The early learning world is buzzing about Wednesday’s New York Times column that argues the most effective way to reduce income inequality may be to invest in early education.

In “Occupy the Classroom” Nicholas Kristof says that while folks are railing about the inequities of wealth distribution in this country, maybe the best way to address that is to give kids in lower income families a better start in education.

I know everyone seems to be hijacking the “Occupy Wall Street” brand for their own causes, but Kristof’s argument makes good use of the idea.

One common thread, whether I’m reporting on poverty in New York City or in Sierra Leone, is that a good education tends to be the most reliable escalator out of poverty. Another common thread: whether in America or Africa, disadvantaged kids often don’t get a chance to board that escalator. --“Occupy the Classroom,” The New York Times.

Kristof also tucks a useful nugget about Head Start’s effectiveness into his analysis. While Head Start was criticized, sometimes correctly, during the last year about its effectiveness, a Harvard researcher found the program produces some impressive long-term benefits, as opposed to the quite limited measurements of third and fourth-grade tests often used in fade-out analysis.

“…He found that Head Start had a significant long-term impact: the former Head Start participants are significantly less likely than siblings to repeat grades, to be diagnosed with a learning disability, or to suffer the kind of poor health associated with poverty. Head Start alumni were more likely than their siblings to graduate from high school and attend college.”

Check it out.
 
Muppets Can Do Anything and So Can You: It’s a rainy Thursday in Seattle, so here is a new video by the Muppets with a sunny message and a connection to early learning: “You know I’m going to change the world.”