Chalkbeat

Education news. In context.

Chalkbeat

universal pre-K

big data

Chicago
August 13, 2018

Three out of four Illinois kids aren’t ready for kindergarten. Why that’s a problem.

Only 16 percent of low-income students demonstrated kindergarten readiness in Illinois. The three core benchmarks are social emotional learning, literacy, and math.

Asked and answered

Chicago
August 9, 2018

Longtime advocate (and current First Lady) Diana Rauner sizes up the challenges ahead for early education in Illinois

Fluent in the languages of developmental psychology (her Ph.D., from the University of Chicago) and finance (her MBA, from Stanford University), Illinois First…

universal pre-k

Chicago
August 2, 2018

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is on a high-speed timeline for his universal pre-K rollout

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has clearly articulated his vision for a free, universal prekindergarten program for 4-year-olds in Chicago, staging events throughout the…

highlight reel

New York
November 7, 2017

Beyond pre-K: Here’s what you need to know about de Blasio’s education record this election day

De Blasio's success with universal pre-K has allowed him to sidestep contentious issues during the campaign: charter schools, school segregation and the Renewal program.

Measuring success

New York
September 11, 2017

New York City wants to know: How effective is its training for pre-K teachers?

The NYU study will use measures of student behavior and third-grade test scores to track the impact of the city’s different teacher training programs.

(Very) early education

New York
August 15, 2017

Bank Street heads to East New York to help child care providers play to their strengths

The Guttman Center wants to help child care providers solve problems and improve their care.

3-K for All

New York
July 27, 2017

New York City has sent its first offer letters for 3-K for All. Here’s a look at the new pre-K initiative by the numbers.

Today was a milestone in New York City’s effort to make free, full-day pre-K available to 3-year-olds: The first round of offer letters went out…

Broad success

New York
June 12, 2017

Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz is having a very good week

New York City’s largest school charter network, Success Academy, has won the 2017 Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools.

top honors

New York
May 2, 2017

New York City’s Pre-K for All recognized among top ‘Innovations in American Government’

An arm of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University announced the recognition.

3-K for All

New York
April 24, 2017

Mayor Bill de Blasio announces plan to expand universal pre-K to 3-year-olds

The plan builds on de Blasio’s signature education initiative — a push to provide free pre-K to every 4-year-old in New York City.

Pre-K payoff

New York
April 4, 2017

Children in New York City are healthier since the start of Pre-K for All, study finds

The launch of Pre-K for All led to improved health outcomes for low-income children. That’s according to researchers at New York University who analyzed…

apply here

New York
February 28, 2017

How many students apply to each NYC school, how many get in, and where do they come from? We could soon find out

A proposed bill would require the city to report more information about school applications, including the zip codes of students who are accepted and rejected.

words matter

New York
February 14, 2017

NYC Chancellor Carmen Fariña on pre-K diversity struggles: ‘This is parent choice’

Chancellor Carmen Fariña is again drawing criticism from school integration advocates — this time for appearing to excuse racially segregated pre-K programs as…

moving on

New York
February 3, 2017

An exit interview with Sophia Pappas, who led New York City’s historic expansion of universal pre-K

After leading an unprecedented expansion effort of universal pre-K in New York City, Sophia Pappas is moving on.

Pre-K outcomes

New York
January 19, 2017

New York City’s latest pre-K quality data includes success stories — and room for improvement

A second round of pre-K data that shows there is room for improvement -- but also that some centers seem to have benefitted from an emphasis on building quality.

Starting young

New York
January 17, 2017

City reports improvement in Pre-K for All, shares individual site ‘snapshots’

Parents trying to choose from among the city's roughly 1,800 pre-K sites just got a new tool.

Pre-K strides

New York
September 28, 2016

Study: Students in New York City’s Pre-K for All program show learning gains

New studies of the city's universal pre-K program show students gained measurable academic skills.

Pre-K diversity

New York
September 20, 2016

Many of New York City’s pre-K classrooms are highly segregated, according to new report

One in six pre-K classrooms were highly homogenous, with 90 percent or more of students coming from a single racial or ethnic background, according to a new report.

Leadership shift

Tennessee
October 9, 2015

Six things to know about Memphis’ new mayor on education

Jim Strickland defeated incumbent Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Thursday on the promise of change. He takes office on Jan. 1.

