Thorpe: Welcome to Beyond the Data.
I'm Dr. Phoebe Thorpe and here
with me today is Dr. Ross Thompson
from the University of California Davis.
Thank you for joining us.
Thompson: My pleasure.
Thorpe: Today's session was
about addressing childhood disparities.
We had a lot of good content.
One of the things that is well-known is
that pre-K is helpful.
What we're asking people to invest in pre-K
and when people invest in things they want to know
that it's going to last.
There's been some recent controversy
about the lasting effects of pre-K through the research
in Tennessee and some other programs.
What can you tell me about what we can do
to make the effects of pre-K last?
Thompson: Well, it's important to recognize
that not all pre-K is necessarily going
to have enduring benefits for children and you have to focus
on the qualities of pre-K and the experiences
that both precede and follow it
to understand whether children are going
to be lasting beneficiaries.
First of all, obviously but,
but really elusively sometimes we have to focus on the quality
of the pre-K experience itself.
And researchers have been discovering the quality is not
just a matter of curriculum although that's important.
Quality is not just a matter of things
like class size although that's important.
A lot of it has to do with the quality of the
of the relationships between teachers and children,
the emotional climate of the classroom,
the kind of instructional practices that are being used
and whether developmentally appropriate so,
so we can really measure differences in quality
that really do make a difference.
Another factor that's really important is the extent
of follow-through there is.
What happens if you put a child in a high-quality pre-K program
but then they end up going
into a public school classroom that's not very high-quality
at all.
Children may end up repeating learning experiences they've
already had and they may not carry forth the benefits
that they had learned, that they had gained in a pre-K classroom.
The real unlimited pre-K parent involvement can be important.
Whether parents are supporting the child's learning
in the classroom or not can have a lot to do
with the gains that the child makes.
So it's important for us to recognize
that that even a high-quality pre-K experience is not a
magic bullet.
There's got to be things that follow from that
that are important as well.
Thorpe: It's very interesting because you said,
one of the things that I learned from the session was
that it's learning begets learning but things build on top
of each other and so I was wondering, tell me some
of the things that are about even earlier than pre-K the 0
to 3 what's going on there
because I know there's more research coming
out about the phenomenal stuff that can happen there.
Thompson: I think that's really true Phoebe.
I think one of the things that has surprised those
who have been urging greater preschool availability
for children across the country has been the numbers of children
at age 3 who arrive at a high-quality preschool classroom
who are already behind their peers.
And now we have really good research that showing
that experiences in the first three years have a lot to do
with shaping children's language skills and vocabulary,
sometimes their number concepts and it also extends to some
of what people call the non-cognitive skills,
the degree to which children have self-confidence
as learners, that they're able to persist
in learning challenges, that their self-regulated
and therefore can, can focus their attention
in their thinking and can regulate their emotions
and get along with other kids in a classroom.
So, in a way that we have,
that we have not had an awareness of before.
Experiences of the first three years lay a foundation
for the kind of learning that can occur
after children enter preschool.
Thorpe: Wow, that's an amazing thing it just reinforces the
learning begets learning.
And so, I'm wondering can, I obviously am a pediatrician,
and I encourage my parents to read to their children
and there are other things.
What are some of the other things that parents could do
in that 0 to 3 age and even beyond
that would help their children be ready for school and beyond?
Thompson: I think one of the things
that would astonish parents is
to realize how much learning is going on in the first year,
because it tends to be well disguised by the child's sort
of on exuberance and emotionality and lack
of self-regulation this child does not look
like Albert Einstein, but the brain is growing in that way.
So you're telling a parent for example that to talk
to a child before the child has even said their first word is
actually helping the brain rewire itself so it can engage
in that vocabulary explosion that begins at about 18 months
of age and really take off.
So a lot of conversation,
a lot of emotionally rich social interaction, a deep attachment
to that child and helping that child develop a warm
and secure attachment to you as a parent.
And then as a child is getting older and is beginning
to use language, to use that language
to help unfold the child's experiences, you know,
to talk about a walk in the neighborhood or a trip
to the supermarket, to ask a child what they saw
and to unfold that experience for the child
to use memory concepts, counting things that,
that they encounter, to talk about emotions
and the child's feelings, other people's feelings
and how we get along with other people.
You know in a sense part of what parents are doing are being tour
guides to this remarkable world
in which the child finds himself.
But they're tour guides who change and what the offer based
on the child's age and the child's developing abilities.
