Preschool Is Not The Answer

by Darcy Ann Olsen

You wouldn't know it from listening to Al Gore and other proponents of federal preschool, but American preschoolers are doing better than ever. Over the 20th century, children's scores have climbed steadily upward on tests of IQ and kindergarten readiness.

The state-run preschool systems of Europe that inspired Gore's plan don't appear to give European children any special advantages. In fact, American students seem to start school as ready to learn as their European counterparts. In reading, math, and science, for example, American fourth-graders outperform nearly all of their universally preschooled European peers.

But even the best early education can't carry students to graduation. By eighth grade, American students start sliding down the international curve. By twelfth grade, they hit bottom. Today's students also perform poorly relative to their parents' generation; domestic test scores have been stagnant or slipping for three decades.

In short, while American children start school better prepared than ever, their performance declines as they move up through grade school and on to high school. At least part of that decline can be traced to the nation's severely troubled public schools. It's hard to believe the answer to poor school performance is putting kids into that troubled system two years sooner.

Nor is there any reason to think all children should attend preschool. Kindergarten teachers say the most important factors for school readiness are health, verbal ability and curiosity-traits that don't require spending time in a classroom. And there is no evidence that preschool programs such as Perry Preschool and Abecedarian benefit normal children any more than ordinary parenting. The teachers talked, played and read to the children, inexpensive activities routinely carried out by millions of parents every day.

If American high school students lag behind their European peers, it's not because they get off to a late start. America's flexible approach to early education works. The history of federal involvement in education has been marked by greater central control and declining student achievement. Now along come presidential candidates promising more of the same. That is one promise American children can do without.

This article appeared in USA Today on December 28, 1999.