Doesn't it make you wonder about the availability and the IMPORTANCE of high quality preschool education? Here are some thoughts we put together after reading In Plain Sight, by Gordon MacInnes. The book focuses on New Jersey and their steps to promote high quality preschool programs, but the lessons can be applied across state lines. We thought about this book in conjunction with the article: Estimating the Prevalence of Early Childhood Serious Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: Challenged and Recommendations by Cheryl Boydell Brauner, MPHa and Cheryll Bowers Stephens, MD, MBA. The article was published by the Association of Schools of Public Health in 2006. Some thoughts...
There is a danger in presuming a safe preschool is an acceptable preschool, because as Gordon MacInnes notes in his book In Plain Sight, “Preschool without quality if just high class daycare”(MacInnes, 2009).It is not classroom management alone that will prepare children for the academic challenges they will face in the coming years. It is essential that preschool educators become more than just a coordinator who makes sure the kids are safe and take nap at the appropriate time. If the children are managed but not instructed, they will walk into the kindergarten classroom substantially behind some of the counterparts and therefore more prone to behavior issues (MacInnes, 2008). The goal of providing high quality preschool is to close the kindergarten gap and increase the chances of having successful students over the following years, closing testing gaps between various socioeconomic and racial groups. As Jennifer Hochschild realized “for the majority of poor children, high quality preschool is unaffordable or unavailable, so they arrive in kindergarten…less ready to learn.” (Hochschild, 2003)
There is an increasing amount of data being collected about behavior and emotional issues amongst young children. 'Before there is thought and language, there is emotion, and it is this early affect within the context of the earliest relationships that forms the basis for all future development' (Winnicott, 1965). Therefore there is increasing emphasis on emotional and behavioral development, since healthy behavioral and emotional development is imperative before teachers can begin to expect academic and cognative success from children. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS') 1999 report, Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, estimates that at least one in five (20%) children and adolescents has a mental health disorder at some point in their life from childhood to adolescence. Acording to the article "The term “serious emotional disturbance” refers to a diagnosed mental health problem that substantially disrupts a child's ability to function socially, academically, and emotionally. It is not a formal DSM-IV diagnosis, but rather an administrative term used by state and federal agencies to identify a population of children who have significant emotional and behavioral problems and who have a high need for services". (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1525276/#B6).
Although it is imperative for parents and educators to be aware or emotional and behavioral disorders, it is incredibly difficult to find accurate statistics about their prevalence. Also, the study of infant mental health is relatively new. Pediatricians are often unable to diagnosis and treat behavioral and mental problems in young children. A recent study indicates that a lot of “psychosocial problems raised during pediatric appointments are not addressed”. (Sharp, Pantell, Murphy, 1992)
Obviously this is a huge issue with new research being conducted. We think the more research the better!
References:
Brauner, Cheryl Boydell and Stephens, Cheryll Bowers(2006 ). Estimating the Prevalence of Early Childhood Serious Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: Challenges and Recommendations.
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