What School Boards are Facing?
This is a challenging time for public education. School boards are dealing with the politics of ethnic studies curriculum implementation, as well as the management of the rollout of Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK). As early childhood educators it is important to really hear all perspectives and make informed decisions. What is happening in the public school arena should be taken into consideration in our work in the early education world.
The California Office of Education has been working on both UPK rollout and the development and implementation of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Guidelines. Both initiatives are not without controversy. The following are some of the challenges and resources for you to follow to make informed decisions for yourself and your program.
Universal Pre-Kindergarten
How are our county boards of education and district superintendents handling California’s move to Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK?)
Well, as expected, it is a little different in different counties across the state of California. First, here are the basics of the new program.
Develop a plan for consideration by the governing board or body at a public meeting on or before June 30, 2022, for how all children in the attendance area of the local educational agency will have access to full-day learning programs the year before kindergarten that meet the needs of parents, including through partnerships with:
The local educational agency’s expanded learning offerings.
The After School Education and Safety Program.
The California state preschool program.
Head Start programs.
Other community-based early learning and care programs.
Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) are permitted to partner in creating a joint UPK plan and may submit the same plan for multiple LEAs.
LEAs may partner with their county office of education (COEs) to create a single, countywide plan.
Small and rural LEAs are strongly encouraged to create a joint UPK plan including non-district learning programs.
Plans should be developed in conjunction with CSPP, Head Start, other preschool programs, and early learning and care providers.
Some of the concerns for families and current programs are:
The addition of all 4-year-olds in free state funded education being offered through school districts, Head Start and State Funded Programs will affect enrollment in private for profit and non-profit programs. When programs lose 4-year-olds the decrease in revenue cannot be made up by increases in infant – 3-year-old enrollment. This is due to the differential in licensing teacher child ratios (1 to 12 preschool, 1 to 6 infant toddler), and ever lower ratios in many programs.
The class size will be 24 children.
Will the new UPK curriculum maintain a developmentally appropriate play-based philosophy?
There is concern about half day programs with after school care provided on campus. Will there be full day coverage? What will the consistency of care and quality be?
What will the ramp up of required early childhood education for teachers?
In talking with program administrators in private and community programs where families pay for early care and education, even if it is reduced fees for low-income families, the slowing of enrollment already from TK is increasing for the fall of 2023 due to the availability of UPK.
The following are several resources for deeper understanding of the state’s plan and educator’s reflections.
CDE Universal Prekindergarten FAQ
California Educators Together. This site has several resources as well as organizations working to ensure quality as UPK is rolled out.
Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum
After working and re-working the state’s ethnic studies curriculum since 2018, California has adopted and recommended the K – 12 model. It is a 400-page document with guidelines and suggested lesson plans. It is still a deeply debated document.
Here are the guidelines from the California Department of Education website.
1. General principles. The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum shall:
Include accurate information based on current and confirmed research;
When appropriate, be consistent with the content and instructional shifts in the 2016 History–Social Science Framework, in particular the emphasis upon student-based inquiry in instruction;
Promote the values of civic engagement and civic responsibility;
Align to the Literacy Standards for History–Social Studies within the California Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History–Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects, as appropriate;
Promote self and collective empowerment;
Be written in language that is inclusive and supportive of multiple users, including teachers (single and multiple-subject), support staff, administrators, and the community;
Encourage cultural understanding of how different groups have struggled and worked together, highlighting core ethnic studies concepts such as equality, justice, race, ethnicity, indigeneity, etc.;
Include information on the ethnic studies movement, specifically the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), and its significance in the establishment of ethnic studies as a discipline and work in promoting diversity and inclusion within higher education;
Promote critical thinking and rigorous analysis of history, systems of oppression, and the status quo in an effort to generate discussions on futurity and imagine new possibilities.
2. Course Outlines. The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum shall:
Include course outlines that offer a thematic approach to ethnic studies with concepts that provide space for educators to build in examples and case studies from diverse backgrounds;
Include course outlines that allow for ethnic studies to be taught as a stand-alone elective or integrated into an existing course (e.g., sociology, English language arts, and history);
Include course outlines that allow for local, state-specific, national, and global inquiry into ethnic studies;
Have the capability to engage multiple languages and genealogies;
Engage a range of disciplines beyond traditional history and social sciences, including but not limited to visual and performing arts, English language arts, economics, biology, gender & sexuality studies, etc.
3. Audience. The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum shall:
Be sensitive to the needs of all grade levels and incorporated disciplines, providing balance and guidance to the field;
Engage pedagogies that allow for student and community responsiveness, validate students’ lived experience, and address socioemotional development;
Be inclusive, creating space for all students regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, or citizenship, to learn different perspectives.
The controversy revolves around the position that the basic concept is based on the belief that we live in a systematically biased and discriminatory culture in the United States, and that we must educate youth to eliminate these biases through knowledge of self and others. Some believe that instead it creates a victimization of some groups and labels Whites as oppressors. Additionally, there are minority groups that were not included in the original curriculum which sent it back to the writers two more times to be more inclusive and to eliminate biases that still found their way into the document.
Here is the CDE outline of the model, last reviewed January 11, 2023
NOTE: There are many articles explaining the controversy. The following are several that I found informative from a variety of perspectives. This is a topic worth discussing as Boards of Education are doing now. It is not an easy or clear cut discussion. It is important to hear all sides as you are making your own personal decisions.
Article in EdSource by Bill Honig
This article is part of our Spring 2023 Newsletter. See all articles.
