For your 4th and final blog you will be reviewing studies of public preK done at the state or local level. Two of the studies look at the effectiveness of programs for different groups of children or using different program models. The final one examines what principals know about preK programs. If you were charged with helping your local school district prepare their new public preK program how might they use the information from these three studies? What suggestions might you make to them, with the findings from these three studies in mind?
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ReplyDeleteHi All! The articles I am referring to above are from your Week #4 readings.
DeleteThis prompt is particularly relevant to me, as I am working in the trenches to get my district’s preK program in place to begin next year. Not only will I be a teacher, I will also be the building administrator. Shue et al. (2012) discussed the important role that leadership has on the education of learners. Strong, knowledgeable leadership can result in positive learner outcomes because of the influence on classroom facilitators, school culture, and programing decisions. With administration playing such a vital role in the learning outcomes of preschool children, it is important to make sure that principals working in schools with preK programs have a solid understanding of child development. They need this knowledge in order to guide teachers and support them in their goal of educating preK learners. It is important for administration working in schools with a preK population to have the education and professional development needed to fully understand early childhood education, so they can support the programing.
ReplyDeleteShue et al. (2012) and Gormley (2010) discuss the importance of standards in establishing a high-quality preK program. The researchers discuss the importance of standards such as low child to staff ratios and facilitator level of education. I believe that school districts need to look at the research available on the characteristics of high-quality programing and make informed decisions for their district. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) are two organizations who provide research and recommendations on what factors influence quality of programing. One implication from the research of Gormley (2010) is that K-12 school systems need to make adjustments to their programs in order to capitalize on the gains learners are making in preK programs. Such adjustments may need to include curriculum and teaching methodology.
The research of Ansari and Winsler (2014) highlight the need for preK programs to consider the socio-economic status and cultural background of all learners. PreK programs need to focus on individual children and work to structure the learning environment in a way that embraces the socioeconomic and cultural background of learners. The Montessori philosophy has a focus on individual instruction, fostering independence, and places importance on culture. These three aspects would easily integrate into any curriculum and are building blocks of sound teaching methods.
Denyell, this is such a great point, "Strong, knowledgeable leadership can result in positive learner outcomes because of the influence on classroom facilitators, school culture, and programing decisions." I have had at least 30 jobs in my life and the ones with the strongest and most concise leadership inspired and enabled me to be more productive. It only makes sense that dedicated leadership in a school setting would trickle down to producing better outcomes for the children.
DeleteDenyell and Allison, I agree with you both. In order for an entity to function optimally, it needs a leader who is as you both describe. The person has to be knowledgeable about all aspects of his/her program, but also needs to be passionate about what he/she is doing, as well as being able to mentor and nurture the people carrying out the mission.
DeleteHaving a strong administrator makes you feel more secure in your job as well. As teachers we look to our administrators for questions/ concerns. The Pre-K program in my district has been in place for two years and our administrator is great but she does not know anything about Pre-K. It is hard for her to visit us and understand our program more because of the high behavioral demands of the children in upper grades. I hope in the years to come that she becomes more involved as this will make our program stronger and better support us as teachers in the school.
DeleteWhat a great opportunity you have to be involved with the initial work that is needed to be done to get a PreK Program established in your school. I think that Elementary Schools have a lot to learn and could integrate practices that they learn from private preschools into their schools for all students. The strong home-school connection and the emphasis on team building and social competence would benefit students of all ages! I agree with the importance of principals learning and understanding EC Standards as well and hope that they are able to dedicate the time to do so.
DeleteGormely (2010) points out that the study shows a well designed program produces even more benefits than than job-trainings for teachers and smaller classroom sizes. As much as I love education, it makes so much sense that it comes down to thoughtful and deliberate program organization to further enable successful child outcomes. Who doesn't think better in organized infrastructures? Principles need to focus on program organization just as much or more than teacher credentials and class size. A dedicated teacher can produce great results in the right environment regardless of her or his credentials.
ReplyDeleteAllison, I have an assistant teacher at Sweatt-Winter who has her CDA, but who also has YEARS of experience. She is a fabulous teacher! She is kind, nurturing, respectful, and has wonderful insight into the needs of individual children as well as the group as a whole. Her planning is intentional, well thought out, and spontaneous when the need arises. She is an integral part of our team, and we would be lost without her! I recognize this about her, and use that to my, and the center's benefit, in many ways. I also have staff who have degrees, yet are still learning to navigate through the finer nuances of working as part of a team. It is my job as director to help them find their way, and to be there to support and guide them as they mature and become the best possible teachers they can be.
