Can Rating Pre-K Programs Predict Children's Learning?

Systems intended to rate the quality of early education programs may not actually reflect impacts on learning. Early childhood education programs [e.g., prekindergarten (pre-K)]—characterized by stimulating and supportive teacher-child interactions in enriched classroom settings—promote children...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2013-08, Vol.341 (6148), p.845-846
Main Authors: Sabol, T. J., Hong, S. L. Soliday, Pianta, R. C., Burchinal, M. R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child care
Child psychology
Children
Classrooms
Cognition & reasoning
Early childhood education
Education
EDUCATION FORUM
Educational environment
Educational evaluation
Enrichment
Learning
Outcomes of education
Preschool children
Preschool education
Quality analysis
Ratings
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Systems intended to rate the quality of early education programs may not actually reflect impacts on learning. Early childhood education programs [e.g., prekindergarten (pre-K)]—characterized by stimulating and supportive teacher-child interactions in enriched classroom settings—promote children's learning and school readiness ( 1 – 3 ). But in the United States, most children, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, attend programs that may not be of sufficient quality to improve readiness for school success ( 4 ). States are adopting Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs) as a market-based approach for improving early education, but few states have evaluated the extent to which their QRIS relates to child outcomes. We studied the ability of several QRISs to distinguish among meaningful differences in quality that support learning.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1233517