Main SitePolicy ProgramsEquality of OppurtinityEarly Education ProgramOther Policy Programs

 


Early Education Program - Preschool/Ecole Maternelle

 

         The French-American Foundation launched its program on the French universal early education system (école maternelle) in 1998, as “universal pre-kindergarten” (“UPK”) was becoming a cutting edge issue in the U.S., due in part to interest in the growing body of research on early brain development. Delaine Eastin, who was State Superintendent of Public Instruction in California when she participated in FAF’s Early Education study tour, said that universal pre-kindergarten was “the next big idea” in public education in America. A number of U.S. states were creating or considering state pre-kindergarten programs, while UPK was also becoming an important issue on the national level; both Al Gore and John Kerry would endorse UPK in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns.  
         Following the successful model of the Foundation’s previous programs on Child Care and Maternal and Child Health, the French-American Foundation selected a distinguished team of 15 Americans experts on early childhood education and sent them on a study tour to France in January 1999. The team was composed of leading voices in the area of early education and key U.S. decision makers. It included Delaine Eastin, Augusta Souza Kappner, president of Bank Street College, Sarah Greene, Chief Executive Officer of the National Head Start Association, and Sheila Kamerman, Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work. The project objective was to observe French preschools in a variety of settings, articulate the principles of the French process of early education, and determine what lessons the system might yield for U.S. practices. The study tour was followed by the publication of a report, A Welcome for Every Child III: Ready to Learn: The French System of Early Education and Care Offers Lessons for the United States, by Candy Cooper and Michelle Neuman, and more than 10,000 copies of the report have been distributed.  

“To download a copy of this report, click here.”  

          The French-American Foundation organized several additional study tours between 2000 and 2004, including one for Senator James Jeffords and congressional staff, and a Governors’ Study Tour for Iowa Governor Thomas Vilsack and Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry.  
          In 2002, the Foundation began to focus on French priority education policy (known as ZEP policy for zone d’éducation prioritaire). This policy entails the investment of additional resources in schools serving disadvantaged student populations. A kind of affirmative action à la française, ZEP policy aims to “give more to those who have less” within a universal, national education system.  
          Our objective was to examine how this education policy is applied to pre-kindergarten education in France, and to identify any lessons the French policy might offer for efforts to reform and improve early education in the United States for children at risk of school failure. The French-American Foundation organized an intensive study visit to examine priority education policy in May, 2002, and published a report entitled Equal from the Start: Promoting Educational Opportunity for all Preschool Children: Learning from the French Experience.  

“To download a copy of this report, click here.”  

  

Sharing Lessons Learned from France  

           In February, 2000, following the publication of Ready to Learn, the French-American Foundation launched a major outreach effort for its Early Education Project. Following the example of its past projects in early childhood policy, it initiated a program of working forums to highlight the French early education system in the context of United States practices. The audience for these events typically consisted of state and municipal officials and legislators, officials from state agencies and education departments, educators, children's developmentspecialists, members of the child care community, the media, business leaders, and other key decision-makers. The Foundation organized forums in Florida, Pennsylvania, Vermont, California, Arkansas, Illinois, and Washington State. The Foundation’s program director also participated in numerous seminars and conferences on early education sponsored, for example, by the Albert Shanker Institute, Columbia ’s Institute for Child and Family Policy, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the American Federation of Teachers, the Foundation for Child Development, the Education Commission of the States, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.  
          Other outreach efforts have aimed more directly at lawmakers. The Foundation arranged a briefing in the Capital in May 2000 at which several study tour delegates spoke. Shanny Peer, program director, was asked to testify before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in a hearing in March 2001 entitled “Early Education and Child Care: How Does the U.S. Measure Up?” She also briefed a team of early education advisors to California Governor Gray Davis. 
          National organizations and advocacy groups and the media have also shown great interest in the French école maternelle since the French-American Foundation launched its early education program. The Albert Shanker Institute and Children’s Defense Fund, both inspired by the report Ready to Learn, each sent a delegation of experts to observe French écoles maternelles and crèches in Spring 2001. After her visit to France with the Shanker Institute, Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers, decided to publicly endorse universal pre-kindergarten for all three-and four-year old children in the United States, citing the French example as a model.
           Since the French-American Foundation began its outreach efforts, articles on the école maternelle have been featured by The New York Times click here to read, Education Week click here to read, USA Today click here to read, Newsweek click here to read and WNYC Radio. The Merrow Report produced a one-hour documentary on universal pre-kindergarten entitled The Promise of Preschool, which aired on PBS stations in October 2002. FAF helped the show’s creators produce the 15-minute segment devoted to the French école maternelle.