Advantages And Disadvantages Of Early Education In Virginia

For at-risk children in the commonwealth of Virginia, early education interventions could result in positive short and long-term outcomes. According to Barnett (2008), “well-designed preschool education programs produce long-term improvements in school success, including higher achievement test scores, lower rates of grade repetition and special education, and higher educational attainment; some preschool programs are also associated with reduced delinquency and crime in childhood and adulthood” (p. 20). While proven beneficial for disadvantaged children, children who are also economically disadvantaged, in addition to individual disadvantages, are more likely to reap long-term benefits from attending preschool (Barnett, 2008, p. 20).
Children facing individual and environmental risk factors are both directly and …show more content…
These services typically include the provision of health and developmental screening and monitoring. Since the needs of the at-risk population aren’t limited to high-quality early education, the provision of additional coordinated services is encouraged. It essentially provides both indirect and direct services to families, while also making the connection to education for both the child and the parent. Neuman (2009) argues that successful programs have often times changed the odds for children by coordinating health, social services and education in a way that helps families attain the most immediate goals. In addition to the provision of coordinated services, Neuman (2009) believes that early education programs should also incorporate compensatory instructional benefits that enhance a child’s background knowledge and conceptual understandings (p. 66). This requires that intervention be individualized and focused on the previously held knowledge of the child, in an attempt to eliminate future educational