New RAND Study Cites Importance of ECE Workers in Boosting Preschool Quality Print E-mail
Dr. Lynn Karoly, center, briefs participants in Sacramento about details of the fourthRAND Preschool Study.

randbriefing

The fourth in a series of reports from RAND's California Preschool Study was released at a briefing in the State Capitol on May 28, 2009, and it shows how California can invest in a high-quality early learning system that will help close the state's achievement gap.

Coming at a crucial time in the state’s efforts to close a massive budget gap, the report recommends creating a well-designed, coordinated plan to prepare teachers, while ensuring that high-quality programs a re available to the children who need them most.

If we are to make progress in significantly boosting the  quality of California’s preschools and in closing the state’s achievement gap, then it is critical that early childhood education programs employ well-trained teachers who are responsive to children’s developmental needs.
At the briefing, facilitated by the Packard Foundation’s Meera Mani, the study’s lead researcher, Lynn Karoly, walked through many of the recommendations contained in the report, and said the study shows that the state can more efficiently spend its early childhood education dollars and get better results for children in the process.

Dr. Karoly also provided a broad overview of previous RAND preschool research which concluded that California has a significant achievement gap that is evident as early as kindergarten entry, and that high-quality preschool can help bridge the achievement gap.

An executive summary of the study along with the full study and accompanying research brief are available at the following links:

Executive Summary

http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG889.sum.pdf

Research Brief

http://rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/2009/RAND_RB9452.pdf

Full Study

http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/2009/RAND_MG889.pdf

Quality care and education for California’s children is paramount to the CFT. The CFT is working to provide each child with knowledgeable well-compensated program staff and educators as they work to move California to a place where all preschool-aged children have equal access to a high-quality early learning program.