For those who have fallen for the argument that full-day kindergarten is the magic solution to the problems in Nevada’s faltering public education system, know one thing: If Dina Titus and Barbara Buckley are successful in implementing this $156 million (and counting) boondoggle this year, it will only be a matter of time before they come back demanding taxpayer-funded pre-school. Mark my words…and bet your bippy I’ll say “I told you so” when it happens.
A new study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) reports that “children who received higher quality child care before entering kindergarten had better vocabulary scores in the fifth grade than did children who received lower quality care.”
This is EXACTLY the argument the Left is using to push full-day K in Nevada right now, so you can bet they’ll whip out studies such as this one for their new half-day, followed by full-day, pre-school proposal…all in the interest of improving education, of course.
What they WON’T tell you, however, is that the same study “also found that the more time children spent in center-based care before kindergarten, the more likely their sixth grade teachers were to report such problem behaviors as ‘gets in many fights,’ ‘disobedient at school,’ and ‘argues a lot.’”
Using a Child Behavior Checklist Teacher Report Form, teachers who participated in the study were asked to rate children “on items such as: child demands a lot of attention; argues a lot; bragging and boasting; cruelty, bullying or meanness to others; destroys things belonging to others; disobedient at school; gets into many fights; lying or cheating; screams a lot.”
The study found that “Children who had been in center care in early childhood were more likely to score higher on teacher reports of aggression and disobedience. This was true regardless of the quality of the center-based care they received.”
Taking Junior away from Mommy earlier may result in a temporary jump in his early education abilities, but there appears to be a definite, and high, price to pay. The Left insists that paying for full-day kindergarten is less expensive than prison, a silly argument, yet new studies seem to indicate that extended early education might itself be the factor which causes the kinds of behavioral problems which lead to time behind bars.
But hey, if the teachers union gets a few more dues-paying members out of it, who cares, right?
Posted on March 27th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: Nevada
I am sorry, but this is just scientifically wrong to report/comment on the study in this way. What is really important to note about the study is that it does NOT show a causal relationship. In either case. This means that the correlation could stem from other causes. Perhaps children who have more behavioral issues are left in care longer by frustrated parents? Perhaps they also attend afterschool programs? Perhaps teachers simply view children with larger vocabularies as more problematic? This study cannot answer those questions or rule out other potential reasons for the correlation. Child care does not cause bad behavior.
This was an observational study and cannot show causality. Please try to understand and be responsible in your postings! Thank you.
You people really hate it when you get caught with your britches down, don’t you?
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