Two-Thirds of Pennsylvania Early Childhood Programs Are Inefficient

According to a new state report in Pennsylvania, two-thirds of the state 's counties have conditions conducive to causing children to being at risk for underachieving in school. These findings are being used to ensure more funding is set aside for early childhood programs to help decrease these odds.

The report also helps locate and identify the children who are at risk for learning deficiencies. When these risks and children are identified, the odds of achieving success in learning are increased substantially. The funds are there, they just need to be applied appropriately.

Children achieve more and faster when they have been introduced to learning programs at an early age. The goal of the state is that all children should be given the chance to succeed. After receiving the information from the report, the state is more than ever eager to work with families to reach all children in need.

The state's report categorized need by counties, in addition to individual children. There were 7 criteria used in determining each county considered to be at risk. Among these were the percentage of children under 5 and who are in low-income families or poverty level. Single mother families were also among the risk categories. Mothers who did not finish high school are a risk category, too.

In contrast, children who attended a similar program to the ones being offered in Pennsylvania, generally make better grades, attended college and went on to lead very productive lives. These reasons are the driving force behind the state making strides toward bettering their pre-school educational format.

The counties were graded on a scale of 1.00 to 4.00 with 1.00 being the lowest and 4.00 being the highest at risk. A total of 16 counties were considered high risk whereas 31 were moderate to high risk. Eighteen counties were in the moderate to low risk factor. An average of 2.49 is where the whole state of Pennsylvania falls on the scale.

A finding in the report showed that only 26 percent of the children who actually need these programs are actually getting them. This prompted the Governor, Edward G. Rendell, to include $75 million to start more programs to help these at risk children before they start school.

Full day kindergarten is another avenue being addressed by the state. With children being introduced to learning in Pre-K programs, continuing the process is very important in Kindergarten. Due to the findings in this state report and the concern of the government, children in the State of Pennsylvania are heading in the right direction.

Sources,

"New State Repot Shows Need for Early Childhood Development Programs ",
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