Part of the issue facing the integration of STEM into pre-K instruction is one of access. Early childhood education is by no means available for everyone throughout the country, and adding STEM technology and tools into that equation could create greater gaps in digital understanding and equity. Without a broader investment into increasing the availability of early childhood education along with STEM presence in those programs, the STEM gap could mirror the gap facing students who do have access to pre-K and those who do not. A 2014 Brookings Institution study found that evidence showed “conclusively that early childhood education can improve school readiness, and with larger effects for disadvantaged children.” The introduction of STEM learning could have an additional positive impact.
Report urges educators to integrate STEM in pre-K
- May 24, 2017