DeleteAs pre-kindergarten grows nationally, it is important to investigate current practices and programs in order to examine what works and what doesn't when it comes to educating young children. Both Gormley (2010) and Ansari and Winsler (2014) found that public pre-k programs benefitted all students regardless of socioeconomic status or culture. Gormley (2010) found that, of the students attending pre-k through TPS in Oklahoma, students from disadvantaged families showed more gains from the program than their more advantaged peers, although all students did make gains. In the article by Ansari and Winsler (2014), two minority groups were identified, Latino and Black, and their success in a Montessori program vs. conventional pre-k. Although the results suggest that Latino students fared better with a Montessori approach and Black students with a conventional High/Scope approach, it was found that all children made some gains regardless of race in a Montessori program.
ReplyDeleteAs Ansari and Winsler (2014) state, one important factor of the Montessori curriculum is that it promotes involving students cultures into the environment. In my own classroom I have an ELL student from Columbia who showed minimal gains over the first two trimesters. In talks with the father, I learned that the parents were worried about their daughter's ability to retain her Spanish language due to English being the dominant language at school. After this conversation I began encouraging the student to teach me a new Spanish word each day, and in turn she began teaching her peers. Her peers are fascinated, and she has begun to talk with them more about Spanish and the things her family does at home that may be different than what her peers experience. Based on the latest assessments and observations by myself, her ELL teacher, and parent report, she has gained significantly in all areas of development and has become more outgoing in the classroom setting. I attribute these gains to bringing her language and culture into our classroom, and wonder what may have been the result if these events had not occurred. Implementing aspects of a Montessori curriculum would benefit universal pre-k programs as it would allow for more students of diverse backgrounds and cultures to feel welcome and accepted into their classrooms, as well as for white students in areas that are more populated by students of other races. Through teachers researching and gaining knowledge of other cultures in order to be able to effectively implement them in the classroom, they would also gain more knowledge and resources on what teaching methods, styles, etc. could better allow for students to connect to and enhance their early learning skills.
Quality programming, however, is not enough. Shue, Shore, and Lambert (2012) found that, in North Carolina, most principals did not receive adequate training and had little education on how to oversee a public pre-k program. With administrators not having the knowledge of early childhood education, they are ill-equipped to determine quality programming, instruction, professional development, and developmentally appropriate pre-k classroom. Principal training programs need to include education and training in early childhood education in order to appropriately prepare principals to take on the task of overseeing public pre-k. Principal licensing requirements should include professional development hours in the area of early childhood education to ensure they are kept up to date in the field, as early childhood teachers are required. If principals do not have the knowledge of early childhood education, DAP, curriculums, etc., they cannot provide enough support to the teachers of these programs, especially when it comes to the push down of standards based education and its influence on pre-k programs.
Melissa, I am in agreement that principals must require knowledge of ECE - including further understanding surrounding DAP, curriculum, etc. Professional development is an essential factor within this field, and I think it starts at the top. How can preschool teachers be held to such high regards if their leader is unaware and untrained. Principals should have a thorough understanding of all students and be able to support all - this includes early learners who, as we are aware, cannot be compared to the K-12 sector.
DeleteMelissa, it was so interesting to read about your experiences working with an ELL student from Columbia. It sounds like you really embraced her culture in your classroom and made her feel comfortable. It's great that she is showing so much progress, growth, and development. I gained a lot of experience working with ELL students through my student teaching placement at East End Community School in Portland. I had 13 ELL students in my classroom of 17 first graders. I really miss working with this population, as I currently work in a very rural school district with little cultural and lingual diversity. I liked your idea of including more Montessori concepts in public PreK classrooms.
DeleteSara - I also believe professional development starts at the top. I am lucky to have an administrator who loves Pre-K in our school and puts in time and effort into researching, but I do think more time in professional development would be beneficial. It is also a struggle at times for our administration to determine what professional development should be available to the Pre-K team during early releases and professional development days, so having more knowledge of the program as a whole would be really beneficial in being able to provide the teachers with better opportunities.
