Is Zero to Five Possible?
Pre-Kindergarten Research BlogArchive for February 23, 2009
1) Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s Plan for Lifetime Success Through Education
Title: Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s Plan for Lifetime Success Through Education (n.d.)
Summary: Barack Obama and Joe Biden plan to give funding to states to create or improve high quality early education care for pregnant women up until age five because high quality pre-school and early care are important for children to develop properly and succeed later in life.
Topic: zero to five plan
Category: Non-profit institutional
What is it? A campaign report outlining the Obama-Biden plan for pre-kindergarten education
Publication Information:
barackobama.com, no publication date or location
Author: Obama for America
Location: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/PreK-12EducationFactSheet.pdf
Accessed: 2/22/09
Support
Barack Obama, president
Joe Biden, vice president
These sources represent the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates for the November 2008 election’s pre-kindergarten education proposal.
Audience and Agenda:
This source aimed to reach constituents as it was funded by Organizing for America, an organization supported by the Democratic Party. This bias shows because it states the plan, and follows up with why it should be implemented. It also is available for reference to see our current president’s plans.
Usefulness:
This source will be useful because it outlines, in detail, Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s zero to five plan and is my only source that serves that function. I will integrate it with my other sources because a lot of them show research to support the plan, and this source will follow them to show how it will be applied. I will show how Obama’s plan reflects the research, but also how it deviates from the findings in the research. For the most part, it stays consistent with research, but some funds could be distributed differently, as commented by Larry Schweinhart.
Works Cited:
Audio Slideshow
1) The Sandbox Investment*
The Sandbox Investment: The Preschool Movement and Kids-First Politics (2007)
Summary: Preschool should be a top concern for Americans because the benefits to society and the individual outweigh the expenses.
Topic: zero to five
Category: Academic Journalistic
What is it? Book
Publication Information: Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2007
Author: David Kirp, Ph.D., Education Professor at UC-Berkeley
Location: Knight Library
Accessed: 2/20/2009
Sources:
James Heckman, Economist
Lawrence Schweinhart, President of High/Scope Education Research Foundation
Zell Miller, Politician from Georgia
These sources represent three advocates of universal preschool that come from different backgrounds, one in education, one in economics, and one in politics.
Audience and Agenda:
This book ranks #43,746 on Amazon.com’s sales ranking. It was written to chronicle and highlight the recent developments in the pre-kindergarten movement. The audience Kirp focuses on is policy makers and other industry insiders. He is a credible source, an education professional from Berkeley, and focuses on all aspects of the pre-k movement.
Usefulness:
This source will be useful because it is a collective summary of what the majority of my other sources focus on. It includes reference to the The Perry Preschool Study as well as my interviewee, researcher Larry Schweinhart. This source puts my subject in context and shows how it will be applied. It also discusses political issues, which is not covered in the majority of my other sources. I can use this source, which includes problems and solutions to the pre-k program, to make a quality refutation.
Works cited:
Amazon.com
1) Interview with Larry Schweinhart
Title: Interview (February 18, 2009)
Summary: President of High/Scope Research foundation, Larry Schweinhart, Ph.D, found in his research that there are long term societal benefits to pre-kindergarten programs that began at both ages 3 and 4, and believes that because it benefits society more than the individual it is a public good and should be publicly funded.
Topic: zero to five
Category: Expert Citizen
What is it? skype interview with Dr. Larry Schweinhart
Publication Information: Not published
Author: Larry Schweinhart
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Accessed: February 18, 2009
Support:
Larry Schweinhart represents an expert source who supports early pre-k, but also sees flaws in current government allocation of funds.
Audience and Agenda:
Schweinhart formerly performed extensive academically accepted research that supports pre-k education. His work has been done to support the High/Scope preschool approach, and also to inform lawmakers of the benefits of preschool programs.
Usefulness: This source will be useful because it adds expert opinions to specific questions on my research. I will use integrate the information and opinions of Dr. Schweinhart when explaining faults in current spending and how spending should be made. He also gave expert insight on why preschool should be publicly funded and not privately in addition to why public preschool has been unsuccessful in the past. He answered all of my questions without leaving anything out and gave me names of people I should contact.
Works Cited:
