If high quality pre-school teachers were available to assess young children's difficulty with letters early on, problems that grow out of proportion later on might be avoided, former New York City Deputy Chancellor Carmen Farina noted this week at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The book entitled "Why cant u teach me 2 read,'' by Berth Fertig, a radio journalist at WNYC, prompted moderator Farina and principals in TC's Cahn Fellows program to engage in a spirited roundtable discussion about what types of interventions work best.

The book is an excellent reminder of how students can get through school and still end up lost and unable to navigate signs on city subways and buses, an anecdote Fertig described in harrowing detail.

Fertig tells a true story of three students with learning disabilities who fought for the right to learn to read and legally challenged the New York City schools for failing to teach them. The city was ultimately compelled to pay for their private tutoring.

If these students, who had chaotic early childhood educations, had been enrolled in quality programs early on with teachers who noticed their difficulty, would they have ended up in such dire and dramatic circumstances?

With the release of President Barack Obama's budget this week, much of the media attention has been focused on what the president hopes to do with the No Child Left Behind Law as well as his Race to the Top program. Few journalists have the luxury these days to focus exclusively on early childhood education, but those who do might want to spend some time on the website of the New America Foundation and click on the Early Ed Watch blog.

Early Ed Watch points out that Obama's priorities offer a stark contrast to budget cuts that are part of life in tough economic times, with significant boosts to an array of programs, including $989 million for Head Start. The president has also proposed another $1.6 billion for federally funded child care programs.

So what will a potential new infusion of cash mean in local communities and cash-strapped states that have cut back on pre-kindergarten and other early childhood programs? And what will other proposed changes and consolidations of early learning programs mean? The New America Foundation has come up with a list of key questions that should be a useful jumping off point as the budget battles begin to unfold.

A number of fascinating issues came up in "The Myth of the Gifted Child,'' a cover story in New York Magazine this week by Jennifer Senior that looked at intelligence tests for gifted programs. The story had lots of information that will be welcome to wealthy, connected New York City parents obsessed with getting their kids into the right private schools, including statistics on what percent of the students who graduate will attend Ivy League colleges.

It also made a point that might be welcome for parents willing to do whatever it takes -- copies of the tests can be purchased in advance for a few thousand dollars.

Far more interesting to EarlyStories, though, were interviews with experts like Samuel Meisels at Erikson Institute, who helped Senior cement the point that tests perpetuate stratification instead of really determining a superior intellect.

"Instead of giving IQ tests, you could just as easily look at zip codes and the education levels of the parents to determine who gets the better schooling -- you get a very high correlation between IQ and socio-economic status in the first seven or years of life,'' Meisels, an assessment expert and president of the Institute, told Senior. His take? Several observations of a child in a classroom setting would be a far better way to determine a child's intelligence, along with an examination of their work.

One of the more interesting observations in the story came from the director of the Calhoun School, which charges $31,240 for kindergarten. The director prefers children with a slightly rebellious and even cynical streak, and told Senior he wanted "a school full of kids who daydream....who don't want to answer the questions on those tests in the way the adult wants them to be answered, because that kid is already seeing the world differently."

But is that kind of child born, or nurtured with money, connections -- and perhaps the right zip code?

The latest education buzz phrase is sure to be "Career to Cradle,'' and questions are already being raised about its meaning.

On Monday, President Barack Obama submitted his second budget request to Congress, and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan noted that the president is committed to providing a "cradle-to-career,'' education for all U.S. students.

That includes some $9.3 billion over 10 years for the Early Learning Challenge Fund, which will provide competitive grants to states that agree to expand their early learning experiences from birth through kindergarten.

EarlyStories will be interested in watching coverage of this newest acronym, along with some concerns already being expressed about its meaning. Eric Tipler at the Huffington Post expressed concerns that "career readiness,'' actually means "readiness for a career, not a back door to avoiding the children we're currently failing to educate."

And blogger Donna Garner worried that cradle to career goes too far.

"It was not enough for Obama/Duncan to control our K-12 public school children's minds through national standards, national tests, national curriculum, and a national database,'' Garner wrote in a letter she sent to two Texas senators. "Now they have revealed their plan to extend the federal government's control over our youngest children while at the same time controlling which high-school graduates will get student loans."

