Early childhood education programs are on the rise
There’s an energy surge in quality early childhood education in Milwaukee, and this is good news.
“Quality early childhood education has been rising to the top of a lot of people’s agendas because the data is so clear that the foundation for success in school doesn’t begin on the first day of school; it begins the day a child is born,” said Tom Schneider, executive director of COA Youth & Family Centers, a longstanding north side agency offering programs for kids.
Tracey Sparrow, president of Next Door, another high-quality north side nonprofit, said, “It feels like there’s a growing recognition of the importance” of early childhood learning.
There are specific developments to cite in support of the perception. First, a bit of context:
In this space last week, I wrote that there isn’t one button that needs to be pushed to improve reading abilities of children in Milwaukee, which, overall, are far too low.
There are a bunch of buttons. The Wisconsin Reading Corps, a growing program to offer high-quality tutoring to children in early grades who are struggling with reading, was the focus of that column.
But just about everybody would agree that perhaps the biggest and best button to push is giving more kids a strong start on the path to reading long before they enter kindergarten. A lot of the gap in success in school exists before kids are 5 years old.
Early childhood learning has been a huge matter for families of all economic levels for decades.
Look at the lengths to which middleand upper-income parents go to find the best programs for their preschoolers. Look at the growth across Wisconsin in 4-year-old kindergarten programs. Look at the long-standing multibillion-dollar federal Head Start program.
Can we do better?
Can we get more parents to do a better job of setting their kids on paths to education success?
Here are a few pieces of evidence that Milwaukee is making fresh progress toward answering both of those questions positively.
More stars. A few years ago, Wisconsin launched the Youngstar system for rating early childhood centers serving children who get public assistance on a one-star to five-star basis.
Four- and five-star centers get higher payments from the state. But moving the needle proved to be harder than some hoped.
Milwaukee Succeeds, the broadscale effort under the umbrella of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation to improve outcomes for children, made it a goal to marshal efforts and increase the percentage of kids in better-rated programs. It announced recently that it had reached the goal it set for 2020 almost two years early.
Tim Coughlin, who works for United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties and who oversees kindergarten readiness efforts for Milwaukee Succeeds, said the number of kids in four- and five-star programs has almost doubled since 2012 and is now around 18% of all Milwaukee kids in early childhood centers.
Obviously, that means there are still thousands of children in lower-rated centers. “There’s a lot to be done,” Coughlin says. But it is measurable progress, and the commitment to doing better seems strong.
New bright spots. One of the reasons the number of kids in higher-rated centers is up is the growth of quality programs.
Two good examples:
Next Door opened a large early childhood center at 5310 W. Capitol Drive, in addition to its main center at 2545 N. 29th St.
And COA converted a gym at its Goldin Center at 2320 W. Burleigh St. into an early childhood center. Schneider said it is the only center in the 53206 ZIP code with a four- or five-star rating — which is an improvement over a history of having none in that high-poverty area.
Efforts such as COA’s HIPPY program, which offers coaching and support to families in their homes, also have grown.
Lessons learned from the high-quality (but expensive) Educare program at Next Door are being spread to more centers with average funding.
There is energy behind fresh ideas like bringing the Washington-based Leading Men Fellowship program to Milwaukee, to encourage men of color to work in early childhood centers and get on track to become teachers.
VROOM. A collaboration including the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, the local Herzfeld Foundation, and the national Bezos Foundation is launching an effort called VROOM, aimed at giving parents of all kinds a strong flow of tips and coaching on what they can do to help their children develop intellectually.
VROOM is focused on a free phone app offering daily suggestions and a campaign to make positive suggestions available all over Milwaukee, including in doctor’s offices, drug stores, churches and community centers.
Synovia Moss, who is leading the effort, said, “Our goal is around getting everyone to understand we are all brain-builders for children.”
That especially applies to parents and it can be done anytime, anywhere, especially at home.
“Every moment is a brain-building moment,” Moss said.
More collaboration, more resources. Leading philanthropic organizations are stepping up to provide more help, and it appears the efforts that are growing are well targeted.
One goal of Milwaukee Succeeds, Coughlin said, is improving collaboration among early childhood programs, and progress is being made.
This is all encouraging. But the big picture offers lots of concerns.
Finding good staff for early childhood jobs that often do not pay well is a big concern. The home lives of many children is not conducive to educational success.
And, overall, the large majority of low-income Milwaukee children are not in highly rated preschool programs.
There’s still a lot to be done to push the early childhood button.
But we can take some heart from more people recognizing and acting on one of the things Schneider said: “Show me a parent involved in a child’s education every day, I’ll show you a child doing well in school.”
Alan J. Borsuk is senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette Law School. Reach him at alan.borsuk @marquette.edu.