Liv Ames for EdSource Today

Liv Ames for EdSource Today

California land-funded preschools meet only iv of the x quality preschool standards developed by the National Institute for Early Education Research, according to a report released Monday.

California was one of five states that met fewer than half of the standards developed by the national constitute, based at Rutgers University'due south School of Graduate Education. The almanac report, The Country of Preschool 2014, focuses on preschool funding, enrollment and quality for forty states and the District of Columbia. Ten states practice non fund preschool and were not included in the report.

California was credited for having comprehensive early learning standards, requiring at least 15 hours a year in instructor in-service training, mandating that teachers have specialized pre-K grooming, and requiring a staff-to-student ratio of one to ten or less. Just, according to the study, the state misses the marking by not requiring that:

  • Teachers have a available's degree;
  • Assistant teachers have at least 6 college credits in early on childhood education or child development;
  • Class sizes be xx students or smaller;
  • Children be screened for vision, hearing and health;
  • Function-time programs serve at least one meal a twenty-four hour period;
  • Programs be monitored through regular site visits.

"This report absolutely highlights the critical demand to increase the quality of our programs," said Molly Tafoya, communications manager for Early Border California, an advocacy group based in Oakland.

Although California adopted a new organisation to charge per unit early childhood centers, at that place are no requirements that the centers adopt practices to ameliorate their ratings.

The state's Quality Improvement and Rating System (QIRS) "is an incentive-based system rather than a modify in licensing requirements," said Erin Gabel, deputy manager of Get-go v California. "I'm happy to encounter the higher standards, but we never allocate adequate money to pay for them."

From 2010-11 through 2013-14, California spent $3,714 per student for the part-mean solar day land preschool program, according to Carolyn Chu, a senior financial and policy analyst for the Legislative Analyst'due south Role.

Overall, funding past the states for preschool programs grew by $116 1000000, or one percent, from 2012-thirteen to 2013-14, according to the written report. A total of 1.35 million children, primarily 4-year-olds, attended these programs in 2013-14, the report said.

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