Status of Preschool for African American Children

State Supt. Jack O'Connell Remarks at the NAACP Universal Preschool Summit
Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Good morning. It's a pleasure to be with educators dedicated to solving the single most important challenge we face in our public schools in California.

Today in California we have the most racially diverse schools in the nation – schools where students come to class learning English and speaking hundreds of different languages.

We also have an achievement gap that is robbing too many of our children of successful futures.

Our highest priority must be to provide every child with an academically rigorous education and the support needed to succeed in school.

We owe it to our students to educate every single one of them to fulfill their highest potential. That's our job. It's a challenge and an opportunity worth embracing.

That's why I'm proud that in California we have built a system of accountability for our schools that purposely sheds light on the achievement of our African American students, our English learners and students with economic disadvantages.

Only by shining a light on the achievement gap, can we target our resources to those children who need them the most. And my friends, we've shined the light, and the gap it reveals remains intolerably wide.

Only 35 percent of california's african american 4th graders are scoring proficient and above – 33 percentage points below white fourth graders. and by the 10th grade, the gap is 27 percentage points – with only 22 percent of african american students scoring proficient and above. In Math, the gap is 31 percentage points in the 4th grade, and 33 points by the 7th grade.

Now we know from research that the achievement gap separating Black and white students clearly exists even before children start school, and this is where the gap must be addressed if we are ever to close it in elementary school and beyond.

Results of a wide-scale federal study, by the National commission on Education statistics, showed that on reading assessments of kindergarten students 34 percent of African American children scored in the lowest quartile of results, compared to just 18 percent of white kindergartners.

The Perry Preschool Study in Michigan followed for decades the educational progress of 123 African American children who were exposed to a high quality, active learning program at the ages of 3 and 4, compared to their peers who did not attend preschool.

Students who attended preschool achieved at higher levels throughout school, were less likely to be placed in special education… more likely to graduate from high school… more likely to hold a job… and they had earnings that were 60 percent! Higher than the students who did not attend preschool. They were half as likely to receive public assistance at age 27, and had half as many arrests.

In other words, clear evidence that the benefits of preschool for African American children extend well into adulthood.

The evidence doesn't end with the Perry preschool study. an avalanche of research underscores the powerful effects that early schooling can have on children's life chances and ultimate well-being.

But although research shows the benefits of preschool are greatest for children from poor, minority backgrounds, those groups are not the most likely to attend preschool programs.

Children from homes with incomes in the highest quartile are more than twice as likely to attend pre-kindergarten programs as are children whose families are in the lowest quartile (52% versus 22%).

It is now generally recognized that for each $1 spent on quality preschool for children in poverty, $7 is saved in societal costs.

How can we as a state and a nation afford NOT to invest in preschool for all?

Sadly, Today our state is not investing in incentives for the best teachers to take on the greatest challenges at our lowest performing schools. We are not fully paying the costs of class size reduction. Nor are we adequately investing in school libraries, counselors, or physical education.

We need to do all of these things to address the achievement gap. And I'm convinced that the best investment we can is to provide preschool for all California children.

I am convinced that the achievement gap that is most severe in our high schools will not be closed unless we start before kindergarten to prepare all students for academic success.

I want all California 4-year-olds to be given the foundation that truly prepares them for school and a lifelong love of learning. That's the goal of the preschool initiative I undertook this year, and will continue to focus on next year at the California Department of Education.

The foundation for quality preschool for all should, ultimately, 1) define "quality preschool" by developing standards for what we should expect every preschooler to learn and be able to do, 2.) build a first-class professional learning system for preschool teachers, 3) create a results-based accountability system for public preschools, 4.) create a seamless transition from preschool through first grade and 5.) involve all stakeholders – families, businesses, educators at all levels, and communities –in the effort of supporting high quality preschools.

For universal preschool to succeed, it must include meaningful parent involvement. Effective preschools offer paths to involvement that are realistic and convenient, making it clear that family members are welcome to participate in whatever way they prefer and can best manage while recognizing the families diversity in culture, language and learning.

Collaboration, coordination and relationships with community-based organizations are also essential to linking preschool to family support and needs.

We also must Promote the support of businesses for publicly funded preschool, because it makes not just social but economic sense

And that's why I'm going up and down the state, making the case for universal preschool.

Californians should not have to choose between health care for the poor and adequate funding for our schools, between functioning roads and well-trained teachers. and they should not have to choose between funding for k-12 and educating our youngest children.

Investing in our schools is the most rational way to improve California's economy, and investing in preschool is the best way to improve achievement in our schools.

I thank you for your work here today and for continuing to work in the future so that all california children will have equal opportunity to succeed.

Thank you.