DeleteMarjorie - I have LOVED every second of my time with my ELL student! She brings so much diversity and richness to our classroom, and I can't imagine this year without her. I only wish I had started our mini Spanish lessons earlier so we could have seen her vibrant self for longer! I will be following her progress in kindergarten and offering insight when I can to help her achieve her full potential and keep her spark shining! We do not have a very large ELL population, and as far as I am aware only my student and her two siblings are Columbian in our district, so I want to see her have more opportunities to teach everyone about her culture and give us more insight into who she is as learner and as a person!
The concept of public prekindergarten is a continual progression within the United States. Therefore, it is imperative to assess studies of various programs to determine effectiveness and benefits of diverging program models. Much research has been done to support knowledge regarding public preK.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect to consider when exploring public preK is different program models. Ansari and Winsler (2014) studied children participating in a Montessori-based school and another using the HighScope curriculum. Each program examined Latino and Black children from low-income communities and how they gained school readiness skills within the mentioned programs. Gromley (2010) researched Oklahoma’s TPS preK program. This study also focused on low-income students and how their high-quality program, equipped with teachers who obtain Bachelor’s degrees and early childhood credentials, have made impressive gains within their preschool years. Both articles commonly promote the benefits of an exceptional program, which encompasses both effective curriculum and highly qualified staff, and the effects it has on developing school readiness skills among all children from all socio-economic backgrounds.
Shue, Shore, and Lambert (2012) assess principals’ roles in supporting preK programs through knowledge-based practice. A statewide survey, in North Carolina, was conducted to more closely look at the needs and outlooks of elementary school principals who have preK classrooms within their facility. Knowledge regarding early childhood education and their attitudes towards preK were studied through examining principals’ educational and professional experiences, understanding of ECE and their role in supervising preK programs. Shue et al. (2012) concluded that 67% of principals misidentified the Early Learning Standards for preK. I found this to be extremely eye-opening. Knowing the standards enhances the knowledge of developmentally appropriateness for young children and ultimately has a positive impact on student learning. When these principals were unaware of the standards, I think this speaks volumes pertaining to the disconnect between elementary and early education understandings.
In order for school districts to prepare public preK programs, I think it needs to first start with the principals. They should be the leaders and role model of there school, therefore, more professional development for them surrounding information about early childhood education must take place. When they obtain a better understanding, they can model this and pass the information onto teachers and other staff. Then, I think information from the other two studies can be utilized. In order for a well-designed universal preK program to be implemented, measures toward school readiness, similar to the Oklahoma TPS, must be taken into account. Incorporating various teaching/instructional methods, comparable to the findings of Ansari and Winsler (2014), is also a key factor in progressing toward public preK.
Melissa, I was struck by the research in Ansari and Winsler (2014) that showed evidence that not all children respond to curricula the same way based on their culture and socioeconomic status too. Ansari and Winsler (2014) researches the effects of the Montessori curriculum on low income children of black or latino cultures in Title 1 neighborhoods. It seems logical as well as its eye-opening that home culture may effect the types of curriculum that work best for children learning school readiness skills.
DeleteBased on the findings in Ansari and Winsler (2014), school districts ought to consider the cultures and the socioeconomics that are dominant in their neighborhoods when choosing a curriculum that suits their school system. As evidence suggests, curriculum is not one size fits all children the same. Many factors such as home language, parent's immigration status and culture all play roles in the way children learn and therefore the types of curriculum that will suit children best. School district need to pay attention to the research on what types of curricula best serve their population.
Sara - I agree administration needs to have the proper educational background surrounding ECE in order to be effective in their role. With administration setting the tone for how teachers and staff do their jobs, it is important for them to have the knowledge of what our job is in order to properly influence, advocate, and make decisions on our behalf. Finding and using great curriculums and other resources is vital to a programs success, however if the administration does not understand how these pieces fit together, or how to help choose these pieces, they cannot properly do their job and do justice by the students they are committed to serve.
