Many researchers see the root causes of this gap in the early years. There is a growing conviction that even good schools cannot do enough for students who start far behind.
“If we send kids to kindergarten with this big gap, we can be pretty sure that as things stand, the gap is not only going to remain, but will get bigger,” said Deborah Stipek, the dean of Stanford University’s School of Education.
Increasingly, educators are focusing on preschool programs as a critical step in making up the deficit, and they are developing – or being pushed to develop – programs that are more overtly academic than ever. Nationally, some programs are cutting nap time; others have instituted more formal assessments. Literacy blocks – the jargon for early language and reading programs – are becoming as common as wood blocks.