By Judy Burnett

     Dr. Li-Yen Johnson - Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education, Indianapolis Public Schools

     Nancy Farrar - Head of Early Childhood, Sycamore School

     Kim Morris - Director of Admissions, St. Richards School

     Debbie Dominguez - Director of Hilbert Early Education Center, Park Tudor School

     Carolyn Dederer - Executive Director, Day Nursery Association

     Local early childhood education experts spent a recent morning with Indianapolis Woman to discuss the education of young children in the Indianapolis area.

     Q. How can parents identify high-quality child care and early education programs for children?

     Dr. Li-Yen Johnson: The first thing you have to look for is the atmosphere. Does it feel nurturing and caring with high expectations?

     Carolyn Dederer: We are fortunate to have a national accreditation body that has objective criteria by which we measure early childhood education programs. It's called the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Parents can look for that accreditation in different programs. Where they have that, parents can be assured the program does meet those standards. I usually differentiate between custodial programs and educational programs. Programs that are accredited have the educational component as well as the custodial component.

     Kim Morris: In talking with parents, I advise them to go into the classroom and observe what is happening. That is often the best measure.

     Debbie Dominguez: I always tell parents to trust themselves. Walk into the classroom and get a sense of the atmosphere. If they go and they have a good feeling, the kids are happy and smiling, and the teachers seem

     content, it's probably a good program.

     Nancy Farrar: I concur with what everyone has said. I think it is important that as parents are evaluating different programs, they see that there is a clearly defined vision, philosophy and goals that are evident, and that they see classroom activities that support those philosophies and goals as well.

     Q. How can parents help young children get ready for school?

     Farrar: I think one of the main things is for the parents to be comfortable and happy with the choice they have made. Convey a positive attitude to the child that now is the time for them to go for school. Let the child know he can be independent, that he can embark on this next part of his life. Be

     supportive but let the child know that this is his thing to do. That sends an important message to the child. Going to a place called school is fun.

     Dominguez: It all comes down to the parent's attitude and how you are going to approach it. We talk to parents about dividing their child's life into thirds. You want one-third of their independence to develop between the ages of one and seven. Then you think through what they need to do. They need to button their coat. They need to tie their shoes. They need to be able to go to the bathroom on their own. It's all about letting them go a little bit at a time. Let the kids know this is great - it's not a traumatic thing, it's a great thing.

     Morris: I agree. I think little things like being on time are important. Set the proper example for your children from the beginning of living up to the expectations of the school.

     Dederer: I was thinking more in terms of developmental preparation. I think the single biggest factor is reading to children.

     Johnson: When I first became a principal in 1989, we bought developmental stages posters and put them up in the classrooms. What we found out was that parents did not really know what children were supposed to be doing at certain developmental stages. Now we talk a lot about the development pathways with the parents. The auditory, the visual, the kinesthetic, the moral - all those things. That guides our school programming.

     Farrar: There are so many institutions here in Central Indiana that have wonderful early childhood education programs but don't qualify as schools, such as the Indianapolis Zoo, the Children's Museum, the library and the churches. We encourage our parents to take advantage of those programs.

     Q. What about special needs children? How do you deal with their needs?

     Farrar: Sycamore School with its specialized mission is dealing with special needs children within the gifted range as well as other special needs. With young children, it is very difficult to evaluate that. You are not quite sure if something is really an educational issue or if the child just needs some time in development. Particularly with young children, they develop very asynchronously. Their academic potential is very advanced but yet their social and emotional skills are appropriate or even lagging behind.

     Dominguez: We do a lot of things at Park Tudor. One of the main things we have tried is helping parents understand those develop-mental milestones. We get kids who come from language-rich environments. We have kids who come to school with a lot of skills but they may be lagging behind in some other developmental areas. Unfortunately, in our nation, we have kids coming to school who have been sitting in front of computers but haven't developed their motor skills. There is a lot of research that says children cannot learn to read and cannot be good academic students until they have those motor skills. We help parents understand the types of activities and developmental things they need to do with their children. It's the whole picture of development.