DeleteAs ideas about what a universal pre-K program would look like begin to develop, there is a long list of things that need to be considered before implementation. Gormley (2010) and Anasari and Winsler (2014) both discuss the importance of the type of models used and how effect they are to different groups of children, while Shue, Shore and Lambert (2012) discuss the role of administrators. Anasari and Winsler (2014) explore the Montessori model, which has an individualized learning environment that promotes independence. Their study emphasized the importance of a child’s cultural background being a part of their learning environment. These factors are essential when considering what a universal pre-K model would look like. Gormley (2010) discussed the significance of having a high-quality program and the benefits such a program has for all children with diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, as well as socio-economic status. As both of these articles point out, the needs of the children, individually and as a group, is of utmost importance in achieving school readiness. Shue et al. (2012) considered the role of administrators in the implementation of public pre-K. Their findings indicated that many principals do not have the early childhood training and experience necessary to meet the needs of younger students. Without administration understanding early childhood development, they simply cannot ensure that the pre-K program will be both developmentally appropriate and effective. Providing the proper training to administrators is crucial to have a successful pubic pre-K program.
ReplyDeleteAshley
DeleteI agree that we need to connect the field of education. I think it starts with administrations but also teachers. Even before Pre-K became an issue I have wanted to connect with the Kindergarten teachers in my district. I think we can learn so much from one another. Sadly, I am not sure they see the same value in our collaboration.
Tammy, wouldn't it be nice if public school teachers saw local child care providers as a valuable source of information in regards to their incoming students. I am lucky, as I feel that I could approach both of our local pre-k teachers, as well as the kindergarten teachers, if I had major concerns about a child (with parental consent, of course). However, I know this is not the case everywhere. However, it would make for an easier transition for children if we all did collaborate with one another.
DeleteTammy,
DeleteI agree, collaboration needs to be from both administrators and teachers. It saddens me that, like you said, it seems they do not see the value in our collaboration. It would benefit both the teachers and the children if there was a way to bridge early childhood to elementary education.
Tammy, Ashlee, and Julie…
DeleteYour discussion of what we can do to help connect early childhood education and the K-12 school system intrigues me. I have spent my entire career as a public-school teacher, primarily in kindergarten and first grade. I am an advocate for public schools, although I agree we need to make changes to increase their effectiveness. I wonder what we can do to ensure developmentally appropriate early childhood education besides educating administrators? Gormley (2010) discusses K-12 systems making changes because learners leaving high-quality preschool settings have higher levels of school readiness. What specific changes do we want to see in K-12 systems? What specific practices can help bridge the gap between preschool and kindergarten? There is a developmental continuum that children progress along. How do we keep this in the forefront of the educational systems? These are just a few questions that came to mind as I was reading your feed. I would love to hear any thoughts that you have.
Denyell,
DeleteYou bring up a good point that educating our administrators are important but that we also need to bridge the gap between Pre-K and K. I think that we need to start by having open communication with our K teachers about what we are implementing in our classroom and what is working. Even though they may not be able to implement curriculum in the same way that we are it would be nice for them to better understand our strategies. There is a significant gap between Pre-K and K and I am hoping that in our district we can being to bridge this gap by beginning with open communication.
Ashley - I agree that administration needs to have more training in ECE in order to effectively oversee, guide, and advocate for Pre-K. It would also be extremely valuable if they had more education in this field because they would be able to better, and more strongly, advocate for pre-k teachers, DAP, and the methods we utilize to enhance the learning of our students.
DeleteTammy, Julie, Ashley, Denyell, Brittany - I agree more needs to be done to bridge the gap between child care, pre-k, and K. In my district we visit local child care sites to get to know the programs, staff, and students who may enroll in pre-k to get a better idea of where they are coming from, what strategies are working, and create a support system. Recently, the pre-k to k communication has gotten better, however it has not always been this way. I feel as an educator I am better able to meet students where they are if I know where they are coming from, and seeing this continue as they move through their education would be beneficial for everyone.
I agree that the collaboration piece between EC Professionals and administrators is going to have to be very carefully thought out so that we see the maximum results. Time will have to be dedicated to these discussions. The Elementary School community will have to embrace best practices in EC.
DeleteLike we talked about in class the K-12 system needs to learn more from early childhood programs.
DeleteThere are so many factors to consider when preparing for a public preK program. My school district currently has a public preK program through the Preschool Expansion Grant. In further developing the program and figuring out how the preK should be sustained once the grant money expires, I will have lots of input. This weeks reading brought up many good points about what successful programs look like and how they should be operated.
