HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 06

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Pauline J. Ponce

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING A STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, the interagency coordinating group, charged in Senate Joint Memorial 2 of the 2003 regular legislative session to study the alignment of early childhood education programs in New Mexico and establish a framework for a statewide comprehensive and universal system of preschool programs, has reported that early childhood education programs in New Mexico should be aligned to create quality learning environments for children and families; and

     WHEREAS, the state currently supports early childhood and preschool programs throughout the state and provides direct support for child care expenses to low-income families throughout the state, totaling approximately two hundred thirty-two million dollars ($232,000,000) of federal and state funds; and

     WHEREAS, research has shown that early childhood and preschool programs vary in the effectiveness with which they develop literacy and mathematics readiness, increasing motivation and self-confidence and improving attendance and classroom behavior in elementary schools; and

     WHEREAS, there is currently no mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness of early childhood and preschool programs in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the most valid and cost-effective method for evaluating the effectiveness of early childhood and preschool programs is to follow the children over time, as they enter and proceed through public school systems, and compare their progress with that of similar children with different early childhood backgrounds; and

     WHEREAS, the center for education research at the institute for social research at the university of New Mexico has for several years been successfully conducting longitudinal evaluation research that follows children from public preschool programs into Albuquerque public schools and performs appropriate statistical comparison analysis;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the center for education research be requested to begin designing and conducting research that follows children in early childhood programs as these children enter and proceed through schools included in the student-level database maintained by the public education department; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in order to carry out this research program, the center for education research be given access by the public education department to relevant datasets, including datasets that link student identification numbers with each student's first name, last name and date of birth; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the center for education research report to the legislature on the effectiveness of the different programs; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the center for education research, the public education department and the legislative education study committee.

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