Early Childhood Education in the United States Essay

Introduction

This analytical paper attempts to review the impacts of the state and federal policies on early childhood education (ECD) in the US. The research is based on responses by three senior early childhood educators through face-to-face interviews.

Interview questions

1. Would you kindly describe your qualifications, years of experience, and current roles as a professional early childhood educator?
2. What are the impacts of the state and federal policies on the funding of early childhood education in America?
3. Are there differences between state and federal policies on early childhood education?
4. What is the impact of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in the early childhood classroom?
5. What is the impact of the Title 1 act in the early childhood classroom?

Interviewees

1. Miss Natali Benard
2. Mr. John Gait
3. Dr. Majorlie Kristopher

Research criteria and results

Miss Natali Benard

1. I have a degree in early childhood education. I am currently a senior administrator at the Mississippi Catholic faith-based preschool center.
2. The state and federal policies have made it a law to observe equity in funding of early childhood education.
3. The federal policy is similar in all states while the state policy is different from one state to another, depending on the laws governing early childhood education. For instance, the religious based ECD centers may not observe the some of the rules in federal school, such as inclusiveness and balance in the special interest groups.
4. Under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, ECD centers are required to proactively track every progress of the special students and create a room for bridging the score gap with their normal peers.
5. The Title 1 auspice has been critical in creation of relevant programs within the ECD sector.

Mr. John Gait

1. I have a degree in early childhood education.
   I am an educator at the Mississippi ECD center. I have been in the sector for the last seven years.
2. The federal and state policies have introduced the element of special groups in funding early childhood education in the most equitable manner.
3. The federal policy is extensive than state policy since each state has its own guidelines on early childhood education.
4. NCLB is flexible to accommodate the young learners by providing the much needed system that has time allowance and is proactive in accommodating their learning needs.
5. Title 1 has empowered educators to create programs that address the learning needs.

Dr. Majorlie Kristopher

1. I am a specialist in early childhood education policies. I am the most senior administrator and educator at the Mississippi ECD center.
2. The state and federal policies have made funding of early childhood education to be a flexible plan that considers the social status and quality of the programs.
3. The federal policy is more on the funding and sustainability of early childhood education while the state policy is more on implementation of early childhood education.
4. The NCLB act offers inclusiveness in the education program within the states to accommodate young learners with special needs.
5. Programs under Title 1 act incorporate the social aspect of learning in the early childhood education classroom.

Analysis

Equity, quality, and stable funding are significant elements of the state and federal policies on early childhood education. NCLB and Title 1 are significant in promoting inclusive early childhood education (Jorgensen, 2005). NCLB act fosters attitude change among parents, teachers, and sibling of learners in ECD centers. As these stakeholders realize the potential of the special group, discrimination and formed an opinion is quickly changed. Over time, a student with disabilities will be accepted as part of the learning system as equal participants.

NCLB act in an early childhood education environment is an ideal learning system, which is inclusive of the learners’ educational needs. Reflectively, preschools, and daycare are ideal places for commencing the inclusionary process, which has to roll out during the entire formal and informal education period (Zigler, Gilliam, & Jones, 2006). Thus, NCLB inclusion involves the strategies laid down to ensure that young learners find the learning environment accommodative (Center on Education Policy, 2007).

Title 1 auspice has extended the responsibilities of learning institutions to include offering appropriate education to children of age three to five. Alongside part B, part H triggered the establishment of programs friendly to the needs toddles and infants with specials needs (Zigler, Gilliam, & Jones, 2006).

The federal policy is more comprehensive than the state policy on funding and operations of ECD centers. However, the private and religious-based ECD centers may not observe some of the rules in federal schools such as inclusiveness and special interest group balance. Early childhood educators who are skilled and have a wide range of expertise in dealing with students utilize different techniques to facilitate inclusivity in the learning environment. Fortunately, NCLB and Title 1 acts have empowered these teachers to adopt reasonable and appropriate learning module that is inclusive of the learning challenges in the inclusive early childhood education environment (Jorgensen, 2005).

References

Center on Education Policy. (2007). Answering the question that matters most: Has student achievement increased since No Child Left Behind? Washington, DC: Center on Education Policy.

Jorgensen, C. (2005). The inclusion facilitator’s guide. Baltimore, Maryland: Brookes Publishing Co.

Zigler, E., Gilliam, W., & Jones, S. (2006). A vision for universal preschool education. New York, NY: Chicago University Press.