To always be at the cutting edge of what children are learning
and seeking to discover and there's always, always,
always be reassuring the child that the parent has their back,
that they're always with them, that they're utterly committed
to the child's growth and development,
and they have utter, utter confidence
in the child's ability to succeed.
Those are some really good foundations.
Thorpe: That's amazing.
The other area that we talk about today is
about practitioners both educational providers
and healthcare providers, what are some of the things
that you would suggest that they do
to help every child reach their potential?
Thompson: With all that we been learning
about the developing brain and mind in the early years of life,
it certainly has given us a new appreciation of the importance
of the workforce of professionals who are engaged
with children at the very youngest ages and families,
and I think that, you know, besides all the things
that I dared talked about that parents can be doing.
You know those in early education,
those in healthcare can be can be developmentally minded
in helping to foster the child's healthy development
at each stage of life.
One of the things they can also be doing is to,
is to be an interaction with other professionals
who are involved with the same child at that age.
To know to know as a healthcare provider what is going
on in the child's educational experience to be able
to support that, to know what's happening in the family,
to help the child in that experience as well.
As professionals are working together
across sectors they're able to provide more consistent
and seamless support for the child.
And in addition, it's important for professionals to be
in communication with each other as the child matures.
So that there's a seamless, seamless growth
of the child's learning abilities as they move
for example from a preschool classroom into a pre-K classroom
into kindergarten and then into the primary grades as teachers
at each level are communicating with each other that helps
to ensure that the child's learning is building upon prior
learning and that the child is getting ready
for the learning opportunities that will follow from that.
So, communication within sectors across ages, communication
across sectors within age.
Thorpe: Interesting, that gets to that the diagram
that you had where there's..
it reduces the fractionation
that you'd mentioned in the session.
Thompson: That's exactly right.
Thorpe: The other thing about the fractionation is
that it leaves gaps and I,
we talked about how there's early intervention,
that's there's state programs in early intervention.
There's also one for educational if they're expected,
if children are expected have educational difficulties,
but what about children who don't meet those,
you have to be eligible for those requirements,
and would if you are kind of falling between the gaps
but you don't meet those interventions what are some
of the things that communities and other adults who want
to help children meet their potential, what could they do?
Thompson: Communities are so important in helping to wrap
around the child services and supports that assist the family
who is the primary arena,
the primary source of the child support.
But to provide a safety net that we often say, around that child,
but around that family to help the family,
help parents do their job better and in some respects
to reduce some of the burdens
that parents may already be facing.
So particularly in families that are in economic adversity.
Communities can provide resources to the family
that help reduce some of that economic difficulty.
They can provide sources, supplementary kinds
of educational sources within the community
by which children can benefit who might not otherwise be able
to get access to an early Head Start or Head Start program.
Indeed some of the high quality pre-K programs
that we have been studying
for years now were developed specifically to provide support
for kids who otherwise do not get it
within a federally funded program
but whose family circumstances warrant special attention
for them.
In many respects families become the nesting ground
within which families can be unable to do their jobs
in which parents can be assisted
in providing all that child needs.
Thorpe: And I know we have a lot of good resources that are
with the session but could you tell us some of the other ones,
that if people are interested in learning more
and then might look for them?
Thompson: Well, I think particularly those parents
of children in the early years of life
who are often seeking information about the mysteries
of raising an infant or toddler would certainly be welcome to
and well advised to go to the website of the organization
that I'm affiliated with, which is called zero to three.
And that website is www dot zero to three.
It is a wealth of useful information.
The federal government has actually sponsored a couple
of blue ribbon reports that have been,
one has been released recently, the other is due
to be released later this year,
that I think would be of interest.
The one that has been released last year is entitled,
"Transforming the Workforce", for children birth to age 8
and it really talks about the systems of care
and education health and other kinds of support for children
in that critical birth through age 8 spectrum and talks
about how we can engage in a national effort to try
to strengthen that system
to make it more seamlessly supportive of children
as they are getting older.
The report that is coming out little bit later this year is
on supporting parents and it focuses
on the essential knowledge and attitudes and practices
that parents engage in that help
to increase the odds toward healthy happy child development
and in what other kinds
of things social systems both formal and informal surrounding
that family can do to help parents to their job.
I think both reports would be of interest and of use to parents
and other practitioners.
Thorpe: I know we have a website too for parents that's
that they can check out the CDC does.
Thompson: That's exactly right.
Thorpe: Thank you so much
for joining us, appreciate your time.
Thompson: My pleasure.
Thorpe: And thank you so much
for joining us we'll see you next time, thank you!