In Focus - Show # 88: Early Lessons in Preschool

By WESM News / Stephen Williams

PRINCESS ANNE, MD –

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Show Information:
Show Number: 88
Subject(s): Excerpt from "Early Lessons" by American Radioworks
Original Airdate: Monday, November 16, 2009
Running Time: 29:00

Brief Synopsis:

There's been a quiet revolution in America's schools over recent decades. We've added a whole extra grade to a child's education -- preschool. For 50 years, researchers have been studying what happens to children who go to preschool.

Initially, pre-kindergarten, or pre-school, represented a significant change in the public education system of America. Before the 1960s, children of that age would have stayed at home or gone to daycare, but today most of them are in school.

In this edition of In Focus, we're going to hear Part 1 of an American RadioWorks documentary entitled "Early Lessons," which tells the story of preschool education and how today's researchers are still learning powerful lessons about America's youngest students.

You can hear the full documentary, including Parts 1 and 2, by visiting americanradioworks.org. At that site, you can also learn more about the results of the Perry Study and a take look at the debate over IQ.

Thanks to American Public Media for agreeing to share this documentary with our program. American RadioWorks (ARW) is the highly acclaimed documentary unit of American Public Media.

American RadioWorks / Credits:

• Producer: Emily Hanford
• Editor: Catherine Winter
• Executive Editor/Host: Stephen Smith
• Coordinating Producer: Ellen Guettler
• Web Producer: Ochen Kaylan
• Audio Mixing: Craig Thorson
• Production assistance: Marc Sanchez, Nancy Rosenbaum, Suzanne Pekow and Frankie Barnhill.

Additional Links & Information:

American RadioWorks: "Early Lessons" (includes audio and transcript links)
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/preschool/

Additional Show Links (includes "The Perry Preschool Study" & Other Resources):
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/preschool/links.html

Major moments in the history of The Perry Preschool (American RadioWorks):
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/preschool/timeline.html

Helping Your Preschool Child [U.S. Department of Education Website]:
http://www.ed.gov/parents/earlychild/ready/preschool/index.html

Preschool education [Wikipedia]:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preschool_education

Questions or Comments?

E-mail us: wesm913@umes.edu
Or call 410-651-8001