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Matthew LynchPolicy & Reform
Home›Matthew Lynch›Pre-K Learning: How Young is Really Necessary?

Pre-K Learning: How Young is Really Necessary?

By Matthew Lynch
December 4, 2015
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In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama brought up the topic of universal Pre-K learning and praised the programs already in place in states like Florida, South Carolina and New Jersey. He connected Pre-K initiatives to his Race to the Top program that has the lofty goal of making the U.S. the worldwide leader in college attendees and graduates. His administration contends that the academic skill sets needed to reach that goal must have their foundation before Kindergarten and that the responsibility for that lies in public funding.

From an educator’s point of view, I’d say the President and his education advisors are right on. It’s no secret that the U.S. lags behind other developed nations when it comes to academics, particularly in areas like science and math. To compete as a nation on a global scale, this generation of K-12 (or P-12) students simply need to know more than their parents did as children. This fact has led to some passionate discourse both for and against more stringent academic standards that start in early childhood and extend into the college years.

Admittedly, universal Pre-K programs tend to benefit disadvantaged and at-risk students the most. Children from middle-to-high class socioeconomic backgrounds do not feel the positive effects of preschool as strongly as their low-income and minority peers. In families where at least one parent can be home with children in the early years, and able to do basic learning activities with them, the impact of Pre-K programs are virtually non-existent by the time the child is in mid-elementary school. Children that participate in play-oriented preschool programs but have attentive parents that expose them to minimal learning fare just as well, or better than, peers who attend regimented Pre-K programs.
Of course academics are not the only benefit to Pre-K programs.

Socialization and an idea of what to expect when the school years come along are also an integral part of the Pre-K process. Kindergarten used to be an adjustment year for children, but now kids who arrive in these classrooms are expected to know much more. Common Core standards exist at the Kindergarten level, with the expectation that these students will know how to read simple sentences competently, do basic addition and subtraction problems and understand basic time concepts. States that already have tax-funded Pre-K programs test Kindergartners and report back to the preschool provider the results. In some cases, future funding rests on whether or not the Pre-K program adequately prepared enough students for the academic rigors of Kindergarten.

So then the question becomes one of impact. Will universal learning at a younger age make a big enough difference long-term to justify the added cost and resources? How much time do children really need to learn what they will need to know to compete globally?

Parents seem to be split on the issue, with one side affirming the need for stronger academic standards and the other side bemoaning the difficulty of material their young children bring home from school. Districts throughout the country have listened to parents’ complaints when it comes to implementation of all-day Kindergarten (versus the traditional half-days) and some parents have even decided to homeschool their children because they so strongly disagree with the academic rigor. Given this cultural climate, I wonder what is to be expected when more states roll out Pre-K programs? Right now it is voluntary for families – but will that always be the case?

Is universal Pre-K a necessity – and if so, are American educators, parents and young students really ready for it?

Tagsearly learningEceEdpolicyedreformPre-K educationput kids firstschool reform
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4 comments

  1. LiberalEd 22 December, 2014 at 20:22 Reply

    Even if the children have a parent are at home and not minorities (who you mentioned benefit the most from Pre-K), I believe that it has a lot to offer children. Pre-K is a time to build social skills and to encourage sharing, taking turns and overall how to get along with peers. However, I don’t feel Pre-K is essential for student success.

  2. sarahrose00 22 December, 2014 at 20:35 Reply

    Our children have a lot of years of rigorous exams, testing, and assessments ahead of them that I feel like Pre-K isn’t essential. I agree it can be helpful and am not against it, I’m just not certain it deserves quite all of the push for all of the population.

  3. edmom5 22 December, 2014 at 20:51 Reply

    Pre-K is not necessary. Our young learners are pounded with things to memorize and learn at such a young age. If students need it due to developmental delays or other issues like coming from a home where English is a second language, I can see the benefit. But I don’t think all students need to be ushered off to Pre-K.

  4. essie_sutton 5 November, 2015 at 06:54 Reply

    There was a recent study on the outcomes of a pre-k program in Tennessee. I wrote a blog post summarizing the study and my thoughts on universal pre-k —> https://medium.com/p/f869ee7acb11

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