Sharing Web Resources

This week I further explored the news and publication section of The Association for Childhood Education International website. Under this section I reviewed global news. I found an interesting article entitled The Starting Well Report.  The Economist Intelligence Unit developed this report to rank preschool conditions of 45 countries, including the United States. The goal of the study is to measure availability, affordability, and quality of early childhood education programs in each of these countries. 

Findings from the research show a strong correlation between a country’s per capita income and its overall ranking in the index, especially the affordability of its preschool education programs.  The report also shows how lack of policy attention could hinder progress in child development efforts, in both high- and low-income situations.

The findings could inform policymakers about the need to invest more on early childhood development.  This could be achieved through reduced education costs, increased labor productivity, lower welfare payments, and a reduction in crime. The complete summary of this report can be found at http://www.lienfoundation.org/pdf/publication/sw_report.pdf .

While reviewing the global news section of the website, I realized the issues the United States has with affordability, access, availability and equity, are not isolated to our country.  Some countries have made strides in these areas and some are further behind in the progress. 

Although our early education progress is not where it should be, I feel confident we are headed in the right direction.   

References

Association for Childhood Education International
http://www.acei.org

 The Starting Well Report retrieved from http://www.lienfoundation.org/pdf/publication/sw_report.pdf