1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910166654103321

Autore

Karch Andrew

Titolo

Early Start : Preschool Politics in the United States / / Andrew Karch

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ann Arbor : , : University of Michigan Press, , 2013

©2013

ISBN

1-299-47530-2

0-472-02907-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (285 p.)

Disciplina

372.210973

Soggetti

Education and state - United States

Early Childhood education - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

This title was made Open Access by libraries from around the world through Knowledge Unlatched.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction: the preschool puzzle -- Early childhood policy and the American welfare state -- Historical precedents and forces for change -- A watershed episode: the comprehensive child development act -- Venue shopping, federalism, and the role of the states -- Congressional activity and the dissolving early childhood coalition -- Policy stability and political change in the 1980s -- The congressional heritage of a critical juncture -- The contemporary preschool movement in the states -- Conclusion: the future of preschool politics.

Sommario/riassunto

In the United States, preschool education is characterized by the dominance of a variegated private sector and patchy, uncoordinated oversight of the public sector. Tracing the history of the American debate over preschool education, Andrew Karch argues that the current state of decentralization and fragmentation is the consequence of a chain of reactions and counterreactions to policy decisions dating from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when preschool advocates did not achieve their vision for a comprehensive national program but did manage to foster initiatives at both the state and national levels. Over time, beneficiaries of these initiatives and officials with jurisdiction over preschool education have become ardent defenders of the status quo. Today, advocates of greater government involvement must take on a



diverse and entrenched set of constituencies resistant to policy change.