I note in your article an absence of any details as to the “how and why” of early childhood education. Call me skeptical, but are these ELC programs little more than high-end daycare? Are students tested upon their exit of the ELC program? Are the non-ELC tract students tested for comparison? Are we just to assume that by a program’s mere title, “Early Learning Collaborative”, that it will produce desired results? And just exactly what are those goals and desired results? Are they vague and ill-defined?
Okay, now let’s look further into the numbers, assuming at best 20 students per existing ELC classroom, we are talking about ~260 existing (spread over two age groups?) plus an additional 20 students. I am curious as to the number of students that will enter first grade next year throughout Oktibbeha County, thus we could estimate the fraction of un-served pre-K individuals and see how it compares to the 25 percent state average.
I am, and always have been, extremely optimistic about the almost infinite positive impacts made possible by early childhood learning and its ability to cure many of the ailments currently ravaging our society. I fear that without a bit more rigor as rooted in Madame Montessori’s method, etc., these new programs will detour our focus from the problems we face educating our youngsters.
Why is recent SOCSD student performance (pre-COVID) spiraling downward? What is SOCSD’s plan for our children’s education?
Walter P. Okhuysen
Starkville
