Gene I. Maeroff on obstacles to implementing universal prekindergarten

As David McKay Wilson shows in his articles ("When Worlds Collide" and "Universal PreK: Two Views," HEL, November/December 2008), the success of universal prekindergarten depends on more than simply gaining the endorsement of policymakers and political officials, though that’s a vital first step. The actual implementation of programs gets into practical matters that sometimes do not receive the attention that they merit.

First and foremost among those considerations is the need for adequate and proper facilities for three- and four-year-olds. Even when the concept of universal preK wins acceptance, classrooms must be found to house those additional students. This is no easy matter where schools are filled to capacity. And not just any classroom will suffice: Facilities and furniture must be suitable for tots and nearby bathrooms are essential. Implementation in Boston was a major challenge despite the support of the mayor.

Beyond questions of space, the philosophy of the school matters when it comes time to decide if preK will be an appendage—separate and detached from the main educational program—or an integrated part of the early childhood continuum. This should surprise no one as it took much of the last century for schools to settle on the idea that a good kindergarten program ought to figure prominently in every youngster’s education.

In my recent book, Building Blocks: Making Children Successful in the Early Years of School (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), I made the case for a unified and comprehensive continuum that begins with preK and extends through the end of the third grade. This is a way to assure that more students will enter the fourth grade ready to do fourth grade work.

Such an approach fosters an emphasis on early childhood education, a team philosophy in which teachers throughout the PK-3 continuum view themselves as members of a primary-minded team, grouping that cuts across the grades within the continuum, staff development directed at common concerns, and a point of culmination at the end of third grade toward which to direct all efforts.

When schools include universal preK, as Wilson points out, the entire early childhood curriculum needs to be revisited. What are the implications for the kindergarten curriculum, for instance, when children arrive with skills and habits that they formerly had to wait until kindergarten to have instilled in them?

One of the major issues that Wilson mentions has to do with the attitudes not only of teachers who get better-prepared students in their classrooms but with principals who resist the idea that pre-kindergarten is a legitimate part of the educational continuum, not an add-on. Universal preK is definitely making progress, though there are still obstacles to overcome.

Gene I. Maeroff is a senior fellow at the Hechinger Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.