Overhauling Early Education

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Less than five years ago preschool teachers met with kindergarten teachers in the Santa Maria, California district and learned that kindergarteners, many of them immigrants, struggled with stories in the reading curriculum.

Because children didn't hear classics like "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" or "Humpty Dumpty" at home, the preschool teachers began teaching them and teachers started working together. From that start, PreK-3 (pre-kindergarten through grade 3) has gained momentum and supporters including the Gates Foundation.

The PreK-3 movement is ambitious, with connecting objectives -- universal access to free public preschool, mandatory full day kindergarten and a seamless curriculum from PreK through third grade with increased parental involvement.

An example is the South Shore K-8 school in Seattle, using a research-based curriculum extending from preschool that has shown good outcomes.

As Sarah Garland in The Hechinger Report summarizes the growing movement, in these times of budget cuts, funding is the problem.

Reported By Dr. Marciene Mattleman, KYW Newsradio