U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige
July 27, 2001

Thank you, Mrs. Cheney, for that kind introduction. It is an honor to be a part of an administration that has so many strong advocates for education, and of those advocates, you are one of the most eloquent. I know you have been working on a book for the past few months, and I hear you are nearly finished. Like many people, I am eager to read your book, and also eager to have you working alongside us for America's children fulltime.

Fortunately for a Secretary of Education, I am not only enjoying my administration, I also enjoy working with members of Congress who are committed to reforming our nation's education system. Yesterday, we were fortunate to hear from Senator Kennedy and Congresswoman Northup, both of whom have been indispensable to our efforts to lay the groundwork of the President's No Child Left Behind plan.

I'd also like to thank Laura Bush and her tireless and talented staff for organizing and hosting this summit, and for calling attention to the science of early childhood cognitive development. As a former librarian, Mrs. Bush knows how eagerly children who love learning consume books, and it is not surprising that she wants all children to share that joy. I commend my friend Secretary Thompson and the outstanding researchers and other professionals who yesterday and today have shared important developments in the area of early childhood cognitive development.

In particular, I want to mention Patricia Kuhl, Susan Landry, Susan Neuman, Dorothy Strickland, Russ Whitehurst, and Reid Lyon, who have all played a big role in helping the nation learn what works in early childhood development. I also want to thank President Bush for appointing Susan Neuman and Russ Whitehurst to help me at the Department of Education. As an educator in Houston, I was fortunate to have excellent researchers like Dr. Landry and Dr. Barbara Foorman to keep me informed about the latest science and most powerful teaching techniques and how our children could benefit from the latest knowledge. We know that strong cognitive development is critical to help children learn when they arrive at school—and that the little things, like reading and talking with a child, do matter.

I also want to thank the various organizations that participated in this conference, from the American Federation of Teachers to National Head Start Association. They all understand how critical early reading skills are for America's children. It's very clear there is a broad consensus that we need to disseminate this information clearly and widely to teachers and families.

At this summit, we have learned that neglecting to prepare children for their academic careers endangers their prospects for success in school. I am delighted to reflect on what we have learned about strong cognitive skills and what adults can do to help children develop these skills. At the end of my remarks, I will also announce a new federal effort to act upon these key findings.

Many of the speakers at this conference have focused on the effects that early childhood experiences have on learning in the early grades. All of us know or can imagine the obstacles for adults who lack cognitive skills. But the consequences during school years are not as obvious. Let's take reading. If children don't learn to read in the early grades, the consequences start to snowball rapidly. I'll mention a few common consequences. Children who can't read by the third grade pass a cognitive shelf, past which learning to read is much harder. Children who can't read can't do homework or keep up in other classes. They tend to slide through school until ninth grade, which they repeat until they drop out. Children who can't read are often misidentified as learning—disabled, which means they are put into special education classes, where they don't belong.

Every time you meet an adult who can't read, every time you hear about a kid who dropped out of school, I hope that will reinforce in your mind the urgency of developing cognitive skills early in every child's life. This example used reading, but early numeracy and language skills are also important, and the consequences for missing them almost as dire. Even a simple task like pouring a glass of milk can become a lesson in numeracy if we discuss with a child when it is half full and what that means.

Early childhood cognitive development first captured my attention while I was superintendent in Houston. Many of our elementary schools served mainly low-income families, but one outscored the others by a significant margin, and it caught my eye. I wondered if it was a fluke or an accident, so I looked into it. I talked with the principal and visited the school, and I was truly amazed by what I found. All across the city, elementary schools were struggling with students who faced tremendous barriers to learning and who moved through grade after grade without ever catching up. But this one, unassuming school was almost magically different. This school understood pre-reading and language development and rigorously worked with its young students to help them develop these skills. Those teachers prepared the children to learn, and learn they did. I was delighted, and I worked to replicate this model in other schools around the city.

The results of this school's devotion to pre-reading and vocabulary development were indisputable. Like Paul on the road to Damascus, I was determined to tell everyone what I had seen. To be accountable to our community, we also created an Office of School Readiness that would make sure we used our resources effectively to prepare our children for school. Those who teach and care for young children, I decided, need to know how important it is for a child to start building a foundation of reading and language skills early in order to prepare for school.

