Report – Comparative Framework Research

Report – Comparative Framework Research
Subject : Comparative Issues and Contexts in Early Childhood

Table of Contents :
Introduction
Framework and political context in US
One OECD indicator and why we chose this
Policy lever comparison in US and Australia
Conclusion

Introduction
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has a range of options depends on the
needs of children and your family in the United States where it weighs different on
care and education. Most of ECEC emphasis on ‘care’, thought recent years, the
United Stated starts putting some effort to do some movement to integrate education
and care services in the EC setting (Kamerman & Gatenio, 2007). The United States
is considered a most developed country owning a big population from a large range
of different cultural backgrounds which is similar to Australia. Its education system is
quite similar to Australia although there are also many differences of ECEC between
the United States and Australia. In this essay, we will examine the ECEC
frameworks and policies in the United States, and how it performs according to the
international date developed by OECD. We will also look into one OECD indicator on
behalf of educators, children, and parents and make a major comparison in ECEC
between the United States and Australia.
Framework and political contexts in US
When attempting to understand the framework and the political environment in the
United States regarding early childhood education, it is important to note that there is
no nationwide early learning standard and curriculum (1). It is up to the individual
states to set up and follow their own “Early Learning Guidelines (ELG) (2)”. Because
of the strong emphasis of capitalism in the US society, social inequality has been
one of the society’s main issues, poverty has affected a lot of children’s early
learning opportunities. Since 1964, when the war on poverty has been declared (3),
some programs are introduced to help the low-income population, such as the Head
Start and Sesame Street. According to the research (4), it is suggested that the
Head Start did positively impact the adult’s outcome who were eligible for the Head
Start Program compared to the people who were not eligible, their annual adult
earning has a $2,199 increase, they have completed 0.125 additional years of
education, and they were 4.6 percentage points less likely to have a health limitation
at age 40. As for Sesame Street, according to this research (5), it found that the
children who watched Sesame Street were more likely stayed at the appropriate
grade level for their age, and was largely beneficial to the boys, African American
and those who grew up in disadvantaged areas.
In 2001, the “No Child Left Behind (NCLB)” Act was introduced, its implementation
started with the third graders, then it was coming to pre-school. Stipek (6) argues
that this movement put pressure on the preschool teacher, who need to start
teaching the children the basic academic skills that are assessed under NCLB,
instead of focusing on other developmental areas, such as emotional intelligence.
One OECD indicator and why we chose this
In the past 15 years, OECD has been working on “conducting policy analysis and
developing new data on ECEC to provide comparable international information to
help support countries review and redesign policies to improve their early childhood