ABSTRACT
It is important that the United States as a whole and the individual local school districts focus on the true purpose of early childhood education. Schools and programs need to focus on providing access to quality education for all of their young children. In Finland, high stakes testing is no longer utilized on the national level, and this country continues to be rated as one of the top educational systems in the world. It is important to note that new educational policy, both federally and locally funded, must be created and designed by the experts, early childhood educators that are presently in the field. Future policy must be organized and created within a positive framework, one that is not deficit-based and racist in structure. School Readiness is currently utilized as a term that perpetuates a deficit racist ideology within early childhood programs.
