Waiting for Jerry’s Kids or Twisted Realities

By Joseph Hawkins

Recently, a read of an August 2010 Pew report, Lessons in Early Learning, left me puzzled. You can read the entire Pew report here:

http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_report_detail.aspx?id=60521

From the above report, this paragraph had me scratching my head:

“What can happen when a school district integrates high-quality early learning across the system as part of a comprehensive pre-k-12 reform plan? Almost 90 percent of kindergarteners enter first grade with essential early literacy skills, nearly 88 percent of third graders read proficiently, achievement gaps between different racial and ethnic groups across all grade levels decline by double digits, about 90 percent of 12th graders graduate from high school and about 77 percent of graduating seniors enroll in college.”

The reason I’m scratching my head is because the first cohort of Jerry’s kids—this is a label Board of Education members tagged students who experienced Weast initiatives and programs— are still currently sitting in 10th grade. How is possible for us to conclude that their preschool experiences had a positive impact on their high school graduation rates and college enrollment rates?

Jerry Weast first arrived in Montgomery County in August of 1999. So, the very first cohort of Jerry’s kids were preschoolers during the 1999/2000 school year. That then means that the first cohort or group of Jerry’s kids are now sitting in the 10th grade. Here is how that works/looks:



So, if Jerry’s kids are still in the 10th grade how is possible to correlate their preschool experiences with experiences that have not happened yet? And recently, I also noticed that Weast himself is attempting to connect MCPS preschool experiences with college graduation rates. Please see this Weast 2010 presentation here:

http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/earlylearning/weast-presentation.pdf

The first cohort of Jerry’s kids become college seniors in the fall of 2016, and they begin graduating from undergraduate schools in the spring of 2017. So, if this monumental occasion is still 6 years into the future, how does Weast get away with “twisting” realities?