Final answer:
The movement to enhance early childhood education standards and accountability emerged from a desire to improve education outcomes, rectify inequalities highlighted by the Coleman Report, and respond to escalating disparities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Step-by-step explanation:
The movement to increase standards, accountability, and quality of early childhood instruction has been driven by a desire to address inefficiencies and underperformance which were perceived under local control of education systems.
In the early 2000s, national standards, such as No Child Left Behind, aimed to override local approaches for improved education outcomes.
This movement was fueled further by the findings of the Coleman Report, indicating that low-income students were at a disadvantage, leading to the establishment of programs like Head Start to provide academic-centered preschool to these students.
President Obama's Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, set out to rectify previous legislative shortcomings by emphasizing competition, parental choice, and linking teacher evaluation to student performance, with the goal of raising academic standards and turning around failing schools.
Additionally, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing disparities in education quality, further pushing the movement for higher standards in early childhood education.