HUFFINGTON
08.26.12
AP PHOTO/TED RICHARDSON
SMART START?
get kids ready for the standardized
tests that they’re now required to
take every year starting in the third
grade. Gallagher said she was interested in developing architects
and engineers, not just test-takers. “The block center has to be big
enough, has to have enough cool
stuff in it and”—she narrowed her
eyes like Clint Eastwood—“it won’t
be interfered with.”
Outside in the courtyard, children were swarming over rubber mats. Some were drawing on
the ground with chalk, some were
steering ships through a tub of water. A boy ran by with a bucket on
his head. “Things you’ll notice in
high-quality programs: not a lot of
kids are just wandering around,”
Gallagher said.
Like much of the current scholarship on early childhood education, Gallagher’s ideas of what
constitutes a high quality program
are rooted in something called the
Carolina Abecedarian Project, an
experiment that began at the Frank
Porter Graham Institute back in
1972, some decades before Gallagher began working there. The
program’s “abecedarians” (children
learning their ABC’s) came from
N.C. governor
Bev Perdue
tried in vain
to raise
sales taxes.
Many believe
raising
taxes will
help benefit
programs
like PreKindergarten.