Opportunities to Prevent the Achievement Gap:
Early Education at LAUSD
Kim Pattillo Brownson
Director of Educational Equity
Advancement Project
Making the Case for Early Learning
Children Who Have Experienced Quality Early Education Enjoy:
 Lower incidence of special education placement
 Lower incidence of grade repeats
 Lower costs for remedial education
Low-income, dual language learners benefit as much or more than, their native
speaker counterparts
Early education promotes improved social-emotional
competency, such as improved self-regulation, self-esteem, motivation to solve
problems, complete tasks, and improve their own abilities.
Programs with a parenting focus model positive interactions and provide opportunities
to offer feedback to parents and translate into more, ongoing support for children at
home.
Barnett, W. Steven, Ph.D. “Expanding Access to Quality Pre‐K is Sound Public Policy.” National Institute for Early Education Research. Rutger, The State University of New Jersey, Dec 2013. Making the Case for Early Learning
 Multi-state study of 5,000 children in state-funded preschool
programs compared to their peers:
44% more math skills
improvement
35% more
vocabulary growth
By age 3, children of middle-class homes hear 30 million more
words than children from low-income families.
 By third grade, children who are reading at grade level are four
times more likely to graduate from high school than students
who are not proficient readers.
 95% of CA kindergarten teachers say students who attended
preschool have stronger social and academic skills
Los Angeles Unified School District 3rd Grade CST Scores
English Language Arts and Math
Economically Disadvantaged Students
English Language Arts
2008-2012
Mathematics
70%
65%
63%
60%
55%
55%
50%
40%
30%
37%
28%
30%
33%
20%
10%
0%
2008‐09
2009‐10
2010‐11
2011‐12
Los Angeles Unified School District 3rd Grade CST Scores
English Language Arts and Math
English Learners
English Language Arts
2008-2012
Mathematics
60%
55%
49%
50%
49%
42%
40%
30%
30%
20%
14%
11%
13%
10%
0%
2008‐09
2009‐10
2010‐11
2011‐12
What Is the State of ECE in LAUSD?
Following $1B+ in cuts at state level to early
learning, almost 86K preschool age
children within LAUSD boundaries lack
access to a licensed ECE center
June 2013: Board Resolution to Create Plan
& Cost Estimates for Restoration through
LCFF including Early Education Reinvestment
Aug 2013: Bd President established policy
committee to focus upon early education
Aug 2014: Resolution to Expand and
Enhance ECE
March 2015: proposal to eliminate 10K early
learning opportunities in SRLDP
WHAT ABOUT THE
ECONOMICS OF INVESTING
IN EARLY LEARNING?
Smart investments start by addressing a major root
cause of inequality—disadvantaged early childhoods.
Nobel Prize Winner, Prof. James Heckman
ECE Programs Significantly Lower Likelihood of
3rd Grade Special Education Placements
•
Preschool program for at risk four‐year‐olds reduced the third‐
grade special education placements by 32 percent
•
ECE offers opportunities to 1) reduce preventable cognitive and social disabilities; 2) transition early from special education placements; and 3) may help them to avoid unnecessary special education in school altogether.
•
“ECE is important not only to the future of students but to the state’s financial bottom line…. [The] effects of these initiatives for students are quite large and still paying off after students have completed almost four years of elementary school.”
Muschkin, Ladd, & Dodge, “"Impact of North Carolina’s Early Childhood Initiatives on Special Education Placements in Third Grade” (2105)
Social Impact Finance for ECE:
Granite School District & Goldman Sachs
Early childhood research shows a significant reduction
in special education assignment for low income
children who attend high quality prekindergarten.
Private and philanthropic investments are premised
upon past track record of reduction in special
education costs to pay for a prekindergarten.
Short and long term cost avoidance for government
also include grade retention, crime, welfare, and
increased earnings, though not incorporated into the
financial model.
94% of SRLDP Students Start with Pre-K
and Stay with LAUSD Elementary Schools
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
94%
91-100%
3%
2%
0%
1%
81-90%
71-80%
61-70%
60% or less
Percentage of SRLDP Students who Matriculate to Traditional Elementary Schools that Generate LAUSD ADA
Source: Online survey of SRLDP Teachers, n=59 or 19% of current SRLDP teachers (2015).
Early Learning Meets LCFF Priorities and Other CA
Districts Are Leveraging LCFF for ECE
Student Achievement  Performance on standardized tests
 Share of ELs that become English proficient
 Shareof students that are college and career ready
Parental Involvement
 Promotion of parental participation
Student Engagement
 High school dropout/graduation rates
 Chronic absenteeism rates
Other Student Outcomes
 Other indicators of student performance in required
areas of study.
Fresno Unified: $18M ECE increase Long Beach Unified: 2015‐16