Workforce and Family Program: Latest Publications

How Can Republicans Repair Their Brand?

Cecille Isidro — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 09:58:00 -0500

When I worked in brand management at Procter & Gamble in the 1990s, we learned about the importance of connecting to one's customer. Over the past five years, the Republican Party has lost touch with its voting customers and its brand is in need of repair.

Poll after poll throughout the 2008 election cycle showed that on the issues that mattered most to Americans, voters favored Democrats over Republicans.

A Family-Based Social Contract

Next Social Contract — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:03:00 -0500

Executive Summary

Americans instinctively revere the family as an institution that helps facilitate all other aspects of life. The family fosters attachments across generations, provides a nurturing environment in which to raise children, and is a means of transmitting values from one generation to the next. It is the foundation upon which our social contract has been built.

One Nation: Religion and Politics 2008

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:16:00 -0400

Faith in the Democratic Platform

It is interesting at the start of the Democratic Convention to note that the draft platform the delegates are beginning to discuss says more about what a faith initiative will not be than what it will be in an Obama administration.

I bet the GOP platform will be more positive. Not that the Democratic platform is negative. It is just less positive than one would imagine. This contrasts with Obama's rhetoric in July about his plans for a Council of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (as he will call it), though it does track somewhat his well-known 2006 Call to Renewal speech, which sought to show the complexity of faith and policy in America.

Below is the draft section on faith in the Democratic platform. It uses traditional language in praising the place of faith and its importance in solving problems in America. When it comes to specifics, however, the draft Democratic platform wants to make sure any faith-based initiative does not endanger First Amendment protections, does not allow proselytizing, does not allow discrimination (they main issue of controversy in Congressional debates on the issue), and is used on programs that actually work.

All these points are right and important. They show more concern from the Democrats about faith and government than the flowery language they have used in the past or than one would imagine in such a document.

Draft Democratic Platform Statement on Faith

We honor the central place of faith in our lives. Like our Founders, we believe that our nation, our communities, and our lives are made vastly stronger and richer by faith and the countless acts of justice and mercy it inspires. We believe that change comes not from the top-down, but from the bottom-up, and that few are closer to the people than our churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques. To face today's challenges -- from saving our planet to ending poverty -- we need all hands on deck. Faith-based groups are not a replacement for government or secular non-profit programs; rather, they are yet another sector working to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We will empower grassroots faith-based and community groups to help meet challenges like poverty, ex-offender reentry, and illiteracy. At the same time, we can ensure that these partnerships do not endanger First Amendment protections -- because there is no conflict between supporting faith-based institutions and respecting our Constitution. We will ensure that public funds are not used to proselytize or discriminate. We will also ensure that taxpayer dollars are only used on programs that actually work.

Democratic Outreach to the Religious Left

It is historic that there is a Faith Caucus at the current Democratic National Convention. The interfaith gathering last Sunday (August 24) and the events all week are diverse in terms of representing different religions, but not in terms of ideology, which is progressive across the faiths. The caucus panels are moderated mostly by Obama's director of religious outreach, Joshua Dubois, or by Jim Wallis, a principle architect of the religious left, which became politically active following the 2004 elections and formed Faith in Public Life, among other projects, to engage people of faith for the Democratic Party.

McCain Targets Catholics with Palin ... But Will It Help in New Mexico?

The selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's VP is by any estimate a very interesting pick. Her pro-life background should help McCain with blue collar Catholic voters generally. I'm starting to feel that this election comes down to who wins Colorado and New Mexico. Perhaps McCain flips New Hampshire. Certainly McCain must "hold serve" on more states than Obama to stay even, and that puts more pressure on him. If Obama gets momentum and starts flipping states like Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, or Florida, it's all over. It is less likely that McCain flips Democratic states like Pennsylvania or Michigan, but it is possible. I think it comes down to Colorado and New Mexico. Can two Westerners keep these GOP states? Can Palin's Catholic roots (she is reportedly a baptized Catholic) help with Hispanic voters in New Mexico? We'll see.

Who is Sarah Palin's Pastor?

With all the focus during the primary campaign season on the words of the candidates' ministers, whether it was Jeremiah Wright for Barack Obama or John Hagee for John McCain, one has to wonder when the press will start focusing on Sarah Palin's pastor. As a member of a conservative, evangelical congregation in suburban Alaska, there is a decent chance Palin was present for some controversial sermons from time to time. Much as Obama was hit with the content of Wright's sermons, one would expect Palin to receive the same treatment from the media in terms of her pastor's remarks.

