From Diapers to Desks:
School Readiness Right from the Start
April 20, 2004

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Session Summary

Early Learning and the Brain (Sharon Greenip)

Poverty, Babies, and School Readiness (Jane Knitzer)

The Early Head Start Example (Tammy Mann)

Conclusion

Session Summary

From Diapers to Desks: School Readiness Right from the Start, the second session of Maternity Care Coalition's (MCC) 2004 Women's Health, Children's Futures professional education series, was held Tuesday, April 20, 2004 at the William Penn Inn in Gynnedd, PA. Three nationally-known experts on early childhood development and school readiness presented on social-emotional development in children, economic and social realities that have an impact on child development, and the positive role early intervention plays in closing the gaps that exist in different children's readiness to learn.

Dale Allen, Secretary of MCC's Board of Directors, welcomed everyone to the session. Dale shared with the audience his and MCC's commitment to prenatal health as the first way to ensure positive outcomes for children's futures.

Dale welcomed the moderator, Ronnie Bloom, Program Director of Children, Youth, and Families Grantmaking at the William Penn Foundation. Ronnie was pleased to share with the audience that early-to-learn and school readiness were two of the William Penn Foundation's major priorities. William Penn supports MCC in its work because of MCC's commitment to using best practices and lessons from national experts to bring high quality services to pregnant and newly-parenting women in the Philadelphia area. Although Pennsylvania now has state money allocated to Early Childhood Education, there is still work to be done to help funders, researchers, and direct service providers to understand the importance of working with children under the age of three to ensure success in school and beyond.

School Readiness: Early Learning and the Brain
Sharon Greenip, ZERO TO THREE.

Sharon Greenip, trainer, educator, and communications specialist for ZERO TO THREE, emphasized the importance of nurturing and of dependable relationships to healthy child development. While biology plays a role, so does environment. Early experiences such as intervention programs, feelings, culture, prevention, attachment, and relationships with others all shape a young child's social-emotional development. Sharon argued that school readiness is not just about books and the ABCs -- but about attaining the necessary social-emotional skills necessary for a successful transition to kindergarten and for school success in later years. Social-emotional skills include: the capacity to communicate, confidence, curiosity, intentionality, self-control, relatedness, self regulation, and cooperativeness.

Sharon demonstrated how a brain develops prenatally and postnatally, stressing the significance of each stage of growth. She explained the functions of different parts of the brain -- the brain stem, which is responsible for survival functions, the limbic system, which is responsible for emotions, the cerebellum, which coordinates movement, and the cortex, where "executive functions" such as analyzing, leading, and planning are coordinated. For the first three years of a child's life, including the prenatal period, the brain grows and develops while the neurons in the brain grow and mature. The younger the child, the more "plasticity," (the ability to change as a result of experience), the brain retains.

When we think about the vulnerable developing brain, it is imperative to realize the interconnectedness and importance of each of these areas. Neural tube defects, fetal alcohol system, toxins, prematurity, and maternal depression are just some of the risks that can disturb one or more of these stages of development. According to research, ordinary nurturing experiences generally meet developmental needs. To grow a healthy brain, babies need nurturing experiences, good nutrition, appropriate stimulation, and protection all in the context of relationships. Unfortunately, other responsibilities often compete for parents' time and energy. It is therefore essential to support parents in providing a safe, responsive environment during the early stages of development to ensure their children's life long success.

Poverty, Babies, and School Readiness: Challenges and Opportunities
Jane Knitzer, National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University.

Jane Knitzer, Acting Director of the National Center for Children in Poverty at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, began her presentation, "Poverty, Babies, & School Readiness: Challenges & Opportunities," by laying out the demographic realities relevant to the school readiness discussion. The younger the child, the more likely he/she is to be low-income, and children of color are at least twice as likely to be in low-income families. Economic insecurity is widespread, and in Pennsylvania 32% of families are low-income. Child development research tells us that the earliest relationships set the stage for healthy development, and most children, including low-income children, are "eager to learn" and have the cognitive and social skills to succeed.

There remains, however, a persistent achievement gap for low-income children. Low-income children face a host of risk factors related to poverty including low-quality infant toddler care and low maternal education and language skills. Other risks may include: maternal depression, substance abuse, domestic violence, and chronic parental or child health problems or disabilities. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that early exposure to these risks often predicts later school failure.

According to Jane, however, every risk is a program opportunity. Access to both home-visiting and good quality infant/toddler childcare experiences can significantly support families in attaining greater economic security and in fostering better relationships with each other. With an expansion of Early Head Start, more families would have the opportunity to access home-visiting and quality center-based programs. Imbedding early literacy strategies into all programs for infants and toddlers and developing intentional, coordinated services and strategies for higher risk families can also significantly address the achievement gap. Jane discussed two successful early intervention programs in which the entire community (city agencies, social services organizations, hospitals, etc.) works together to create comprehensive outreach to low-income families. She concluded by encouraging the audience to continue in their work highlighting the value of early intervention, and to move forward knowing that we can make a difference.

Comprehensive Approaches to Supporting School Readiness: The Early Head Start Example
Tammy Mann, Early Head Start National Research Center.

Tammy Mann, Director of the Early Head Start National Research Center housed at ZERO TO THREE, reiterated that we must look at early childhood issues and education from a hopeful perspective, and that we need to remember that circumstances do not need to determine who we are. In her presentation, "A Comprehensive Approach to School Readiness: The Early Head Start Example," Tammy discussed the basic tenets of the Early Head Start (EHS) and what research suggests about the effectiveness of its approach.

Early Head Start was established in 1994 through the Reauthorization of Head Start Act. Since 1995, 700 programs have been funded, and EHS currently accounts for 10% of the overall Head Start budget. There is at least one program funded in each state in the nation, including the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. EHS is a comprehensive program that addresses prenatal and other health services, child development/education services, and family and parent support and education. The program model is flexible - services can be delivered though center-based and home settings and through partnerships with local community child care providers.

An extensive study by Mathematica Policy Research and Columbia University's Center for Children and Families found that EHS has positive impacts at 24 and 36 months for both children and parents. Children in EHS have better language and cognitive skills than children in the control group (non-EHS early child care) and have lower levels of aggressive behavior, higher sustained attention, and less negativity towards parents. Parents with children in EHS display greater warmth, less detachment, more daily reading, and spend more hours in education and job training. Families that are enrolled prenatally achieve more significant positive results, supporting both Sharon Greenip's and Jane Knitzer's assertions that we must work with children prenatally to most effectively support their development.

Tammy closed by showing a video about a woman, Anna, who enrolled her young children in EHS during a difficult period in her life. The video emphasized the importance of a multi-generational approach to intervention programs and the life-changing impacts that a program like EHS can have on an entire family.

Conclusion

The three presentations were followed by an extensive question and answer period. Topics discussed included: children in child care and their primary relationship with their parent(s), the reauthorization of Early Head Start, workforce development and how it affects child care and parenting, the role of breastfeeding in child development and attachment, and the effects of excessive television exposure on children's interactions

JoAnne Fischer, Executive Director of Maternity Care Coalition, closed the session by thanking the moderator, the speakers, and the session sponsors. She reemphasized that we cannot wait to begin school readiness when a baby is born. To most effectively influence child development and early to learn, we must begin prenatally.