For his part, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the U.S. Department of education "can't wait to make these reforms."

For the first time, Chicago public schools will formally measure just how ready little learners are for kindergarten, by piloting a new readiness measurement, according to a story in Catalyst.

Unlike a standardized test, the tool will gauge how children are ready through a series of observations over time, and by measuring their understanding of concepts such as which words rhyme, the story notes. The tool will help educators gain a better understanding of the quality of the pre-school education a child received.

It would be interesting to see what other school districts do to formally evaluate kindergarten readiness, especially in states where there is no publicly funded pre-kindergarten. There are checklists and exams and quite a few resources that are aimed at helping parents and educators answer the question.

The new assessment tool in Chicago comes as important questions are being raised about the quality of U.S. preschool programs, especially Head Start, which serves more than a million students and is under scrutiny after a major study found gains students make fade by third grade. Experts hope the new readiness tool the Chicago Public schools plans to use will help gauge just how effective half-day programs like Head Start are.

EarlyStories, like much of the world, has been struck by the heartbreaking photographs, images and stories about the lives of children after the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Today's New York Times recounted how the country's children -- who represent 45 percent of the population -- have lost parents, homes and schools and suffered grave injuries. They have nowhere to sleep and little food. The Wall Street Journal reported on the challenges facing an AIDS clinic that must rebuild; it included an interview with a woman who lost two of her children and described some of dire shortages the tragic country needs just to get through each day. And the Associated Press also focused on the plight of children.

The press is playing an important role here by bringing attention to the needs of newly orphaned and gravely injured children, including providing lists of resources on how to help.

Teachers College professor Herbert Ginsburg recalled a story on Tuesday about a very young child who walked into a day care center and gave the teacher an urgent command:

"Teach me something."

The teacher asked the child what it was they hoped to learn, and got the reply: "You are the teacher, tell me!"

Ginsburg described the incident before a packed audience at Teachers College during a discussion about a new National Academy of Sciences report that calls for a major national initiative to improve early childhood mathematics education.

The story underscored a major point in the report: Young children are capable of learning and often want to learn a lot more math than they are offered. Low income children in particular have few opportunities to learn math and teachers aren't adequately trained or prepared to teach them, Ginsburg said as he walked through the reports findings. He also showed several videos of low-income chidren using a calendar to count by two, even without any direction.

"We need to think about how we teach and what we teach,'' Ginsburg said. The report notes that the amount of time and attention devoted to math needs to be increased in all preschools, and suggested that training of teachers must be dramatically improved so they have the confidence and the background to teach early math.

One reality check in the discussion came from Sharon Lynn Kagan , the co-director of the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College who also served on the National Academy of Science panel that produced the report.

Kagan pointed out that nearly half of young children in the U.S. are in family day care settings where there is even less of a chance they will be exposed to early math concepts.In addition, early math plays a low priority in any standards that do exist for early learning in the U.S. and little is known about the teaching of math at the pre-school level.

There is hope that some states will revamp and revise their early childhood standards and curriculum, she noted. "It may be limited to a given number of states but it will be a great opportunity for them."

A full copy of the report -- which is a terrific roadmap for story ideas -- can be found here.

An interesting report today from the recession battered state of Michigan: It found that pre-school attendance saves taxpayers money and can be a sound investment by giving youngsters a foundation they need to become productive members of society.

The report comes at a time when Michigan, struggling with reduced tax revenues and high unemployment, has cut many of its publicly supported early childhood programs back drastically.

The report, entitled "Cost Savings, Analysis of School Readiness in Michigan,'' found that investments the state has made in fully preparing young children for school has saved an estimated $1.15 billion over 25 years because the boost children got in pre-school programs decreased their need to repeat grades. The solid foundation also saved the state money by identifying disabilities in children early and cutting down on juvenile delinquency.

Wilder Research completed the study, commissioned by the state's Early Childhood Investment Corporation., a state-wide initiative aimed at fostering school readiness.

A story on the report in the Grand Rapids Press noted that the state-funded programs that began in Michigan some 25 years ago are geared largely for poor children who don't come to kindergarten with the same level of vocabulary and school experiences of their peers.

