Michael J. Kaufman

Beginning Together: Reforming Schools by Investing in Early Childhood Education.

The most productive way to reform education would be to invest in effective early childhood education programs. Such an investment would produce remarkable educational, social, and economic benefits. It would also transcend the current divisive debates about education reform by uniting advocates with different perspectives on issues of funding, accountability, and school choice. An investment in universal pre-K would provide a model of authentic assessment of student learning and genuine accountability through documentation. It would also create an exemplar of real school choice by giving families the ability to select from a variety of options for their children. Furthermore, an investment in social constructivist early childhood education programs—programs in which children are encouraged to build knowledge through meaningful relationships—would yield particularly robust investment returns for children and for the nation.