Press
For Universal Pre-K
11/11/2013
The Opinion Pages | November 12, 2013
LETTER | Re “Oklahoma! Where the Kids Learn Early” (column, Nov. 10):
Nicholas D. Kristof describes compelling evidence of how early experience with language contributes to long-term academic and economic achievement. We applaud his call for universal pre-K programs to help all children capitalize on their potential.
Research conducted through a partnership between New York University and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan has found that the preschool years are critical not only for developing basic skills for school readiness but also for the development of children’s interests and beliefs about their own capabilities.
Here, too, the language that children hear is critical: Pre-school-age children are sensitive to subtle features of language that communicate to them either that success is possible through hard work and continuous effort or that success is possible only for those who possess inherent abilities or are members of privileged gender or racial groups.
Early-intervention efforts need to focus not only on skill acquisition but also on helping children develop positive beliefs about their own potential to succeed.
ANDREW S. ACKERMAN
MARJORIE RHODES
The writers are, respectively, executive director of the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and an assistant professor of psychology at New York University.