"Based on past participation and success rates of early education programs in Michigan, an estimated 80,000 adults, age 18 to 29, in the Michigan labor force today are high school graduates who likely would have dropped out of school if not for Michigan's past investment in their school readiness,'' the report found.

Michigan was among 10 states that lowered funding for pre-kindergarten for 2010, despite early promises from Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Children need to read more in and out of school and they need more challenging materials, conversations and discussions to help their skills blossom into academic competence later on, new findings show. And along with decoding letters, "systematic early attention must be paid to developing oral language skills."

These are among the interesting ideas on how children develop literacy skills and language in a piece entitled "Ensuring Early Literacy Success,'' found in Research Points, a publication from the American Educational Research Association.

The piece pointed out the need for children to develop oral language skills to improve their reading, with some key suggestions for policy makers about how to make this happen. Some suggestions include a target for schools to have 90 percent of children fluent in decoding words by third grade, along with earlier intervention for children who are not on track. In addition, instruction for children from third grade up must focus on writing, comprehension and language development.

Visiting classrooms to watch and see how reading is taught is vitally important, but it's also a good idea to keep an eye on the latest research and thinking about how children learn and how they actually acquire language skills.

A study about childhood literacy and then an unrelated story about adults who cannot read out of Chicago prompted some thought about literacy here at EarlyStories.

The study from the University of British Columbia, found that neighborhoods where children live while they are in kindergarten predict their reading comprehension skills seven years later. Published in the journal Health & Place, , the researchers found a "delayed effect" of the residential environments in which children are raised.

"The researchers say it's possible that the socioeconomic conditions of children's early residential neighborhoods exert a strong effect later because acquiring reading skills involves the collective efforts of parents, educators, family friends and community members, as well as access to good schools, libraries, after-school programs and bookstores, '' according to an article about the study in Science Daily.

The interesting story about adult illiteracy out of Chicago prompted EarlyStories to think once again about how and why some 23 percent of the U.S. population cannot read, according to statistics from the National Center for Family Literacy. The story described a vibrant volunteer culture for a program known as Open Books in Chicago, where the number of adults who cannot read is even higher.

The story did not delve into what kind of early childhood education, if any, the adults who want to learn how to read had previously. And yet, the question must be raised. How could such large numbers of our population be so deficient in reading skills? What does that say about the way reading is -- or is not taught?

Thanks to our colleagues over at Early Education Watch for raising iquestions about the important new study that may not bode well for Head Start, the national school readiness program that is integral to President Barack Obama's early childhood strategy.The study made its way to Congress on Wednesday.

The study found that while Head Start had a positive influence on school readiness after one year, the gains were minimal by the end of first grade. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services immediately announced plans to strengthen Head Start programs, and it will be important for journalists to follow up.

Early Ed Watch concluded that the study points to the need for giving disadvantaged children more than a a year of high quality education, and that improvements in teacher training for Head Start and all pre-kindergarten programs are needed. W. Steve Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, offered another perpective: he noted that the findings "are based on comparing children who went to Head Start with other children who likely also received some kind of preschool experience – sometimes Head Start in another place or a state-funded pre-K program. It is especially significant because that kind of comparison will not likely show big differences."

He also pointed out in a press release released by NIEER that "the promises of Head Start can only be fulfilled if the program is funded and staffed at the levels that have proven to make a real difference in the lives of children, something that has not happened in the entire 40-year history of the program.''

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius noted in a press release that Head Start must be improved. “The program provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition and social services to low income children and families,'' she noted. “Still, for Head Start to achieve its full potential, we must improve its quality and promote high standards across all early childhood programs.”

How will questions and concerns about the future of Head Start be addressed? EarlyStories has noted repeatedly that this is an issue worth paying attention and too often ignored by the press.

EarlyStories has been waiting, watching and wondering what would happen to Taylor Pugh, the suburban Dallas boy suspended from prekindergarten because of his long locks. With so much national attention focused on the issue, it seemed the school board in Mesquite might, perhaps, back off and decide the time spent in a classroom would be more important than the length of his hair.

Not so. On Monday, night, the board voted unanimously to enforce its ban; they offered a compromise that would have allowed him to braid and pin his hair up, according to the New York Times, which caught up with little Pugh's plight.

