Book Description

These hearing transcripts present testimony before the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the 105th Congress on early childhood education and related services. Participants provided different perspectives on early education, focusing on the academic achievement of American students, especially in comparison to students in other countries; the importance of early childhood longitudinal studies; the role of child care centers; and improving early childhood educators' qualifications. Speakers included Senators James Jeffords (Vermont), Tim Hutchinson (Arkansas), Susan Collins (Maine), and Jack Reed (Rhode Island). Providing expert testimony were the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics and the executive director of the Child Care Action Campaign. Witnesses indicated that basic measures from the National Household Education Survey document tremendous variation in the skills children bring to kindergarten. Studies of child care in the United States report that the vast majority of centers provide poor to mediocre care. One participant compared U.S. child care programs to early education programs in France, noting differences in caregiver qualifications and compensation, as well as other programmatic differences. This witness also recommended accelerating the move toward universal prekindergarten programming and increasing accreditation efforts. A report on data needs for early childhood development and learning readiness is appended. (KB)