Editor’s Note
For comments on this article, read W. Steven Barnett on a targeted and universal early childhood policy; Jim Hinson on addressing the whole child—and the family; Deborah Meier on redefining “preparedness;” and Richard Rothstein on the many causes of the achievement gap.
Volume 22, Number 4
July/August 2006
The School Readiness Gap
Prekindergarten—not just preschool—may be the key to narrowing disparities in achievement by race, ethnicity, and income
By MICHAEL SADOWSKI
The School Readiness Gap, continued
The School Readiness Gap: Prekindergarten—not just preschool—may be the key to narrowing disparities in achievement by race, ethnicity, and income
The School Readiness Gap
For decades now, educators, researchers, and policymakers have puzzled over so-called achievement gaps—the disparities in academic performance by race and ethnicity that consistently show up on standardized tests, grade-point averages, and a host of other measures. The No Child Left Behind Act seeks to narrow these gaps by mandating standards-based tests in elementary, middle, and high school, and holding schools accountable for raising scores not just overall, but among racial and ethnic subgroups. A growing body of research, however, suggests that any serious effort to eliminate disparities at the primary and secondary school levels must also address what some researchers call the school readiness gap—the variations in academic performance and certain social skills among children entering kindergarten and first grade.
This article is part of an ongoing series on the education of children from preK through grade 3, made possible through the support of the Foundation for Child Development.
This is an excerpt from the Harvard Education Letter.
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For decades now, educators, researchers, and policymakers have puzzled over so-called achievement gaps—the disparities in academic performance by race and ethnicity that consistently show up on standardized tests, grade-point averages, and a host of other measures. The No Child Left Behind Act seeks to narrow these gaps by mandating standards-based tests in elementary, middle, and high school, and holding schools accountable for raising scores not just overall, but among racial and ethnic subgroups. A growing body of research, however, suggests that any serious effort to eliminate disparities at the primary and secondary school levels must also address what some researchers call the school readiness gap—the variations in academic performance and certain social skills among children entering kindergarten and first grade.
This article is part of an ongoing series on the education of children from preK through grade 3, made possible through the support of the Foundation for Child Development.
