Several state leaders have taken to promoting more income tax cuts as the best way to improve Oklahoma’s economy. But is that true? We recently heard Timothy Bartik, senior economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, discuss the latest research on which state-level policies are most effective at boosting the economy. [You can see the full transcript of his remarks here.]

Bartik explained that across-the-board business tax cuts are usually not the most cost-effective tool for economic development. Because state government resources are small relative to the size of a state’s economy, we need policies with a high “bang-for- the-buck” to see meaningful increases in per capita earnings. Across-the-board cuts are not targeted enough to account for the opportunity cost of paying for them though reductions in public services or increases in other taxes.

Instead, Bartik recommended five policies with proven effectiveness and high bang-for-the-buck: Read the rest of this entry »

Betty Casey has taught high school English, middle school gifted and talented, and Freshman Comp., English Lit. and Humanities at the University of Oklahoma and Tulsa Community College. She is currently managing editor of TulsaKids Magazine, a monthly parenting publication.

In the past few months I’ve had the pleasure of watching three screenings about public education: “Waiting for Superman”, “The Race to Nowhere” and, most recently, “American Teacher.” Of the three, “American Teacher” contributed the most realistic and valuable information to the dialogue about what’s wrong and what’s right in American education.

The documentary follows five public school teachers. While “Waiting for Superman” blames teachers (and teachers’ unions) for everything from low standardized test scores to young people going to prison, “American Teacher” actually lets the teachers tell their story — and it’s a story of heartbreak and courage in the face of low pay, poor working conditions, and lack of respect.

Are there bad teachers? Sure. But does anyone seriously believe that our schools are suddenly filled with bad teachers? My children who went through Tulsa Public Schools were all well prepared for college. Like the dedicated teachers in the film, my children’s teachers were available early in the morning and late into the night. One of their high school math teachers would stay and tutor kids as long as they needed him, sometimes until 9 or 10 pm. Read the rest of this entry »

Young children have one of the strongest claims for public support. They are dependent on us and clearly not to blame for any economic hardships they face.

Early childhood is also a smart investment of public dollars, since providing a better start can lead to gains over an entire lifetime, as well as a substantial boost to economic development.

For these reasons, Oklahoma leaders in education, business, philanthropy, and politics have built early childhood programs and partnerships that earn national acclaim. Since 2003, Oklahoma has been ranked first in the nation for availability of public preschool, with a public pre-Kindergarten program offered by every school district and attended by about 71 percent of Oklahoma 4-year-olds.

At the same time, serious problems remain for Oklahoma children. Read the rest of this entry »

The first event in the Oklahoma Department of Human Service’s fall Practice and Policy lecture series will be held Thursday, October 7th from Noon to 1 pm at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. Dr. Gerald Clancy, President of OU-Tulsa and Dean of the OU School of Community Medicine, will be speaking on “Start Smart – Benefits of Early Childhood Education.”

Dr. Clancy, a physician whose practice and research has focused on outreach psychiatry,  will offer a discussion on new advances in understanding brain development and brain imaging, enlightening participants by providing new insights that will guide early childhood programs of the future. The event is sponsored by OKDHS Oklahoma Child Care Services.

The event is free and open to the public. Click here for a map to the Oklahoma History Center, located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, Oklahoma City.

John Thompson is an Oklahoma City teacher with 18 years of urban high school experience and an education blogger at thisweekineducation.com. He contributes regularly to our blog on education issues.

A large body of social science has demonstrated the long-term effectiveness of high-quality early education and teaching children to read for comprehension by 3^rd grade. New research and cognitive science is now explaining why investments in the early years are far more cost effective than trying to turnaround struggling schools.

In the classic Perry Preschool Experiment, 123 low-income, three year old, African-American children were randomly assigned to either a treatment group, and given a high-quality pre-school education, or to a control group. While kids exposed to preschool got an initial bump in general intelligence, those gains dissipated by second grade. That result has been used by both the political left and right to challenge the effectiveness of early education. However, after tracking the Perry Preschool subjects for nearly 40 years,  the research found that adults assigned to the preschool program were 20 percentage points more likely to have graduated from high school and 19 percentage points less likely to have been arrested more than five times. They earned much better grades, were more likely to remain married and were less dependent on welfare programs. Other scientific studies have shown that improvements in test scores due to early interventions often dissipate in subsequent grades. But when adult outcomes are considered, a dollar invested in high-quality early education can result in $8.70 savings to society. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re #1, again! Last month, the National Institute for Early Education Research released the 2009 State Preschool Yearbook,  its annual report on pre-kindergarten education across the nation.  Overall, the report’s press release proclaimed that “Oklahoma was ranked as the leader of the top 10 states in the country… based on enrollment, quality standards, funding adequacy, and evidence of program effectiveness.”

On access, Oklahoma was recognized as “the only state where almost every child had the opportunity to attend a quality preschool education program at age 4.” The state data fact sheet shows that almost every school district in Oklahoma offers a 4-year old program and 71 percent of children were enrolled in a pre-K program in the 2008-09 school year. Under Oklahoma’s collaborative pre-K model, public school teachers can be placed in Head Start programs, child care centers, or other community-based programs, as well as directly in public schools. Read the rest of this entry »

In the heart of one of the poorest neighborhoods in Oklahoma City, in a state-of-the-art facility beside the railroad tracks, the smell of fresh-baked bread and cookies wafts down the halls, which wind around the building to simulate streets in a town.

This is Educare, a premiere early childhood education and child care program, and Oklahoma City is one of only a handful of cities to claim one. In fact, at the time OKC Educare opened this summer, Oklahoma was the only state to have two Educare centers. (Tulsa’s opened in 2006.) Read the rest of this entry »

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) hosts its annual Fall Forum in Edmond on October 13 and 14. This unique event brings together hundreds of opinion leaders and advocates to identify issues affecting children. Participants work together to help shape OICA’s legislative priorities for the coming session. Topics that will be discussed this year include early childhood care and education, children of incarcerated persons, and many other important issues. Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in advocacy workshops, hear from four candidates for governor, and see OK Policy’s David Blatt discuss Oklahoma’s changing budget picture.

Early bird registration ends this Friday, October 2 and all registration ends next Tuesday, October 6. For directions, an agenda, and online registration, see OICA’s web site.

All appearances to the contrary, we hate bad news as much as anyone. It’s just that these days, selecting topics to blog on typically leaves us with a choice between the bad (the budget) and the ugly (the economy) (or is it the other way around?). Therefore, it truly is a pleasure to call attention to the good, in the form of two recent reports that shine a spotlight on an area where Oklahoma truly excelled: investing in early childhood care and education.

In March, the National Child Care Resource and Referral Association issued a report evaluating the 50 states, along with the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Defense, on regulation and oversight of child care facilities based on 15 benchmarks. Oklahoma was ranked third in the nation (tied with Tennessee), earning an overall score of 71 percent.  The state won high marks for frequency of inspections, health and safety training of staff, and parental involvement, but was found lacking in credentialing of lead teachers and background check procedures. Oklahoma is the only state in the country that requires three monitoring visits per year for each child care facility.

The child care report was followed by the annual Pre-School Yearbook report issued by the National Institute for Early Education Research. Once again, Oklahoma’s efforts to provide broad-based, high-quality instruction to 4-year old children have earned the state national acclaim.

Read the rest of this entry »