     Dederer: I agree. The whole develop-mental picture is important.

     Farrar: We try really hard not to label kids. There are steps you can put in place like speech therapy and occupational therapy. There are things you can do to help a child before she gets to that three-year-old level. Indiana has a wonderful program called First Steps that works with the child and the parents in their own home.

     Dederer: Some parents are afraid of intervention and labeling. They don't want to admit that their two-year-old is not perfect. It isn't that the child is imperfect: it's that he might just need some help in certain areas. The earlier we can help, the better off they are.

     Morris: The sooner they can identify the deficit and go on the better. You don't need to do it by labeling, but you do need to recognize when early intervention is indicated.

     Farrar: I think we have made great strides in the identification of special needs in the years since I was a young mother.

     Dederer: We had an interesting case just this year. It became apparent a child was not seeing well. We got him to an eye doctor and he got glasses. His mother was hysterically unhappy that he needed glasses; it just broke her heart. But when she saw how well he took to the glasses, because he could see, and that he didn't mind them at all, she got over it.

     Dominguez: There are some gifts with being a different type of learner. My own son went through First Steps. He still receives intervention through IPS. He has a real articulation problem but he has an incredible vocabulary. My mom said to him, "You know so many wonderful words," and he said, "Grandma, I have to know a lot of words because people have trouble understanding me." It's wonderful when those kids learn to compensate. They feel "it's not that something is wrong with me, it's just something that is a little harder for me."

     Dominguez: Some of those kids who have such poor articulation in English do well when they pick up a foreign language.

     Johnson: People complain about the educational system here. They talk about Japan, Taiwan and China and say those countries do a better job. They don't. Their system is totally different. They weed out people as they go. Here we educate everybody. You can't compare their system to one that educates everybody. I think there are three things we should be concerned about with special needs children. Expectations is number one. Number two is identification of difficulties and early intervention. Number three is your curriculum needs to be strength-based. I tell teachers they must be able to see the special needs child's strengths and create a successful experience for them. I quote Dr. (Eugene) White, our superintendent. He says, "You see all these special needs kids playing Xbox on the weekends. The Xbox isn't labeled 'special ed.'"

     Q. How many non-native English-speaking students do you have in your schools?

     Morris: We all have our share of international families in our schools. St. Richards has many international families. I sometimes ask, "What is the language spoken at home?" It helps you know if that child is going to have English reinforced or if some other language will be spoken at home. It makes the transition easier if we know.

     Dominguez: A lot of times parents are apologetic they have not spoken more English at home. If they have a solid foundation in their native language, when they are immersed in this culture, they will get those experiences. They will pick up English very well.

     Dederer: The little ones just pick it right up.

     Morris: Just like a baby, they will have the listening skills before they have the output and verbal skills. You know they are picking up more than they are saying. They kind of go through a quiet phase where they do a lot of listening but they are not comfortable

     participating.

     Dederer: Have you noticed if they are like that they always have a buddy who will speak for them?

     Johnson: A growing part of our enrollment is Hispanic. We're looking at more than 20 percent soon. We are learning that we need to look at the area they are from. If they are from a certain part of Mexico, they are used to a formal language approach. But if they are from another area of Mexico, we have to take another approach. Auditory training for me is the key. English is my second language. The most difficult part I had when I came to the United States was the context of language. I watched John Wayne movies to understand the context of language.

     Q. What can parents do to help develop their children's school readiness skills?

     Johnson: We now have a parent liaison for every Title I school who establishes a block captain system within the neighborhoods and goes out and talks to the parents. Another program we are working on is Parents as First Teachers. We are working on finding funding for that. I am really excited about keeping our kindergartners all day through different formats. I think we are on the right track.

     Q. Is it true that 70 percent of the children who enter first grade in IPS are underprepared for school?

     Johnson: More than that. A lot of our children do not even know how to open a book.

     Farrar: Do you think any of this has to do with kindergarten not being required in the state of Indiana?

     Morris: In the state of Indiana you are not even required to go to school until age seven.