I am not going to repeat what you have already heard about the importance of a stimulating environment, but I do want to encourage you to use what you have learned here. Many of you were thrilled, as I was, to get an invitation from the First Lady. You were invited here for a reason, and that reason is to spread the word. Almost every adult has an opportunity to help a small child to be a successful learner. We need to make sure every parent, grandparent, teacher, babysitter, and daycare worker knows to talk with a baby, and to read with a child. You have heard that children begin to get ready to read long before they begin school. All adults have a critical role to play in helping children with pre-reading and cognitive learning skills. If we take the time to talk and listen to a child, to read with her, to surround her with books, to help her put names on things in her environment, to carry on intelligent conversations with her, we will help build a firm foundation of skills, knowledge, and attitude that will help her learn to read and be a success when she does enter school.

Many schools, teachers, and families understand the importance of pre-reading skills. But early childhood cognitive development is the responsibility of all adults. We must disseminate this research, update teachers, parents, and communities about early childhood cognitive learning, and make everyone aware of the critical need to teach cognitive skills to our children. We all know that when it comes to education, prevention is better than intervention. If we can impart strong cognitive skills early in life, children will not lag behind in the classroom year after year.

I encourage you to make reading a part of your everyday life. Show children that you enjoy learning—seeing adults who read or visit the library makes a positive impression on a child. John Adams once wrote to his wife Abigail, "I read my eyes out and can't read half enough…The more one reads, the more one sees we have to read." If we value reading, so will our children. Help a child develop vocabulary skills by talking to him—even in infancy—about what is going on in his environment. Tell your child or grandchild about your work and about things happening in your household and help her learn about both reading and writing at home. Listening to a bedtime story, scribbling notes to family members, reading a cereal box or sign - these are beneficial ways to nurture a love and understanding of learning in a young child. Find reading material that your child likes, and read to or with him or her when you are both in a good mood and have time to enjoy it.

If you're like me, you find this information to be powerful stuff. Hearing about young children who aren't stimulated is upsetting. I am sure everyone in this room is eager to do better. Now that you have imagined doing these things yourself with the children you know, I want to give you an even greater charge: Get all the adults in your community to do this, too. Find a way to send the message. Embrace the cognitive science you've learned at this summit, explain to adults how they can develop children's skills, and encourage people to engage children with reading. Some of the parents who need this message the most will be the hardest to reach. Be creative. This is why you were brought here. This is the best thing you can do for the children in your community.

We have talked about what adults can do. Now, let me tell you what we at the federal level are going to do.

President Bush asked Secretary Thompson and me to work together to use what we know about cognitive development and about the resources in our agencies to put these lessons to work in our programs to support preschool-aged children. We were very eager to comply, and Secretary Thompson has graciously allowed me to make the announcement. We are going to create an internal task force that will work within HHS and Education to review and make recommendations regarding research-based teaching strategies that could be used in Head Start and other federal programs for pre-school aged children, as well as by families and other child care providers. We want them to improve their success in preparing children for elementary school. We want to create a new kind of accountability, in which all adults are responsible for paying attention to research.

This task force symbolizes a new era of very purposeful cooperation between the two agencies who have the most to do with the development of young children. We will look very carefully at what research tells us about cognitive development and school readiness so that we can design the best strategies to ensure that all the important factors work together. Together, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services will ensure that the Head Start and preschool programs we support are doing the right things and getting results. We will also work to make sure every adult who cares for a child understands the research we have learned at this summit and will use it at home. In other words, we will get the government's house in order, and spread the word to all the other houses, too.

Obviously, the government cannot legislate a way for every child to acquire cognitive skills. But we can encourage leaders around the country to get the message to adults about how easy it is to improve their young child's cognitive skills, and to improve that child's future. We can also improve our federal programs and that is where we start. I saw in Houston the benefits of pre-kindergarten and emphasizing cognitive skills. We must share our experiences and research and take immediate action in our homes and in our schools. The responsibility remains in the hands of the community.

President Bush and Secretary Thompson and I are committed to giving American children a fair chance at success. We know how to teach our children to read and we know that we must use research to reinforce education. Americans want their children to learn, and I am confident that once families find out how easy it is to make a difference, and how critical it is to read and talk to children, they will do it. Here in Washington, the President and the Congress have been working hard to change the culture of education with bipartisan reform based on the President's plan, No Child Left Behind. No Child Left Behind will make our nation's schools accountable to parents and communities and will emphasize important issues like early childhood cognitive development. We will encourage adults to read with children and encourage teachers to stress cognitive development with their young charges. We need to build a bridge between powerful scientific research, homes, and preschools and make sure that adults know how vital it is that children have strong cognitive development, even before they enter school.

Thank you very much for attending this summit and for contributing your time and thoughts to cognitive learning. Together, we can make a difference. I look forward to working with you and with teachers and parents around the country to ensure that no child is left behind.

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