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Report: Michigan meeting early education quality standards

(file photo)
steve carmody
/
Michigan Radio
(file photo)
(file photo)
Credit steve carmody / Michigan Radio
/
Michigan Radio
(file photo)

A new study finds Michigan is doing well in educating very young children. 

But the report’s authors are concerned about the future.

The National Institute for Early Education Research’s State of Preschool 2018 report has positive things to say about the state. Michigan is one of only three states to meet the group’s new, more stringent benchmarks for quality standards.

Interim State Superintendent Sheila Alles welcomed the report. 

"The Michigan Department of Education will continue working with child care providers to focus on high quality care during the earliest years of learning for children,” she said.

But the author of the state of preschool report says, after making significant progress, Michigan has “stalled out and risks moving backwards.”

Steven Barnett, of the National Institute for Early Education Research, says funding has increased, but not enough to keep up with inflation.

Copyright 2019 Michigan Radio

Steve Carmody has been a reporter for Michigan Radio since 2005. Steve previously worked at public radio and television stations in Florida, Oklahoma and Kentucky, and also has extensive experience in commercial broadcasting. During his two and a half decades in broadcasting, Steve has won numerous awards, including accolades from the Associated Press and Radio and Television News Directors Association. Away from the broadcast booth, Steve is an avid reader and movie fanatic.