Early childhood education: The case for quantity and quality

For many parents, the first task after finding out they’re expecting is to get on a waitlist for an early childhood program. Even with quick action, it can be hard to secure a spot. Arkansas, like all states, is facing a child care crisis. Without options, parents are forced to miss or quit work, resulting in lost earnings, revenue and productivity. The immediate economic impact is significant. But what about the harm to our future workforce—the children missing out on brain-building opportunities critical for their long-term success?

To date, conversations about Arkansas’ child care crisis have centered on increasing the number of seats available. But we also need to focus on an equally vital component of early childhood education—the quality of the programs. If our goal is to provide a strong foundation for kids to thrive in school and the workforce, then quantity and quality must drive our efforts.

The evidence is clear—quality early education improves children’s long-term outcomes. Research by the University of Virginia demonstrates these programs increase kids’ readiness for school, narrowing the achievement gap in half. A peer-reviewed study published by Child Development shows that kids from low-income backgrounds with access to two or more years of high-quality early childhood education were more likely to graduate from college and have higher salaries. The First Five Years Fund highlights how benefiting adults were more likely to be employed full-time, own a home and have a savings account.

Over the last several years, Arkansas has made strides in improving access to early childhood programming, with additional gains expected from the LEARNS Act. Yet, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) states, “Not every child who needs it has access to early childhood options, let alone ones of high quality.” In some counties, families’ need for services is so great that the quality of the programs becomes a secondary or even tertiary consideration. According to a survey from the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas, more than 40% of families enrolled in early childhood programs were unaware of their center’s quality ratings. If they did know the rating, they were uncertain about the criteria used to determine it.

Today, Better Beginnings is our state’s primary way of evaluating programs’ structural quality elements, such as safety. While helpful, the ADE notes that “there is no way to measure the quality of experiences children have daily that would promote kindergarten readiness.” Other organizations, including Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, acknowledge the usefulness of the standards while cautioning that they “don’t [necessarily] ensure quality components that are tied more closely to learning standards.”

Under the current administration, the ADE has prioritized creating a unified early childhood system where families across our state can access quality early care and education. In tandem with ADE, there’s further action we can take—not only to increase quality but to create clear measures of what it means for children and their families. The most promising solution is promoting voluntary National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation.

Built on 10 research-based, field-tested standards, from positive child-adult relationships to effective instructional methods and learning assessments, NAEYC gives accredited programs access to research on best practices, training and technical assistance. Children see cognitive, emotional, language, physical and social gains. At the same time, participating programs benefit from higher staff morale and retention.

Arkansas only has 11 NAEYC-accredited schools and centers, ranking us 49th nationwide. Joyfully Engaged Learning wants to change that by providing hands-on support and funding to help programs navigate the accreditation process, including initial achievement, renewal and maintenance. With Joyfully Engaged Learning’s support, more programs in our state will be able to provide high-quality, research-based education. And more families will know, with certainty, that their children are receiving the learning experiences they need to be school-ready.

Solving Arkansas’ child care crisis won’t happen overnight. But through steady efforts focused on quantity and quality, we can strengthen our early childhood education system to build a brighter future for our kids—and our economy.

Editor’s note: Leigh Keener is the executive director of Joyfully Engaged Learning, an Arkansas nonprofit committed to supporting early learning programs in their voluntary pursuit of NAEYC accreditation. She is a former classroom teacher and serves on the State Board of Education. The opinions expressed are those of the author.