Misinformation about the Arkansas state-funded pre-K program is being distributed. Two false claims are being made.

• Claims have been made that a report produced by the Office of Education Policy, University of Arkansas, indicates that the Arkansas state-funded pre-K program is not successful. AACF spoke with Dr. Gary Ritter on January 16^th. Dr. Ritter was surprised that the OEP document was being misused in that way. He indicated that, to the contrary, their research shows that state-funded pre-K programs are quite successful.

From Gary Ritter, Faculty Director of OEP and Sarah McKenzie, new Executive Director of OEP:

“From our review of the research, we believe that students participating in Arkansas’ Pre-K programs are entering kindergarten academically ahead of their peers and are less likely to be retained. These are very positive outcomes for young students, and we are looking forward to reviewing continued research examining how these effects can be carried on throughout the academic careers of these young students.”

• Other claims are being made that the curriculum is not high-quality. Many of those expressing this view don’t have experience in early childhood education curricula which are quite different than K-12 curricula. This is because every effort is made to ensure that the curricula approved for use in the state-funded programs are developmentally age appropriate. These curricula have been researched and validated for their merit in meeting all domains of child development.

Every state-funded pre-K program must use one of the approved curricula listed on the state’s Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education website. The AR Framework Benchmark Summary Table has been revised to better align with the current K-12 curriculum which was adopted by Arkansas in July, 2010. Extensive research has been done to ensure that these standards are appropriate for pre-K children and are aligned properly with K-12 standards. See this link for approved curriculum.