Quote of the day comes courtesy of school board member Gary Bingham, an insurance agent who told the New York Times: “It’s a trade-off....do the parents value his education more than they value a 4-year-old’s decision to make his own grooming choices?”

EarlyStories would like to reframe the question: Is the length of a child's hair more important to the school board then the benefits of early education?

And add one more: Are the clocks in Dallas still set for 1963? The desire to enforce its ban on what they still call "Beatles haircuts,'' can mean only one thing: They are still mad about the moptops.

One of the more interesting chapters in Paul Tough's "Whatever it Takes,'' -- a book about the Harlem Children's Zone -- describes how young parents go to school to learn how to be parents. The Harlem Children's Zone is the brainchild of Geoffrey Canada, whose goal is to "end the cycle of generational poverty.''

The book describes in detail the nine week parenting workshop known as "Baby College,'' aimed at expectant parents as well as those with children up to the age of three. One of the major goals of the program is to improve the lives of children born into poverty -- all part of the Harlem Children's Zone attempt to surround children within a 97-block section of the city with social services and educational advantages from birth through college.

Baby College instructors promote everything from teaching early reading skills to lessons on how to turn a trip to the supermarket into a learning experience. Tough's book on the program weaves in a great deal of research showing that what happens during early childhood is key to building a foundation for a child's educational future.

All of this is a very long introduction to a piece in the Times-Union of Albany, New York that described how the Harlem Children's Zone's efforts in New York City captivated parents and educators in upstate Albany, who are already moving forward with a similar plan and will be launching their own Baby College in the coming months. Already, there are waiting lists.

EarlyStories is trying to keep an eye on any expansion of the Harlem Children's Zone because President Barack Obama said he'd like to see it expanded to 20 cities nationally -- and he set aside $10 million in seed money to develop a national model. Journalists should look out for applications and see if communities are finding ways to address and improve the quality of early childhood education -- and what existing models they hope to emulate. Are new programs to be offered? Will they be eagerly embraced? How can the public know if they are of high quality?

(photo from "This American Life")

It's interesting to see the evolution taking place in North Dakota, a state that has notoriously resisted publicly funded pre-kindergarten. According to an article in the Fargo Forum, federal aid in the form of some $30 million in stimulus funds has spiked enrollment in early childhood education programs, including pre-kindergarten.

And teachers are starting to notice the difference, according to the Forum article -- they can tell which students have had some pre-school education as soon as they walk in the door.

The pre-school issue is particularly fascinating in North Dakota because of the state's consistent resistance to the concept of funding it. For the last three years, just seven school districts in the state had pre-kindergarten programs, this year, there are 40.

Those programs will be watched closely now, as federal aid lasts only two years. If there are any studies or ways to quantify the results, it will be important information, as opponents of pre-kindergarten have fought loudly against pre-kindergarten and called it little more than subsidized babysitting.

That's why it will be important to track what is happening in the programs this year and next -- and why journalists should visit them and help give the public a sense of how they get children ready for kindergarten and what comes next.

Every now and then, EarlyStories runs into a piece of journalism that attempts to answer what could be perhaps the most important -- and mysterious -- question about the U.S. education system: What makes an effective teacher? It's a question with implications for students of all ages and sizes, and it matters from the minute they enter a classroom.

At a time when journalists who cover education are focused intently on Race to the Top applications and impending deadlines, it's critically important to stop and think about how children are being taught and what they learn. And that's exactly what Amanda Ripley's illuminating story in the The Atlantic this month does.

In clear prose, Ripley explains why the question of what makes good teaching is so important at this point in time.

"Parents have always worried about where to send their children to school; but the school, statistically speaking, does not matter as much as which adult stands in front of their children,'' Ripley notes. As states are competing for money, they must also "try to identify great teachers, figure out how they got that way, and then create more of them."

Along with the politics of covering the Race to the Top grant program, it's important to really think about how teaching might be improved and examine the most recent rsearch and data. Reporters covering early childhood education rarely focus on the topic of teachers and teaching, and indeed the credentials and qualifications required are often different.

Regardless, the questions Ripley raises and examines thoroughly are the right ones. Properly trained, effective teachers are key to improving the quality of education in the U.S. How are we going to get there?