The DR prompt this week is one that is very close to my heart, and unfortunately it is one wrought with emotion on all sides, and a misstep in words can cause the "r" word to rear it's ugly head.
I took my current position as PSD in Early Childhood for NHPS out of a passion to equal the playing field for young urban children. To give them quality early childhood experiences similar to those in suburban settings, and hopefully make a difference in the young lives of my students. I have multiple sites, with many classrooms serving almost 300 children each year. Superintendent Mayo worked diligently to make sure these urban children have new school buildings, clean, safe and full of natural light throughout the city to attend. Our department continues to provide quality early childhood experiences to our students by hiring and training qualified staff; offering continuing education opportunities free to staff, including a CDA Cohort with Albertus Magnus College for Assistant Teachers to earn their CDA credential. We worked closely with the State to create Learning Experience Plans (lesson plans) that met their rubric, brought in a core literacy curriculum rich in quality literature, partnered with an accredited online PD company to provide free EC training to every staff member; have all sites NAEYC Accredited, have valid and reliable screenings and assessments in all domains with a focus on pre-literacy assessments given 3 times per year. Our programs are quality. So why is there still an achievement gap?
Research has determined that children in suburban areas enter kindergarten with a word bank of about 2,000 words. Urban children enter kindergarten with a word bank of about 5,000 words. That is a 15,000 word gap that never closes. These urban children never catch up, and by third grade it become harder and harder for them to feel successful.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/03/the-32-million-word-gap/36856/
"The differences were astounding. Children in professionals' homes were exposed to an average of more than fifteen hundred more spoken words per hour than children in welfare homes. Over one year, that amounted to a difference of nearly 8 million words, which, by age four, amounted to a total gap of 32 million words." (Hart and Risley)
"Five year olds from low-income communities are exposed to only 5,000 words by the time they reach kindergarten, versus their “richer” peers who enter school with 20,000-word vocabularies. Such an achievement gap is often set in stone before a child even walks through school doors for the first time." Reading to the Kids Who Need It Most Ashley Williams //Jul. 14, 2011
I have observed many parent interactions over the past six years in my role as Director. What I see is mostly what Risley calls "Business talk" and I have coined as "Custodial Conversation." Parents mostly interact with their child with directives such as "sit down, tie your shoe, brush your teeth, don't interrupt, get in the car." What we try to promote is conversational dialogue between children and adults. We have family style meals, and invite the parents to sit with the children and talk. We find we have to model this frequently. The families are not used to this setting, either sitting at a table all at the same time for a meal, and /or just talking about life, interests, ideas... It is obvious immediately which children are used to having ongoing two-way conversations with adults and which are not. The wide eyed disbelief gives them away. Sometimes these children, once they are given permission to speak freely can't stop, or regrettably have no words to join in.
Brice-Health's piece "What no bedtime story means.." clearly explains the the research findings in 3 very different communities with 3 distinctly different cultures. And http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/risley.htm Risey's YouTube interview eloquently explains this phenomenon. I see it in the pre-school classrooms every day. I have debated with peers of diverse cultures as to how to address the issues. It is a difficult dialogue. People of color will argue that it is not acceptable to hold standards of one culture to another. That how I may raise my children, what I choose to teach them, cannot be forced upon another culture. One heated discussion I was involved in made me very uncomfortable. I took this job to make a difference. But I was being told I cannot. I learned one must be very careful in choosing the words to use in the dialogue concerning language, speech and literacy. Words such as "Standard, Proper or Correct English" raise ire in some cultures.
My colleagues argued that I had no idea what was important in the African American culture. That respect and "street cred" was necessary to survival in their neighborhoods. I countered that I did understand that. That we all make adjustments for the settings we are in (Discourses), that we all present ourselves differently at home, at work, with friends, etc. But we have the ability to change our discourse because we can slide into slang, or business-speak or academic jargon. They themselves were given opportunities professionally because they had this ability. To not give every child the same opportunity is unethical! They did not agree. They felt that influence changed the very identity and culture of their people. I was perceived in light of the "r" word, which I found heartbreaking.
As a mother I want my child to have every opportunity to find their way and live a rich life with skills and tools that will help them succeed in any career they choose. My support for my children included reading at home, dance/piano/voice lessons, sports, play dates for socialization, lots and lots of conversations about real life, and make believe. I found it astonishing that holding on to their mindset was holding back generations of young urban children from being given the same opportunities my children had. As an educator I wanted to find a way to close that 15,000 word gap.
Our teacher promote language and literacy daily, using many, varied tools to get children excited about books, reading, word play, rhyming, songs, etc. We talk to parents about routine bedtimes, reading with children consistently, and just having conversations with them. But are we imposing our school culture on their home culture? Do we have the right to teach parents how to parent?