10 New Ideas for Early Education in the NCLB Reauthorization

Education Policy — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:00:00 -0500

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) seeks to improve student learning and narrow academic achievement gaps that place low-income and minority students at a disadvantage relative to their affluent and white peers. Evidence shows that the roots of children’s academic success or failure are already firmly in place by third grade and as much as half of the black-white achievement gap already exists before children enter first grade. Therefore, to achieve its ambitious goals NCLB must do a much better job of catalyzing and supporting state and local efforts to improve children’s education in the preschool and early elementary years.

But despite the importance of the pre-k and early elementary school years, current debate over NCLB reauthorization has devoted very little attention to improving pre-k and early elementary school programs, separately or as an integrated collective. The main debate has been over the law’s testing and accountability provisions—which focus on student performance in grades three through eight.

Advocates for universal pre-k are lobbying for the creation of a new pre-k title in NCLB and substantial new federal funding to support state universal pre-k efforts. But there is almost no discussion of how provisions already in NCLB could better support high-quality early education in pre-k through grade three (PK-3).

Many provisions in NCLB affect early education. Four federal programs authorized under NCLB—Title I, Even Start, Early Reading First, and the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program—provide nearly half a billion dollars annually in funding for pre-k programs. Two-thirds of children in rapidly growing state pre-k programs attend classes in public schools, so policies that affect elementary schools also affect pre-k. Provisions throughout NCLB—from its teacher quality provisions to its charter school program—should be updated to reflect the increased inclusion of pre-k in public education, and to acknowledge the centrality of high-quality early education to achieving the law’s school improvement goals.

This issue brief analyzes NCLB programs and policies that affect or have the potential to affect early education and recommends 10 ways NCLB reauthorization can better support high-quality early education.

1) Allow Reading First funds to be used for pre-k language and literacy activities

2) Tap supplemental educational services and public school choice set-aside funds for high-quality pre-k

3) Improve accountability for early education programs

4) Restructure elementary schools identified for reconstitution as PK-3 Early Education Academies

5) Strengthen the ability of charter schools to deliver high-quality pre-k

6) Combine NCLB's Title V block grant program with Head Start's newly authorized state early childhood coordination initiative to create a single "2020 Early Education" state grant program

7) Require pre-k programs operated in public schools or with Title I funds to employ "highly qualified early educators" as lead teachers

8) Create a "Pathways to Pre-kindergarten Teaching" alternative certification demonstration program

9) Provide targeted professional development to individual teachers

10) Expand the representation of English Language Learners in pre-k programs

All of these ideas carry little or no cost to the federal government, relying on better use of existing funds rather than new funding. These are not the only ways to improve early education in NCLB, but they form a starting point for a broader discussion about how federal education policy can better support high-quality early education.

For the full paper, please see the attached PDF below.

Continuing the Investment

adminn — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:58:00 -0500

Deep Creek Elementary School is an education success story. In 2001, Deep Creek, where more than three-quarters of students come from low-income families and 80 percent are black or Hispanic, was one of the worst elementary schools in Baltimore County, Maryland. Its third-graders were reading at a first-grade level. But the new principal, Anissa Brown Dennis, expanded collaboration and professional development for teachers, implemented an aligned reading and math curriculum from pre-K through third grade, and offered summer learning and after-school programs for struggling students. Today, nearly three-quarters of Deep Creek students read on grade level, teacher and student morale is up, and the school has received local, state, and national recognition for its improvement. The key to Deep Creek's transformation: a clear vision of high-quality early education, starting in pre-K and continuing through third grade.

Advocates of universal pre-K are nothing if not visionary. They view universal pre-kindergarten as not just an end in itself but also a first step toward much more comprehensive public social welfare programs for preschool-age children and their families: prenatal care, parental leave, universal children's health care, and quality child care. For these advocates, the case for universal pre-K is also the case for new state-level systems, policies, and institutions that would serve children from birth through preschool.

Curiously, there's much less discussion of pre-K's potential to spur improvement in the schools children enter after they leave pre-K. The phrase "school readiness" is illustrative: If pre-K gets kids ready for school, then it's not school. As a result, school reformers focus on kindergarten through high school and stay away from pre-K advocacy, while early childhood advocates tend to focus on birth to age 5 and steer clear of school reform. That's a mistake. The universal pre-K movement isn't just about offering another social service: Pre-K advocates are actually building a whole new system of public education, and that has implications for the existing K-12 public education system. Without significant improvements in the public schools that children move on to after preschool, the pre-K movement will struggle to deliver promised results.

Research shows that high-quality pre-school has a positive impact on children's lives: Adult alumni of high-quality preschools have higher education attainment, employment, and earnings, and are less likely to be involved in crime than adults from similar backgrounds who didn't attend pre-K as children. Kindergarteners who attended good preschools also have stronger cognitive and academic skills than children who did not.

