What, exactly, is the future of the federal investment in public education?  For months now, we have tried to cobble together an answer to that question, using presidential campaign rhetoric, economic stimulus package priorities, and now Presidential budget decisions to help us see where we are headed as a nation.   Since assuming his position in late January, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has provided us little more detail, sticking mostly to the talking points on stimulus and education’s impact on the economy. 

But few seem to have a clear sense of what the U.S. Department of Education has in store for the future, particularly the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  The general agreement is that reauthorization could happen as early as this fall and as late as the summer of 2010, but it is indeed coming.  The common logic is NCLB will stay relatively intact.  Along the way, we hear about efforts in Washington, DC to construct more comprehensive reading legislation (to replace Reading First) and a framework for national standards (expected to be delivered by Achieve to Duncan in the coming weeks), but where, exactly, will our future priorities lie?

Recently, Duncan and his lieutenants have been focusing on four key policy pillars on which the new U.S. Department of Education is constructed.  First, implementation of college and career-ready standards and assessments.  Second, creation of comprehensive data systems that track students throughout their education career and track teachers back to schools of education to better understand which programs are producing teachers that make a difference.  Third, recruitment, preparation, and reward of outstanding teachers, paying more to teachers who work in tough schools.  And finally, turn around of chronically underperforming schools.

What figured prominently during President Obama’s campaign – but what seems to be missing from the core tenets – is early childhood education.  Early and often, Obama campaigned on the notion of a strong national commitment to early childhood education.  Instead of just focusing on access and an expansion of current programs, the President seemed focused on committing to quality just as much as he committed to quantity.  The talk was not universal preK; the rhetoric was high-quality preK.

But what, precisely, is high-quality early childhood education?  For decades now, many have viewed the 800-pound gorilla in the ECE room – Head Start – as being little more than glorified babysitting.  Instead of using the time to help disadvantaged or low-income students get a jump start on their academic futures, Head Start just focuses on the “social” aspects.  We make our youngest learners more comfortable with existing in a learning environment.  The pre-reading and pre-math skills such learners needed simply come once they officially entered kindergarten – and entered miles behind their academically better-off peers.

In recent years, we have watched the universal preK movement transform from the hare into the tortoise.  Supporters of universal preK have watched new plans ground to a halt and have seen existing programs slowed or scaled back, all because of a smaller pot of resources going education needs.  Smaller state budgets, caused by less-than-planned real estate taxes, have forced some tough decisions when it comes to public education.  And early childhood education was one of the first on the chopping block.

Last month, the Pew Center of the States released Leadership Matters: Governors’ Pre-K Proposals Fiscal Year 2010.  Looking at recent education budgets proposed by the current state chief executives, Pew found that our greatest fears are likely not going to be realized (unless state legislatures have anything to do with it).  Despite our states’ economic struggles, 14 states are proposing increases in early childhood education investment.  Thirteen states are proposing to level fund programs.  And three states are looking to establish preK efforts where there currently are none.  All told, our nation’s governors intend to boost FY2010 investment in early childhood education by 4 percent over 2009’s commitments.

The Pew study only tells half the story, though.  The other 50 percent still has yet to be written.  Sixty percent of our states are looking to start, continue, or strengthen their investment in preK.  But what are they investing in?  How do we ensure that we are investing in high-quality early childhood education?  How do we measure return on investment in preK?  How do we make sure our youngest learners are gaining the academic building blocks needed to succeed throughout their academic careers, overcoming some of the learning gaps that have long dogged disadvantaged students and have long dug a deep scholastic trench between the haves and have nots?

The doubting Thomases would say one cannot truly quantify results in early childhood education.  But we know that to simply be incorrect.  When it comes to pre-reading, we know the letter recognition and vocabulary skills three- and four-year olds can gain to prepare them for the research-based K-4 reading instruction that will transform them into proficient, confident readers.  We know the numeracy that all students need to know to maximize the start of their K-12 experience.  And we know the core skills all students require to be ready to learn when they pass through those kindergarten doors for the first time.

So what, then, does quality look like?  We can turn our gaze to two unlikely places – Washington, DC and Texas – to provide us some real insight into high-quality, effective preK instruction.  In Washington, the AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, through the DC Partnership for Early Literacy, is working in some of our nation’s capital’s lowest-income communities, yet posting significant gains on student early reading achievement.  Based on standardized, nationally normed assessments, AppleTree students gained 21 percentile points in vocabulary proficiency, placing them higher than the national norm and more than doubling the gains demonstrated by students in DC Head Start classrooms.  Among AppleTree’s lowest 50 percent of students, learners posted even more impressive gains – 26 percentile points, nearly tripling typical Head Start results while working with students from similar demographics.

In Texas, the Children’s Learning Institute, through its Texas Early Education Model (TEEM), is now working with more than 61,000 young learners across 38 communities in the Lone State State.  There, students are achieving and demonstrating progress in key literacy skills, including phonological awareness, rapid letter naming, and vocabulary development.

These two programs are not merely the exceptions to the rule.  They are worth acknowledging for two reasons.  First, they are demonstrating results.  Both AppleTree and TEEM help define what high-quality early childhood education is, how we can measure it, and the sort of results we should expect from effective preK.  More importantly, though, both programs also demonstrate that our youngest learners can benefit from the same policy pillars that Secretary Duncan is putting in place for our K-12 systems.

In early childhood education, we also see that standards and assessments are key, particularly if we expect to demonstrate and measure the results that define quality.  In ECE, we also see that data systems are key, providing educators and policymakers the information necessary to bridge three-year-old programs to four-year-old programs to kindergarten and beyond.  In ECE, we know that effective teachers are the key to a quality program, and early childhood educators must be well trained, well supported, and constantly encouraged to improve their practice and improve their knowledgebase.  And in ECE, we know that our most disadvantaged students – those from historically underperforming neighborhoods – are the kids that most benefit and most need a high-quality, academically focused preK experience.

Nationally, we believe that every child should have access to a high-quality education.  We believe that student achievement is king, and all learners should be proficient and should be able to demonstrate that proficiency, both in the classroom and on state and national assessments.  We believe that a strong public education is the gateway to a strong future, both for the individual and society.  And we believe, or should, that we must hold our systems accountable for the quality and effectiveness of the education they deliver.

Such belief systems should not be restricted to our K-12 systems, or even more narrowly construed for grades 3-8 when we measure AYP.  If we expect to transform every child into a successful learner, we also need to implement the quality, accountability, and teacher effectiveness into our preK systems.  As our states look to invest in the future of early childhood education, as the Pew Center indicates, we need to make sure this money is going toward good programs that demonstrate true ROI.  We need to look at programs like TEEM, AppleTree, and others to guide our decisions.  Demanding early childhood education is no longer enough.  We should be demanding quality – and results – for our youngest learners as well.