ReplyDeleteShue, Shore, and Lambert (2012) brought up an interesting point about the lack of early childhood knowledge and experience amongst many elementary principals. In their study, regarding principal preparation, 62% of principals reported having no coursework and 87% had no training in child development or early childhood education. I’ve run into this issue at my school. At my interview my superintendent told me that he knew nothing about early childhood education and he was interested to learn more about it. Despite, having very little knowledge about early childhood development, the principal, curriculum coordinator, and superintendent of my district have been thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of the grant and take advantage of professional development opportunities surrounding early childhood. Last summer, I attended the Pre-K Summer Institute through the Maine DOE, along with Kindergarten teachers in my district and our principal and curriculum coordinator. It’s been great to see that my administrators have been so willing to learn more about high quality preK programs. I sometimes run into disconnect my principal as the K-3 teachers/classrooms use different standards and assessment systems. My principal uses the TEPG (Teacher Evaluation Professional Growth) Standards to evaluate my teaching. All the K-12 teachers within my district are evaluated using the same standards. I’ve had to explain many of my instructional decisions and how they relate to best practices during the teacher evaluation process, as my classroom looks so different from the K-3 classrooms. It’s also been helpful to have support from my curriculum coach (she’s not a school employee—she’s part of the grant) in ensuring that the preK is remaining developmentally appropriate in its implementation within a public school. After reading the Shue, Shore, and Lambert (2012) study, and thinking about my own experiences, I would encourage districts to ensure that their administrators have adequate training before implementing a public preK program.
interested to see if this would affect students’ growth during kindergarten.
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Whilst reading the Gormley (2010) study, I thought more about universal preK at the state level, rather than at the local/district level. Gormley studied the impact of the Oklahoma preK program by looking at Tulsa Public Schools. I really like the idea of giving districts the choice to implement half day or full day programs, like they do in Oklahoma. It would be great if school districts in Maine could offer classrooms with half-day programs and classrooms with full day programs. Parents could pick the option that fits best for their child and their family. Schools that offer half-day programs could double the students served by offering an AM and a PM class, or incorporate more family involvement by using the afternoon to conduct home visits. I think letting districts determine the length of their program would be a great option for Maine to consider. Gormley (2010) brings up the question of whether schools need to be adjusting their curriculums and instructional models to expand the gains made in the preK year. His study showed that preK students showed major growth through the start to end of preK, however, this faded out over time. My district is working on connecting preK and K so that we are on the same page and we can better support our students in the early years. If so much progress is seen in the preK year, kindergarten teachers should adjust their instruction to better match the instructional strategies and curricular approaches used by preK educators. I would be interested to see if this would affect students’ growth during kindergarten.
DeleteAnsari and Winsler (2014) considered different curricula models/approaches and how they impact student success. They compared the effects of the High/Scope and Montessori curriculums on Latino and black children. The researchers found that no matter the curricula approach, preschoolers showed increased school readiness upon participating in a high quality preschool program. However, they did find that black children had greater success in the High/Scope program, whereas Latino children were more successful with the Montessori approach. This got me thinking about which curricula Maine districts should use in implementing preK programs. I think it would be great if schools could choose from a list of accepted high-quality curricula, including Montessori, High/Scope, Reggio Emilia, OWL, etc. It would be great if parents could have some choice in sending their child to a public preK based on the curricula model. For example, in a city like Portland, that has many elementary schools, it would be nice if parents could pick whether they wanted to send their child to a public preK program that uses a Montessori model, or if they would prefer to send their child to another school within the district that might use the OWL curriculum. This would require some parent resources describing the different choices for curricula models so they could make an informed decision. Also, I’m not sure how it would work in rural areas, where schools are much more spread out. However, it would give parents the opportunity to choose a program that may be the best fit for their child.
Marjorie,
DeleteI also agree the choice of a half day verses a whole day would be great for parents and families and you made many good points about how morning and afternoon slots would fil double the slots or leave time for home visits. As far as the curriculum goes I personally feel children learn best by mixing things up:) and giving them a good balance of different types of experiences. It is an interesting idea to give parents information about the different curriculum and let them choose which school/ curriculum best fits their child.
Marjorie - I agree with giving the option to provide half or full day. I currently work in a half day program (two sessions per day) and I have had students in my classes that could benefit far more from a full day program than they did from a half-day program.
