OPINION - Guest writer

On solid ground

Pre-K an education foundation

A solid foundation is of critical importance. A house built without a foundation is destined to fail. Sure, there are ways to add a foundation after the house is built, but those options require far more cost and effort than if the foundation work had been done correctly before the walls started going up.

The need to reduce the cost of remedial education in colleges and universities is not strictly an Arkansas issue. Much has been written and said about this very topic, and many states are grappling with the issue of students who require enrollment in remedial, or developmental, courses because they are underprepared for college-level work.

Recent data from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education indicate that while remediation rates in the state are declining, the percentage of students who are unprepared in math, English or reading is still nearly 40 percent. This means that four out of every 10 students that enroll in an Arkansas college or university are required to take extra courses to prepare for what should have been considered college-level work.

Institutions are helping to reduce these numbers by utilizing more precise student-placement practices for enrollment into the right courses and adopting more innovative instructional approaches. Both these tactics include enrolling students in credit-bearing courses that include supplemental instruction so that separate remedial courses are no longer necessary. While these efforts are indeed reducing remediation rates, the more appropriate response to this issue would be to improve student preparedness when they enroll in post-secondary education.

How can this be done? By building a solid foundation. Just like the house that requires a solid foundation for stability, students need a foundation of learning, and it begins with quality pre-K. High-quality pre-K programs give students the start they need for a lifetime of learning. Multiple studies have shown that students who are on track with literacy and math skills by the third grade are far more likely to be successful. In fact, one study shows that students who do not read proficiently by the third grade are four times more likely to drop out before finishing high school!

What's more, data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that only 31 percent of Arkansas third-graders are actually reading on grade level and, according to the Qualls Early Learning assessment, we also know that only 41 percent of economically disadvantaged students (defined as those eligible for free or reduced lunch) without pre-K education were considered "developed" upon entering kindergarten.

In Arkansas, we don't need to speculate about what quality pre-K education looks like. The Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) program has been a strong example for over a decade. As a result of this program, Arkansas meets the national average in the percentage of pre-K enrollment. However, we need to ensure that the education these children receive is quality, and additional funding is desperately needed to ensure that more early education centers in the state are able to meet quality standards by adopting the necessary curriculum and hiring teachers that are properly compensated and trained.

ABC has given many Arkansas children the opportunity to succeed, but the state's pre-K programs have begun to falter due to little increase in program funding over the past decade.

Henderson State University is in a unique position to understand the impact of quality pre-K. The university has been recognized as having one of the state's top teacher-education programs, including preparing teachers for early childhood classrooms. In addition, Henderson State operates an on-campus pre-K center that is unique in that it not only begins the educational journey of 3- and 4-year-olds, but also provides future early childhood educators the opportunity to see how they can impact the lives of children through their work. Through our and similar programs, future teachers are being prepared to give our children the solid foundation they need.

Arkansas policymakers have an opportunity to improve pre-K education in our state through additional funding. These additional funds will ensure that our children have the quality environment, quality curriculum and quality teachers they need and deserve. The result will be the critical foundation every student needs to be the future engineers, computer programmers, nurses, welders, and teachers in our state. Each of these careers requires post-secondary education and starts with a firm educational foundation.

I'm personally proud to be a member of the ForwARd Arkansas implementation working group, and applaud their efforts to advocate for legislative funding for high-quality and voluntary pre-K. After all, I think we can all agree that an investment now in quality pre-K will pay huge dividends in Arkansas' future economic development.

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Brett Powell is vice president for finance and administration at Henderson State University, and former director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.

Editorial on 03/09/2017

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