The trouble is, these academic differences disappear by third grade -- a phenomenon knows as "fade-out." That's fodder for conservative pre-K critics. During the 2006 debate over a referendum to establish universal pre-K in California, the Heritage Foundation, Reason Foundation, and other conservative groups published articles highlighting fade-out. The referendum failed. In an era of education accountability, politicians and the public expect preschool investments to improve elementary school test scores, so fade-out can undermine support for early education programs.

But evidence shows that fade-out is not a failure of pre-K; it is more deeply connected with children's ongoing education. Research by economics professors Janet Currie and Duncan Thomas has found that African American children who attend Head Start programs disproportionately go on to attend lower-performing public schools -- and this accounts for much of the fade-out in Head Start's academic results.

Rather than fearing fade-out, or trying to downplay it, pre-K supporters should highlight it as an argument for improving early elementary school programs. Education reformers and pre-K advocates should join forces to promote a comprehensive reform package that starts with high-quality, universal preschool for all 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds whose parents want it, followed by universal full-day kindergarten, to give kids more time to learn. In this vision, goals for children's learning and development -- including not just academics but also physical, social, and emotional development -- would be clearly articulated and extend from pre-K through third grade in a seamless progression. Lead teachers would all meet the same high-quality standard -- a bachelor's degree and demonstrated knowledge of how young children learn. This would allow teachers to work collaboratively across grade levels, so each year's learning builds on what children already know. (And ideally, talented preschool teachers without formal degrees would receive support and funding to pursue further schooling.)

The entire system would focus on ensuring children finish third grade with the skills they need to succeed in the next level of their education. Third grade is a turning point when children shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Children who can't read and do basic math well by then are unlikely ever to catch up. Indeed, proficiency by third grade is so critical that at least four states are known to use third-grade test scores to predict how many prison beds they'll need years later, reports the National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice.

Critics of the universal pre-k movement sometimes fret that pre-K advocates want to "extend public schooling down," to serve younger children for whom it's not appropriate. In fact, public education would actually benefit from extending some characteristics of high-quality early childhood programs up into public elementary and secondary schools.

This is precisely what happened at Deep Creek Elementary School and dozens of primary schools across the country that have implemented similar reforms. There, educators don't see preschool as just an add-on. Integrating pre-K and other early childhood programs with existing elementary schools can actually spur those schools to serve children better in the years following pre-K.

Let's look at the details: Most high-quality preschool programs focus on developing children's social and emotional competencies -- self-control, sticking with difficult tasks, resolving conflicts verbally rather than by force -- as well as academic skills. They build connections with parents and communities -- sometimes even using community-based providers to deliver early childhood education. They also often provide comprehensive services -- nutrition, health screenings, and parent education and involvement -- to address the myriad challenges that make it difficult for many children to succeed in school. These features are part of what make preschool programs successful, but too often they are woefully missing from elementary schools that are emotionally barren, devoid of resources to respond to the non- educational problems children bring to school with them, and disconnected from parents and communities. As advocates work to build publicly funded pre-K systems that emphasize social and emotional development, community connections, and comprehensive services, they're creating proof points that demonstrate how entire public education systems can deliver these things -- and why they must.

The universal pre-K movement also offers public education advocates and reformers models for academic reform. Changing existing systems is incredibly difficult; because states are building universal preschool systems from the ground up, there is more space for innovative thinking than in the established public education system. When it comes to evaluating the quality and effectiveness of schools and pre-K programs, for example, pre-K accountability systems use a much broader definition of quality than No Child Left Behind. Some use child assessments to measure pre-K learning, but they also look at resources and what actually goes on in pre-K classrooms: What kind of activities are children engaged in? How do teachers interact with children? A recent report from the National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force describes promising state and local models to evaluate the quality of pre-K programs. These models can help educators develop more nuanced ways to measure quality in public elementary and secondary schools.

States must also build new systems of teacher preparation and professional development to help experienced preschool teachers who lack a bachelor's degree meet new, higher education standards. Education reformers have long bemoaned the quality of K-12 teacher preparation and certification: Too often these programs fail to equip teachers with the skills to effectively teach diverse students, while their cost and time demands dissuade some potentially good teachers from entering the profession. New models to prepare preschool teachers could provide a potential leverage point for broader changes in K-12 teacher training.

Early childhood advocates and school reformers should be natural allies in building a better future for children, but too often they operate in separate spheres. The expansion of the pre-K movement, and the need to combat fade-out, create an opportunity to bridge that divide. By working together to build high-quality pre-K programs, education reformers and pre-K advocates can also open the door for improvements in the elementary and secondary education system. This kind of collaboration can make stories like Deep Creek's not the exception but the rule.