In an address to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan pushed to “get schools out of the catch-up business” by preventing the achievement gap that emerges before children ever set foot in school. He reminded his audience:
You have all heard President Obama speak of the need to develop a seamless cradle-to-career educational pipeline. But as the President has pointed out, that pipeline will never work properly unless the road to college begins at birth. (transcript)
Secretary Duncan was cognizant that the achievement gap opens well before children begin school. However, rather than focusing on parents, who wield by far the greatest influence during these early years, he focused instead on early learning programs like Head Start and Early Head Start. The problem with this approach is that it is not prevention, but treatment. That early education is receiving the attention of top policy makers is surely a good thing. The question now is how well they will use their influence.