Pre-K

Tennessee
September 4, 2014

Tennessee’s largest districts expand focus on pre-K despite Haslam’s hesitancy

Both of Tennessee's largest school districts, in Nashville and Memphis, are pushing not only to expand pre-K, but to make it more effective by increasing standards in Memphis and creating model centers in Nashville.

internal logic

New York
June 11, 2014

Across elementary schools, an array of motives for adding pre-K seats

Principals and teachers from five schools preparing for pre-K next year shared the logic behind their individual decisions to apply for new seats, offering a window into the varied hopes and calculations at play at schools across the city.
New York
December 9, 2013

Democrats change tone on de Blasio pre-K tax following victory

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio reads to students at an East Harlem Head Start program. During the Democratic mayoral primary just a few months ago, Bill Thompson supporters were on an all-out crusade to discredit rival Bill de Blasio’s tax plan to fund expanded pre-Kindergarten. As the race heated up in late August, Thompson’s campaign even began dispensing elected officials and union leaders to join in the skepticism. But now that de Blasio has won the election, calling the victory a mandate from voters to follow through on his campaign tax pledge, those officials are backing off a bit. Staten Island State Senator Diane Savino told reporters in August that de Blasio was either ignorant or pandering if he thought higher taxes were the right way to fund pre-K. “We have enough money,” Savino said in August. “What we don’t have is flexibility in the state’s regulations about how we spend the money we already get.” But, as New York Daily News’ Ken Lovett first reported this morning, Savino seems to have warmed to the idea since de Blasio was elected. Responding more recently to an unsolicited suggestion that de Blasio reconsider his plan, Savino took to her Facebook page to defend it: "with all due respect to the all the advice givers, the DeBlasio plan is the better one for the city. it is not in the interest of any new program to constantly be dependent on Albany."
New York
November 13, 2013

At City Hall, coalition urges de Blasio to stick to his pre-K pledge

Wayne Ho, of the Campaign for Children, stands in front of some 20 children from the Chung Pak Daycare Center who made a silent plea for funding. Rows of tiny children shivered inside puffy coats on the steps of City Hall Wednesday to make the cutest case possible for daycare, after-school, and full-day preschool funding. Their plea wasn’t directed at the outgoing mayor, but the incoming one, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, whose campaign was fueled by a pledge to tax the rich to pay for full-day pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds and after-school programs for all middle-school students. “We are here today ... to say: take your campaign promise and turn it into a reality,” said Wayne Ho, chief policy officer for Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, one of more than 150 advocacy groups and service providers in the Campaign for Children, a coalition formed to fight cuts to early-childhood and after-school programs.
New York
August 19, 2013

State senator finds holes in de Blasio's plan for universal pre-K

From the office of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio State Sen. Diane Savino accused mayoral candidate and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio today of not understanding the legal issues behind providing universal pre-kindergarten to New York City students. De Blasio has proposed taxing households that make more than $500,000 to fund full-day pre-K for all New York City children. The senator, who spoke on a conference call set up by Bill Thompson's campaign team, said creating universal pre-K in the city is not a matter of getting more money, but rather changing laws in Albany. "Either Bill [de Blasio] doesn't know how we fund universal pre-K or he’s just pandering. Because the fact is we don’t need to spend more money on this program," she said.
New York
June 25, 2013

John Liu proposes offering preschool to all 3-year-olds in city

This chart in Comptroller John Liu's latest report shows what he says is a $4.6 billion gap between what the city spends on early childhood programs and what it should be spending. Comptroller John Liu's latest plan to prime children to contribute as adults to the city's economy would require the city to double its spending on early childhood education. Liu — who is also running for mayor — argues in a new report that the city should spend $1 billion to create a city preschool program for three-year-olds; $433 million to open more pre-kindergarten seats; and $75 million to expand a program that sends nurses to the homes of low-income new mothers. The $1.5 billion in new early childhood expenditures would match what the city already spends, using city, state, and federal dollars. But it represents only a third of the new funding that Liu estimates would be needed to provide city services to all city children from the time they are born until they enter school.
New York
November 14, 2011

In pre-K, Common Core fingerprints found on snack and a story

Chancellor Dennis Walcott prepares to read to a group of 4-year-olds at the Bank Street Head Start center. Using skills developed at his first job, Chancellor Dennis Walcott dropped to the floor at Manhattan's Bank Street Head Start center today and read a version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to a circle of 4-year-olds. Just as he said he had as a pre-kindergarten teacher in the 1970s, Walcott changed his voice for the different characters and acted out parts of the story, keeping the children laughing and acting along. (Watch video of the reading.) The read-aloud came during a break in painting, mashing play dough, building with blocks, and assembling magnetic tiles — activities that look like fun and games but actually reflect the city's academic goals for pre-K students. Those goals are set out in the city's new curriculum standards, called the Common Core, which start in pre-K. Like all city students, children in the Department of Education's pre-K classes are expected to complete Common Core-aligned "tasks" this year like the ones the DOE has suggested for units about trucks, plants, and the five senses. Among the Common Core standards for pre-K: Students should engage in group reading activities such as the one Walcott led and practice addition and subtraction using everyday objects.