Analyst says early ed programs are key to closing gap for state’s disadvantaged kids
When combined, Pre-K, K-3 Plus boost low-income students’ reading, math abilities, report says
Prekindergarten and a statewide summer school program for children in grades K-3 continue to help lowincome students make gains in reading and math, a new legislative report says.
But if the programs were combined, expanded and improved, an analyst told the state’s Legislative Finance Committee on Wednesday, the results would be far more impressive — pushing proficiency rates of economically disadvantaged kids to about the same rates as those of children from more affluent families.
“Pre-K is helping,” analyst Jon Courtney told lawmakers on the committee Wednesday. “K-3 Plus is helping. But when combined, something starts to happen. … The achievement gap is gone.”
While the early childhood accountability report says New Mexico’s preschool programs and other child welfare initiatives are yielding mixed results, it also shows the potential for improved long-term outcomes. What’s needed most, says the report, presented Wednesday during a hearing in Taos, is more money to invest in the programs.
Preschool classes, home visiting sessions for new parents, the K-3 Plus summer education initiative and other early childhood programs can make a difference in a state that generally ranks 49th or 50th in national reports on child well-being and education. Research has shown that such programs can boost achievement rates
among low-income children, help prevent child abuse and pay off in the long term with higher graduation rates and lower rates of juvenile incarceration.
Advocates have long pushed for New Mexico, which grapples with high rates of poverty and unemployment, to invest more money in early childhood education. While the state has gradually increased funding in recent years — even gaining national recognition for its investments — the money hasn’t been enough to ensure every child has access to the programs.
The question of how the state can fund major expansions has led to fiery debates. Some lawmakers have pushed for a surge in funding, using investment revenues from the state’s $16 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund — a state trust land endowment funded by oil and gas drilling leases, grazing permits and other land-use fees. But opponents have blocked the proposal, saying it would quickly drain the endowment.
In the city of Santa Fe, a special election in May on a proposed 2-cents-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages to fund preschool classrooms sharply divided the community. While Mayor Javier Gonzales and other supporters of the tax touted the benefits of pre-K, opponents said the very families the programs were supposed to benefit — those with low incomes — would be hurt most by the beverage tax. Voters rejected the measure by a wide margin.
Analyst Nathan Eckbery told the Legislative Finance Committee on Wednesday that New Mexico ranks 28th in the nation when it comes to per-child spending on early childhood programs.
According to the new report, those costs are rising. In the past five years, the amount of money the state has spent per child on subsidized day care and preschool programs has grown by 55 percent — a trend largely driven by a quality rating system that encourages providers to improve their programs. While the state’s child care assistance program for lowincome families paid an average of $336 a month per child in fiscal year 2013, it paid $521 per child in the fiscal year that ended in June.
The program serves about 19,000 New Mexico children at a cost of $100 million per year. If costs continue to rise and enrollment grows as expected, the report says, the state Children, Youth and Families Department will need an additional $20 million for the assistance program by 2020.
Home visiting programs, which offer support for new parents, are shown to improve children’s health measures and parents’ behaviors and help reduce child abuse. About 4,800 families take part in such programs in the state, the report says, and another 5,900 families are eligible. But not all the home visiting providers are using evidence-based practices or tracking outcomes, the report says. And there aren’t enough providers in communities with high numbers of at-risk children.
K-3 Plus, a summer learning program that expands the school year by 25 to 30 days for some 20,000 low-income New Mexico kids, has increased proficiency in reading and math, the report says.
But a funding cut for the program this year meant 5,000 children — including a couple of hundred in Santa Fe — could not participate.
The report also was critical of the way the program has been implemented in schools.
“K-3 Plus has been scientifically shown to improve student performance relative to peers when programs are executed correctly,” the report says. It’s most effective, the report says, when it’s offered close to the start of a new school year and when students in the program stay with the same teacher during the regular school year.
Many districts offer the program for only 20 days, the report says, and lagging attendance means students are receiving an average of only 18 additional days of instruction.
“The intent of the program is not being followed,” the report says, “and should raise concerns for policymakers that K-3 Plus is turning into summer school rather than a scientifically proven program to extend the school year for students from low-income families that need additional time-on-task to catch up to more affluent peers academically.”
Perhaps most notably, analysts examined the outcomes for a group of 1,000 children in the K-3 Plus program who had attended preschool programs before they entered kindergarten.
“For children participating in both programs,” the report says, “the achievement gap is closed by kindergarten entry.”
Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, a member of the Legislative Finance Committee, said in an interview Wednesday that the state must find a way to continue to invest more in early childhood programs.
“Many times you hear at sessions that money doesn’t equate to better results,” he said, “but this report gave a different story. We have to find the investment. …
“We don’t have a choice,” he added. “When you are 49th or 50th in child well-being, you really don’t have a choice.”
Contact Robert Nott at 505-9863021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.