Preschool Target Issues

The Expectations Project’s 5 Target Issues:

Early Childhood Education, High Standards and Expectations, Quality Teachers and Leadership, Access to Quality Schools, and Trauma Informed Schools

Early Childhood Education With 90% of brain growth occurring between birth and age three, it is safe to say that early childhood education is extremely important, for all children. Unfortunately, not all children have access to high quality preschools, or have access to preschool at all. These children may not have access to a high-quality preschool for a number of reasons, such as: not being able to afford one, or there not being one in their community. Students in low-income communities also don’t have access to as many books, or hear as many words

Unfortunately, some students do not have quality teachers and/or leadership in their schools. Students of color are twice as likely to have the least effective teachers in their classrooms, and are 3 to 10 times more likely to be taught by unqualified teachers. Poor students and students of color have been set up to fail, and quality teachers and school leaders can make a difference.

If the achievement gap is to be closed, students of color and from low-income backgrounds need to be taught by the best and most effective teachers, and their schools need to be ran by high quality school leaders. This would look like: teachers’ effectiveness being measured and monitored by directly observing them and looking at the academic growth of their students, educators and school leaders having access to professional training, and creating incentive programs to bring in and retain high quality educators and school leaders. To ensure the success of all students, it is imperative that putting high quality instructors and leaders into schools with low-income students and students of color, and keeping them there, is a

These events can include, but are not limited to: incarceration, racial discrimination, health issues, and lack of food, water, clothing and/or shelter. 1 in 4 children has experienced a traumatic event in their life, and research shows that traumatic events effect students’ ability to learn and behave in school. There is a physiological response to repeated stress, in the brain that causes the hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning) to literally shrink in size. Trauma also lowers a child’s life expectancy, and increases their likelihood of, developing diseases, and performing risky behaviors. With this information being true, there are still 1.6 million students in schools that have resource officers, and no