Mad men meets preschool

Teachers need Don Draper.

Lost in the hot debate about whether or not preschool helps kids later in life are data-supported findings about the value of great teaching.
 
A 2013 study of early childhood education, funded by the Foundation for Child Development, has produced “too much evidence to ignore,” according to the non-profit, nonpartisan New America Foundation.
 
As a part of that research, psychology professor Deborah Phillips, of Georgetown University, found that her seven month study of early childhood education programs in Tulsa, OK exposed what a “model for the whole country” could look like in education.

Phillips, highlighted in an article on NPR, identifies a handful of factors that lead to a successful preschool. The formula is simple:
 
1.     A well funded program
2.     A low teacher-student ratio 
3.     Qualified, supported, and well paid teachers
 
“The role of the teacher in all of this, researchers say, is the foundation of a high-quality preschool program,” says NPR. 

It’s not a moral problem.  
It’s a public relations problem.

People will pay for what they want, whether it’s alcohol, gasoline, cellphone service, or dinner.  The political debates about education are simply distracting.
 
Education needs to do a better job selling the most important fact in improving and sustaining education:  a great teacher costs money.  

And like dental work, the roof of your house, or great seats to an amazing concert, she is worth it.


For more on the NPR article or the study conducted by the Foundation for Child Development, see:
http://www.npr.org/2014/04/22/305692733/for-early-childhood-education-tulsa-okla-stands-out
http://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/Evidence%20Base%20on%20Preschool%20Education%20FINAL.pdf
further info for this hilariously short article was found at 
http://newamerica.net/events/2013/too_much_evidence_to_ignore

Image used without permission. As soon as I start making money, I'll take it down. I swear.