Making the Case for P-3

Policymakers and advocates have spent the majority of their time and money addressing the transition from high school to college. This is not entirely surprising given that P-16 is often argued on economic imperatives (e.g., the United States needs better-prepared students in order to compete in the global marketplace) which focus attention on students who are at the later end of the education continuum - those in high school and moving into higher education and the workplace.

To date, P-3 has received substantially less attention. Of the 28 states that have official P-16 initiatives, only seven have an explicit focus on P-3. This paper "makes the case" for P-3, reviewing the rationales for why P-3 makes sense and should be pursued as a policy reform agenda.