Report of the Working Group on Student Learning

The Plan

The School Readiness report is based on a compelling body of scientific evidence that children’s first five years of life are crucial to their future success. The report offers recommendations to build a statewide system of early education services that families can use to capture their children’s inherent desires to learn and achieve. This early education system’s outcomes–improved educational achievement statewide, lower costs for corrective social expenditures, and a more productive populace over the long term–will ultimately benefit us all.

The Vision

Advances in science and technology have transformed our nation’s economy, creating tremendous changes in the labor market. Very few jobs exist for an unskilled labor pool; even many entry-level jobs call for literacy, a high school education, a specific skill, and advanced training. Only through education can our children fulfill their individual and collective potential.

To expand educational opportunity, we must build on positive expectations for all students and recognize that addressing cultural diversity is of the utmost importance. Because our state is home to many immigrants, cultural diversity is not merely a demographic footnote – it is one of the most fundamental characteristics of our youngest children. In California, 39 percent of children come from homes where a language other than English is spoken.¹ Therefore, we must create pathways to excellence for all students while communicating respect and support for differences in their cultural origins.

California’s Master Plan for Education must call for substantial innovations so that all children can learn and achieve their goals. We must offer educational opportunities in the early years when parents are most engaged in their children’s development and children are most receptive. That means we cannot wait until children reach age five or six to help them fulfill their promise.² Early childhood is the time to forge a strong relationship between the two most important influences on a child–family and educators---to promote children’s long-term success.

Today, states across the nation are investing in efforts to strengthen school readiness. In California, where nearly half of all school-age children live in families with low incomes (under $32,653 for a family of four) and more than a quarter under the age of five live in poverty (under $17,650 for a family of four),³ the need for school readiness is critical. While parents have the interest and motivation to promote their children’s success, they may lack the resources and support needed to make it happen. Low-income families may not have the discretionary income, health care, literacy, or English-language fluency that make it easier to foster their children’s school readiness. A Master Plan for Education should guide the development of a flexible support system, which will enable families to participate effectively in educating their children.

The system envisioned in this plan goes well beyond the provision of direct services. The Master Plan for Education must identify ways to develop and retain a well qualified early childhood workforce. It should articulate plans for monitoring children’s well-being and progress toward meeting specific developmental milestones and for reporting on program performance in all early education settings that receive public subsidies.

The Charge

By including school readiness in its Master Plan for Education, the Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan for Education—Kindergarten through University has made a powerful assertion: healthy development and learning in children’s early years are essential for school success. We cannot afford to squander these early years; they are the time when we have the greatest opportunities to develop our children’s potential.

The Joint Committee challenged the School Readiness Working Group to look far and think big in designing a future for California’s children. Responding to this challenge, we reviewed long-existing policies and deeply entrenched assumptions about early learning and development, such as the age when public education begins and how transitions from one level of education to another are handled. We reconsidered existing “delivery systems” – such as pediatric care, mental health services, child welfare, and primary-grade education – with a view toward incorporating them into a more integrated, effective constellation of supports and services. We studied policies that will improve equity, enhance the qualifications of the people who work with children and families, and strengthen accountability. We also considered the roles of families and communities. Most importantly, we considered not only what is, but also what could be.

This Report

This report maps out a twenty-year action plan consisting of fourteen recommendations that aim to improve the school readiness of California’s children, strengthen their achievement, and bolster their chances for success later in life. The recommendations form a coherent plan and are meant to be implemented together, although we recognize that some entail major changes that will need to be addressed incrementally. We are calling for sweeping change—the unification of all publicly funded early care and education programs, both formal and informal, into one system with one set of standards.

Defining School Readiness

A decade ago, the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) proposed as the nation’s number one education goal that “all children in America will start school ready to learn.” Initially, there was considerable debate about what the term “readiness” meant. Today, a view shared by many early childhood educators, and endorsed by the National Education Goals Panel, is that a child’s school readiness has five key dimensions:⁴

Health and physical development. Children who are born with the benefit of prenatal care, and who have good nutrition, health monitoring, and early intervention, perform better in school.

Emotional well-being and social competence. Children who have secure relationships with family members and peers can become self-confident learners.

Approaches toward learning. Children’s attitudes toward learning, their ways of approaching new tasks, and their skills all affect school success.

Communicative skills. Children with rich language experiences have the tools to interact with other people and to represent their thoughts, feelings, and experiences effectively.

Cognition and general knowledge. Children who have the opportunity to explore and learn from their surroundings can construct knowledge of patterns and relationships and discover ways to solve problems.

• Smooth the transition between home and school.
• Strive for continuity between early care and education programs and elementary schools.
• Help children learn and make sense of their complex and exciting world.
• Are committed to the success of every child.
• Are committed to the success of every teacher and every adult who interacts with children during the school day.
• Introduce or expand approaches that have been shown to raise achievement.
• Are learning organizations that alter practices and programs if they do not benefit children.
• Serve children in communities.
• Take responsibility for results.
• Have strong leadership.

Finally, the NEGP identified three objectives that reflect important family and community supports that are foundations for children’s school readiness:⁶

Early childhood care and education. All children should have access to high-quality and developmentally appropriate preschool programs that help prepare them for school.

Family factors. Every parent will be a child’s first teacher and should devote time each day to helping his or her preschool child learn. To this end, parents should have access to the training and support they need.

Child health. Children should receive the nutrition, physical activity, and health care they need to arrive at school with healthy minds and bodies and to maintain mental alertness. To this end, the number of low birth weight babies should be significantly reduced through enhanced prenatal care.