great idea, but it falls in the same bucket of "prevention" that nobody wants to get behind. It's true for healthcare and it's true for infrastructure--we'd rather cross our fingers hoping nothing bad will happen and then inevitably have to pay more to fix more severe problems after something breaks than to spend less upfront to prevent something from breaking. Pre-K is a form of society insurance and pretty low hanging fruit at that. Why don't we do it?

"It's one of the great disappointments of contemporary liberal politics that so many folks who call themselves liberals spend their time arguing about teacher's unions, testing, and merit pay, rather than uniting behind universal pre-k."

Perhaps because they understand that if a candidate were to run on a platform of universal pre-K, careerist scum "professional Democrats" like Ezra Klein will support their opponent if they feel like it's in their personal interests.

I am not sure your take is quite right. Pre-K has been an integral part of the remedy fashioned in many of the school finance litigations, esp. in NJ. Clearly, policy makers, including libs, recognize its benefits. The problem is UNIVERSAL pre-K. It is extraordinarily expensive. NJ is trying to move toward it, but the state and local governments are groaning under enormous debt and excessive property taxes, respectively.

Right, which is why it should be federal, with dedicated -- or at least secure -- funding streams. property taxes are a really bad way to do school funding.

Ezra - have you ever read John Gatto's "Dumbing us Down"? I remain to be convinced of institutional school's benefits - and now we want to make even younger children attend school. We should be delaying entry into school until at least age 6.

I think this is one of those cases where the data may be solid, but people either don't know it or don't believe it. Admittedly, when I look back at my preschool days, I have hard time believing it had a profound influence on my ability to learn.

If supporters of universal pre-k found a way to articulate their theories in way that seems intuitively obvious, I bet there would be much broader support for it.

Other sudies show no long term benefits and the researchers bias generally runs toward finding a benefit.

Universal Pre-K works wonders for disadvantaged children and families. Programs such as those in CT or NJ require family oriented wrap around services addressing the whole family's needs. The only drawback, as with the NJ Abbott Program is it requires P-3 certifications and salary levels for lead teachers on a par with the public school system. This is what raises the cost of pre-k programs to the point where providers cannot possibly maintain either the salaries or the animosity of those teachers earning much less. Some realism is needed here.

Ezra, you're confused. There's a difference between "universal" prekindergarten and "targeted prekindergarten." Universal is publicly funded and offered to all 4-year-olds or 3-year-olds or both. Targeted means offering the program to disadvantaged children to help them catch up. James Heckman, who you cite, actually thinks that, given limited resources, it makes most sense to target them at the most disadvantaged children. So, he does not favor universal programs. Other liberals, such as Bruce Fuller of the University of California, Berkeley, also favor targeted programs because he says universal programs replace private money middle class families are spending already with public money.

Ezra got it right, but it hard to cut through the misinformation and nonsense coming from the old/far right and the old/far left. Neither wants government to help the middle class. Oklahoma is the only state that has preschool education for all and the program helps all kids, but helps the disadvantaged more, so it increases equality without leaving the middle class behind. There are numerous reasons to believe that universal preschool education will benefit disadvantaged children more than targeted programs. New Jersey's program is 2/3 private provided--it shows what can be done when high standards are adequately funded. Much of the middle class does not have access to high quality preschool education; all many can afford is poor quality child care. The funding required for good universal preschool education is small potatoes compared to corporate welfare, subsidies to millionaire farmers, and other unnecessary government programs not to mention IRAQ.

I am a big fan of universal pre-K, but then again I tend to work in that age range. My fear is that by offering universal pre-k that the standards for pre-k will go down and the educational situation will turn into a babysitting situation. I think if universal pre-K is going to be done right it needs to be backed with a tremendous amount of resources pumped into teachers focusing on the usual practice in the field but additionally on instilling educational and psychological theory.

It seems so simple to me, that if you start early, you close the gap early, but maybe I am a bit to naive and hopeful.

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And this is how they sneak stuff by us. Pay attention because things like this will be happening more often as we move into 2009. The University of California, which does not currently adhere to any kind of affirmative action policies, is trying to add them in under disguise. They want to make changes to their admissions policy, claiming it is merely to remove "technical barriers."
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anderson

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jackspar.

Drug Intervention Florida

That's Good! I am a big fan of universal pre-K, but then again I tend to work in that age range. My fear is that by offering universal pre-k that the standards for pre-k will go down and the educational situation will turn into a babysitting situation. I think if universal pre-K is going to be done right it needs to be backed with a tremendous amount of resources pumped into teachers focusing on the usual practice in the field but additionally on instilling educational and psychological theory.
Sydney
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Interventions used in trials to alter patient-practitioner interaction are varied and difficult to classify. We developed a taxonomy based on our theoretical understanding of the ways in which collaboration between patient and practitioner can be enhanced and may lead to improved outcomes. This framework has been described as the new clinical method. It involves the patient and practitioner reaching a mutual understanding of each others’ explanatory models of illness and disease. It therefore takes into account the patient’s ideas, concerns, and expectations at all stages of the clinical interview, from gathering information through problem formulation to decisions about management. It is hypothesized that this method will lead to more precise framing of the problem and management that makes sense to the patient, which could enhance outcomes through several mechanisms. Specifically, a correct diagnosis will be matched to a more effective prescription. Involvement of the patient will lead to engagement in taking any agreed treatment. It will also mobilize a range of self-care activities tending to increase well-being and function through social, psychological, and perhaps even immunological mechanisms.Finally, the collaborative approach might reduce the mismatch between a patient’s and the practitioner’s representations of the problem and thereby increase efficiency through a reduction in unnecessary investigations, consultations, and unused medication
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mukesh11
Drug Intervention Minnesota - Drug Intervention Minnesota

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Barbara Brown
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Barbara
Drug Intervention North Dakota

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