Long before the ABCs and 123s

Almost nothing about the 2018 midterm elections indicated U.S. politicians find much to agree on. But at the state level, at least one issue came up again and again in stump speeches and TV ads: early childhood education.

According to the National Governors Association (NGA), candidates in 32 of the 39 gubernatorial races claimed early education as a priority. That broad topic includes initiatives from preschool classes to affordable child care and more. But one common, bipartisan understanding undergirds all of it: A child’s educational development does not begin in kindergarten.

“We’re seeing more recognition around the science of learning and development and what leads to lifelong learning outcomes,” said Aaliyah A. Samuel, director of the education division for the NGA.

According to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, only about 1 in 5 parents stays home with their children. While research shows one-on-one interaction with children offers the best environment for their development, 80 percent of parents send their children to some form of child care. And children whose parents can’t afford the best care often end up falling behind before they ever get to school. That achievement gap has prompted policymakers to push for more government involvement.

While politicians recognize the value of early education, especially for disadvantaged children, they don’t agree on how to support or improve it. Democrats, who have focused on this issue for longer, tend to gravitate toward initiatives like universal pre-K or Head Start, according to Katharine Stevens, an early childhood policy analyst with the American Enterprise Institute. Republicans, she said, are focused more on defining and addressing the scientifically proven needs of children at the root-cause level.

In 2015, federal lawmakers established a grant program to help states do just that. The Preschool Development Grants Birth Through Five will dole out $1 billion over four years to increase participation in high-quality early learning programs. Stevens called the grant program a breakthrough because it doesn’t aim to establish a new, federally funded initiative. Instead, it seeks to bolster existing networks of child care options, emphasizing parental choice.

The first step is for each state to evaluate its resources and identify gaps. The second step focuses on filling those gaps. Stevens hopes many of the state proposals will highlight care from birth to 3 years old, the time researchers increasingly say matters most.

“If you’re talking about focusing on the foundations of development, you don’t focus on 4-year-olds because that’s not actually the foundation of development,” she said. “The foundation of development starts prenatally and then certainly in the first three years of life. … So if your focus is improving outcomes, especially for disadvantaged children, and you’re following the science, you’re going to be focused on pregnant mothers and children from birth to 3.”

Samuel with the NGA believes state-level solutions will continue to take precedence over a more universal, federal approach. While each state’s programs will differ in implementation, she expects to see an increase in funding for and access to high-quality early childhood programs.

“In the same way you don’t question funding a child for second grade, you won’t see people questioning funding for early childhood,” she said.

Trouble for course credit recovery programs

Schools have long struggled to provide effective solutions for students who fall behind in their studies. Course credit recovery programs, like summer school or after-school classes, help high school students make up credits after failing classes. But concerns exist that the programs have lower standards, focusing on getting students to graduate at the expense quality learning. A recent study released by the Thomas Fordham Institute reveals worrying trends for in-school credit recovery programs.

Nationwide, a modest average of 8 percent of students participate in active high school credit recovery programs. The report points out that while the average is fairly low, the outliers raise concerns. In nearly 1 out of every 10 programs, 20 percent or more of the students in the school are enrolled.

Another red flag is the fact that large and urban school districts enroll disproportionally more students in credit recovery programs. Even more troubling is the fact that high-minority districts enroll students at a much higher rate than their suburban counterparts.

The report cautioned against overgeneralizing based on the findings: “Like most educational interventions, we can find places that are experiencing genuine success as a result of the intervention, but we can also find places that manifest dismal failure.” —Laura Edghill

Reactionary rule

Several national fraternities and sororities sued Harvard University this week over a 2016 policy discouraging single-sex social clubs. The rule doesn’t ban the groups outright, but it bars students who join them from leading campus groups, being captains of sports teams, and receiving endorsements for prestigious fellowships such as the Rhodes scholarship.

“These students are being punished simply for joining private, off-campus, lawful organizations,” Laura Doerre, former international president of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, said at a news conference Monday. “They are being punished for being women who simply want to have an association with other women.”

Harvard came up with the policy to try to curb secretive all-male “final clubs,” which were accused of misogyny and sexual assault in a 2016 report. But other fraternities and sororities and even single-sex choirs have suffered as a result, especially all-female groups that have either disbanded or been forced to admit men—an obviously ineffective solution to the original challenge of protecting women from male aggressors. The lawsuit claims Harvard’s policy discriminates against students on the basis of sex. —Lynde Langdon

Going bananas for kindness

In a photo making the rounds on social media, a Virginia Beach, Va., school cafeteria manager hands out more than the usual daily lunch. Early each morning, Stacy Truman writes uplifting messages on several dozen bananas. “You are enough!” said one. Others encourage students to “be a great friend” and “be kind.”

Truman began the practice many years ago for her two daughters to stay connected with them while they were in school. Last month, she decided to try it out on the kids at Kingston Elementary.

“I want them to succeed in life and have an awesome day at school,” Truman told The Washington Post. “Whenever I can put a smile on all of those little faces, I’ve done my job.”

The photo continues making the rounds on social media, so keep an eye out for motivational bananas in a school near you. —L.E.