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Partners In Closing The Achievement Gap: How Charter Schools Can Support High-Quality Universal Pre-K
March 21, 2008
Released March 21, 2008
Sara Mead, director of the Early Education Inititiative at the New America Foundation, has released the policy briefing memo Partners In Closing The Achievement Gap: How Charter Schools Can Support Quality Universal Pre-K. (You can download a PDF copy here.)
Mead believes that the early education movement and the charter school movement have the potential to become important partners in improving education for America's children.
Mead's specific policy recommendations include:
-- Eliminating state policies barring charter schools from offering Pre-K
-- Allowing public charter schools to access per-pupil funds to educate 3- and 4-year-olds
-- Building charter authorizer capacity and expertise in early education
-- Allowing charter schools to access state and federal Pre-K funds
-- Ensuring adequate Pre-K funding to ensure quality
-- Including Pre-K charters in the Federal Charter Schools program
-- Eliminating caps on the number of charter schools which may serve children
It would seem that two of the most significant concerns with many Pre-K programs - namely wide disparities in perceived quality and a sometimes glaring disconnect between early childhood programs and elementary schools - could be addressed head-on by tapping into the accountability measures and structural flexibility that charter schools provide.