The first page of our Program Handbook states, "A parent is a child's first teacher." We guide parents to advocate for their children, we talk with them early in the year to learn about their home culture. We invite family members in to read, or share a talent or something from their own culture. We have an open door policy that we hope encourages parents to be an active part of their child's pre-k experience, but very few participate. We have a few consistent parents, but for all of the invitations given, all of the messages sent home in a variety of ways, their is very little involvement. The message we get over and over, is it is the teacher's job to teach the children in school.
Is it ethical to impose standard English; school/middle class culture on urban children? I ask, is it ethical to leave an entire culture with less than adequate skills for success in this global economy? With little or no hope of ever having a better life than they do now?
There is so much at play in the achievement gap beyond "Standard English" arguments. The poverty level among children under age 6 is one:
National Poverty Rate for Children
Data released in September 2011 by the Census Bureau indicate that 16.4 million children in the United States, 22.0 percent of all children, lived in poverty in 2010. More than six million of these children were under six years old. Of the 16.4 million poor children, nearly half, 7.4 million, lived in extreme poverty, which is defined as an annual income of less than half the official poverty line (i.e., $11,157 for a family of four) [1]. Poverty rates among children of color are much higher than among white children and have been so since the Census Bureau began making separate estimates by race. http://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq6.htm
“The rate of child poverty in Bridgeport is alarming. We are deeply concerned about the impact poverty has on children’s health, school performance, family stability and safety. Affordable, quality health care, a strong education system, affordable housing and jobs that move families out of poverty are critical to help offset the effects of child poverty,” remarked Mary Pat Healy, Executive Director of the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition. http://blog.ctnews.com/kantrowitz/2011/09/22/poverty-rising-and-income-falling-in-connecticut/
Another issue is healthcare:
For the third year, the U.S. Census Bureau released state-, city-, county- and Congressional district-level estimates for health insurance coverage in Connecticut from the American Community Survey. In Connecticut, 9.1% (an estimated 320,133 persons) of all people in Connecticut were without health insurance at the time of the survey.
Yet another issue in early childhood education is toxic stress:
"The Toxic Stress of Early Childhood Adversity: Rethinking Health and Education Policy" is the subject of an on-demand webcast available from The Forum at Harvard School of Public Health. The hour-long program, recorded Feb. 7, 2012, in Boston, examines how early childhood adversity can trigger the toxic stress response in children’s bodies and brains, leaving them at higher risk for problems in learning, behavior, and health throughout their lifetimes—and how health and education policies might be used or revamped to better prevent or mitigate such problems. http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/lectures_and_presentations/hsph-forum/
What is ethical? What is every child's right? Should our constitution have said we have certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and Equal Education for all? Why is ok to allow some children to live in conditions that will never afford them any pursuit of happiness? Can Educators fill in all of the empty spaces caused by conditions such as lack of a secure base attachment, poor nutrition, poor medical attention, little or no dental needs met, poverty, chaos, toxic stress, abuse, violence, etc.
Actually, if we want to see the achievement gap close, we have to start earlier than Pre-k. The first three years of life are the most critical stages in childhood development. These years are crucial to brain development:
"By the time a child is three the brain has formed about l000 trillion connections, more than it will ever need. The absence of experiences that will stimulate the brain during critical periods can have a lasting impact. Critical periods are times when the brain is most ripe for the learning and acquisition of new skills. How important are the first three years of a baby's life? by Anita Gurian, PhD and Robin F. Goodman PhD
At this point my mind wanders to the musical Les Miserables. Is our society really much different today? Do we not have a class system within society? Do we not have "throw away" people? Do not the few privileged make the laws and budget cuts that affect millions of young children just starting out in life, preventing them from their own pursuit of happiness and equal education for all? I believe more important than asking about the right of every individual to be himself/herself and stay that way, is the right of every person to be given every support, education/skill/tool and opportunity to live the life they would choose if they had options; if they didn't have to crawl out of a myriad of obstacles such as poverty, abuse, a community that by all appearances doesn't want them to get ahead (I'm Down: A Memoir, Mishna Wolff) overcome addictions, lack of educational opportunities, etc.
So, now I must reflect on what my role is. What is my responsibility to the children in my program? What is my role in their lives? Do I "impose" what I believe, and research supports, that language development, literacy skills, and social skills are what these children will need to have success in Kindergarten and beyond? YES. I will continue to train teachers to promote an open door environment where home culture is respected. I will continue to encourage parents to read to their children, to model conversation beyond "custodial" dialogue, to guide and prod parents to advocate for their children, to read and educate themselves in parenting, and how to support their child for academic success, with the goal for all children to be lifelong learners.
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