All posts by maia.padberg

Equitable Access to Early Childhood Education (Group 6)

In Multnomah county, Portland Oregon, the very first Preschool for All application has just opened (Egener, 2022). According to Egener (2022), “The announcement marks a key milestone toward making tuition-free preschool available to all 3- and 4- year-olds in the county, as the Preschool for All measure provides. Voters overwhelmingly passed the measure in 2020 with 64% of the vote. It is funded by a personal income tax of 1.5 % on joint filers earning more than $200,000 and 3% on joint filers earning more than $400,000. The tax went into effect Jan. 1, 2021” (para. 3). Top priority is being given to low income families and notably “… migrant or refugee families, non-English speaking families” (Egner, 2022, para. 11). This is an incredibly positive shift in how early childhood education is approached and instrumental in supporting refugee and migrant students who are some of the most vulnerable nationwide. 

The State of the World’s Children 2016: A fair chance for every child highlights some of the many reasons countries need to invest in quality early childhood education especially when supporting their most vulnerable populations. Rapid brain development during the first few years of children’s lives establishes an essential foundation. As noted in the report, “… early childhood offers a critical window of opportunity to break intergenerational cycles of inequity. Early childhood care, protection and stimulation can jumpstart brain development, strengthen children’s ability to learn, help them develop psychological resilience and allow them to adapt to change” (UNICEF, 2016, p. 50). As outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals, access to quality education begins in early childhood which is why it is so important to see how Preschool for All is being implemented (UNICEF, 2016). It is clear that, “To help children from poor and marginalized groups overcome the disadvantages they start out with, early childhood care and universal pre-primary education should be priorities” (UNICEF, 2016, p. 65). Equitable access to early childhood education is paramount in supporting  the growth and development of our communities worldwide. 

References:

Egner, M. (2022, April 4). Multnomah county families can apply for free preschool this month. The outlook. https://pamplinmedia.com/go/42-news/541399-433485-multnomah-county-families-can-apply-for-free-preschool-this-month

UNICEF. (2016). The State of the World’s Children 2016: A fair chance for every child. New York: UNICEF.

Media Reflection 7.3 (group 6)

In an article posted by Education Week, Cardoza (2019)  highlights some of the experiences of migrant children in schools and how schools are attempting to support these children. Essentially, one of the prominent struggles behind schools’ ability to support these students is that many of the migrant children that are being enrolled, “…have large gaps in their schooling, meaning that many are well behind their grade levels in reading, even in Spanish.” The challenge then is that the schools need to have enough resources to provide the language support and instruction the students need in order to catch up. 

Schools are constrained by budgets, finding bilingual teachers and the challenge of teaching students a new language in addition to keeping them on track with content. The question though is are the majority of schools approaching language learning and instruction the optimal way?

In the Module 7 text this week Grosjean (2010) explains that “…Cummins estimates that minority-language children require at least five years to catch up to their majority-language peers in literacy-related language skills” (p. 234). On top of that Grosjean also explains that research has shown how difficult it is to keep up with a regular school curriculum as a child or adolescent, while also learning the “language of instruction” (2010, p. 233). 

As more schools experience an influx of migrant students the attention towards the structure of language instruction in schools across the US must shift. According to Grosjean (2010), schools that have found success in supporting the development of bilingual students are those that emphasize instruction in both languages and build off of students’ strengths in their dominant language. The Amigos School in Cambridge MA, is one example of a school offering dual language immersion where instruction is offered in both Spanish and English and eventually is split evenly throughout the students’ days (Grosjean, 2010). It would seem that not all, but many of our school systems in the US are not yet structured to match the research and best practices behind supporting migrant students in maintaining their native language while learning English and expanding their knowledge.

Resources:

Cardoza, K. (2019, April 9). How schools are responding to migrant children. Education Week.https://www.edweek.org/leadership/how-schools-are-responding-to-migrant-children/2019/04

Grosjean, F. (2010) Bilingual: Life and reality.Harvard University Press.

A Picture of Resettlement in Vermont

https://www.uvm.edu/news/story/resettled-vermont

I chose this story for it’s connections to my home state and the University of Vermont where I went to school. The story shares a picture of how certain areas in Vermont are approaching resettlement in the small state. One education system that is highlighted is the Winooski School District which serves students from many different countries including Bhutan, Somalia and Iraq. The story emphasizes how Winooski Middle and High School is designed as a community school to support the “holistic development” of the students. I did my student teaching in a neighboring school district serving a similarly diverse population of students, but I am curious to learn more about what this community model of schooling entails and how it is different from the school that I worked at. Finally, the story also touches on the issue of food insecurity and how the community has found ways to address this issue. According to Catina (2017), “New Farms for New Americans (NFNA) is a community-based gardening and agriculture program by AALV that provides refugee and immigrant farmers with plots, training, and the necessary education to sustain their agrarian traditions in Vermont—all while growing healthy, nutritious foods for their families and neighbors” This model allows individuals to grow and have access to food that is not found at local grocery stores. Food is such a important piece of our cultural identities and I think this approach is a powerful way for individuals to feel connected to their cultures and homes.