     Dederer: The window of opportunity is closing fast by the time they hit seven, and it is very difficult to make it up.

     Q. Would anyone like to talk about ISTEP?

     Morris: The independent schools do not have to take ISTEP except for Brebeuf and Cathedral. But I do think whether you talk about vouchers or charter schools or what-ever, even in an independent school, our students go out to work with the rest of the world. The question is can you hold a teacher's feet to the fire from the summer and last year when you have a different teacher at testing time?

     Dominguez: Education is so multifaceted it is hard to fit it into a business model. ISTEP is a very important part and a way to judge certain skills, but is it a way to judge every child in a district or every child in a state?

     Dederer: And then you run into the labeling thing. It can be so counterproductive.

     Dominguez: We have to get to a point where we are willing to talk about individuals and what we can do for 'this' child. How are we going to make a difference for this child?

     Dederer: The world is demanding accountability. We are all up against objective standards we have to deal with.

     Johnson: There are good things ISTEP has brought to us. It has made us focus on academic standards. It has made us look at how to better use our resources. It has made us hold people accountable: teachers, parents, principals and central office. In that sense it is a good thing. I do think some of the questions are culturally biased. We cannot look at ISTEP as a single data point. We need to look at all the data points that are available to us. It is almost impossible to provide the accommodations needed for ISTEP for the special needs kids in IPS. Also, our mobility rate in IPS is 80 percent. It's a revolving door. Only 20 percent of the population stays, so how can you evaluate the school?

     Dominguez: The key to school reform is making sure our standards are well written and easy for teachers to use. If we could get back to that, everyone would be focusing on the standards with a clear mission.

     Morris: And focused on the goal at the end. We must remember our job is to educate chil-dren in order to prepare them for the world.

     Farrar: That's one of the strengths of any achievement test. You can look at any areas of weakness and draw some conclusions about your curriculum and what may need to be enhanced.

     Morris: It is fascinating to me that colleges let students take admission tests 15 times and take prep classes and sample tests. But we don't do that for testing below college level. It's almost contradictory.

     Q. How important are after-school activities and programs?

     Farrar: They are crucial in this day and age. We have a wide variety at our school that parents can choose from. It is elective, and they do have to pay extra to participate.

     Morris: It could be music. It could be language. It could be karate. I think that it is so important. Before-school care is important, too.

     Dederer: Our after-school program is our whole program.

     Farrar: What I worry about is parents who give over so much of their parenting to institutions. That concerns me. It doesn't have anything to do with poverty. It can be exacerbated by poverty when the parent doesn't have as many choices.

     Dominguez: We try to take some of the hecticness out of the parents' lives in our after-school programs by offering music lessons or other things the parent doesn't have to worry about getting them to.

     Q. There are many unsung heroes in education but we often focus on the problems. What are the things you believe the community at large can do to support education and educators?

     Johnson: We don't have our priorities in place in the legislature. We talk a good game, but we all have to deal with unfunded mandates. This year we are talking about a budget cut of $24 million. The class sizes are going to be incredible.

     Dominguez: IPS and the independent schools are not adversaries. We want the public schools to excel. Parents ought to be able to make choices based on their values. We have to increase funding to schools, especially in the urban areas. Libraries should be the central parts of our communities.

     Dederer: Funding for early childhood education is nonexistent. Licensed child care has out-priced the market. Parents can't afford to use it so they go underground, and what do they get when they get underground? Not much. For every dollar invested in children in the early years, we get $7 in return. It doesn't take a genius to figure out we should make the investment.

     Morris: Most states have mandatory kindergarten that is funded. In Indiana, how can you make kindergarten mandatory if you don't have to go to school until you are seven?

     Farrar: Interaction with the parents is critical in early childhood. Parents need education about what is going on in the classroom. That's important.

     Johnson: We must include parents as true partners in education.

     Dominguez: Get people out there working for education. If you can make a difference one or two kids at a time, it's worth it.

     Dederer: We need parents, teachers, edu-cators and everyone that stands as an advocate for children to be willing to step up and do something about improving education.

Article appears as published in the IW issue.