour of a child's life represents an opportunity for some developmental potential. In this state a child will have lived 60 months before he or she is eligible for kindergarten (1825 days or roughly 25,000 waking hours). Even a pre-K 4 year old program will provide only 180 days of service at 6.5 hours---less than 5% of the 25,000 hours of developmental opportunity for children before they enter kindergarten.
So here's the question---what can we do to enhance the developmental experiences of at risk children during their entire first 60 months of life?
For one thing our communities and neighborhoods need to become as organized as possible in refocusing their efforts ahead of problems—when the causes of the problems are relatively easy to address. While state and local government must be held accountable, the real solution is going to come from the communities and neighborhoods themselves. The solution is going to require local partnerships and local collaborative effort as a defense against the built-in political nature of government funding, which is short term at best and whimsical at worst.
And the solution offered by these local partnerships will have to include the development of performance-based child readiness services which target at-risk children. Only then can those children begin school armed with the tools they need to succeed.
It's not a matter of not knowing what to do. We know what to do. It is a matter of when, and especially how, we go about doing the things that we know make a difference.