DeleteTammy - I agree that mixing up the curriculum is a great way to keep things fun and interesting and offer students a lot of different strategies and outlets for learning. It will also make sure that students who learn through different styles of programs would be able to feel confident and could even serve as peer teachers, increasing their love for learning.
One of the issues that I have seen is that not only do some principals lack EC knowledge, but some do not care for this age and would prefer that Universal Pre K not happen. Unless they are willing to learn and accept EC knowledge, it will be very difficult to have a successful program in their school.
DeleteJustina,
DeleteI agree with your comment about some administrators possibly not wanting Pre-K to happen. I also feel, at least in my district, that principals do not have the time nor do they make the time to understand our practices. You would think that your administrators would have more knowledge so you could use them as a resource. I know more than my principal when it comes to early childhood. We have evaluations such as CLASS and ECERS. Our principals are apart of these debriefs but they do not yet fully understand what these evaluations are used for or what their results mean.
Tammy,
DeleteI agree that children learn in a variety of ways. One drawback of having a list of approved curricula would be that it could limit teachers' creativity and ability to differentiate instructional methods based on children's needs. Maybe the list could just be a resource guide and public schools could opt to create their own curriculum. Although, we use the OWL curriculum, I try to incorporate components of other curriculums and models and try to always keep developmentally appropriate practice in mind. I'm not a fan of scripted/overly prescribed curricula.
Melissa,
When you mentioned having students that would benefit more from participating in a full day program, it made me think of one of my students. She had just turned four at the start of PreK and she had very little prior experiences interacting with other children. She was enthusiastic at the start of the day and would do really well through the morning. However, in the afternoon she would be very irritable and get angry, frustrated, and upset easily--especially with her peers. I always thought about how she would be much more successful in a half-day program. It would be great if public schools could set it up so that parents could have a choice in the length of the program and if they could switch from a half day program to a full day program as the school year goes on. After Christmas, half way through the school year, would be a good time for kids to switch to full-day.
There are so many issues to consider when thinking about universal public Pre-K. The research by Gormley (2010) and Ansari & Winsler (2014) found positive outcomes for students in all socioeconomic levels. Gormley (2010) stated many ideas to promote high quality programing such as teachers being required to have degrees and keeping the ratios low. The research also spoke about attracting new educators and retaining them by putting them on the same pay scale as the K-12 sector. The research acknowledged the idea of having a choice of a full day program or a half day program. All of this coupled with the curriculum aspect that Ansari & Winsler (2014) talk about. I would stress that the study proves curriculum choice is proven to either promote or decrease student achievement outcomes. I would also use the study from Shue, Shore, and Lambert (2012) to point out that we need more collaboration between the early childhood profession and the K-12 sector. If administration does not understand what DAP for the preschool children they are serving is, how do they expect to run a successful program and increase student outcome?
ReplyDeleteFurther I would bring the idea of Gormley (2010) to explore the idea of contracting out to other early childhood facilities that meet the requirements set forth for the Preschool programs in the K-12 sector.
Tammy,
DeleteI really like the idea about how to connect early childhood to the K-12 sector. With such a difference in education and how to teach the different grade levels. Even from Pre-K to Kindergarten. I feel that there is so much pressure on the pre-kindergarten teachers to perform and meet the standards for the beginning of Kindergarten. I think that we need to really redo and figure out what is really needed for the start of K.
Being relatively new to the early childhood and pre-kindergarten, I can see why districts and principals would not understand the differences between elementary and early childhood education. This being a different type of education which leaves many administrators, and communities not quite understanding the importance or the ideas behind a quality pre-k education. By doing my bachelors in elementary education, there are many differences in how we teach and are evaluated. In the article completed by Shue, Shore and Lambert (2012) there is evidence through the survey done, that many administrators, have a lack of knowledge on public pre-k and are limited to the small bits of information done by studies for this topic. Supporting the idea that administrators and districts are unsure what to do with the pre-kindergarten students.
ReplyDeleteAs an advocate for pre-kindergarten education, I think I encourage the ideas formed in the articles by Gormely (2010) and Anasari and Winsler (2014) that looks at diverse groups of learners. In Gormely’s article the authors look at the impact of how a high-quality pre-kindergarten education is important for all learners (including and especially those of diverse backgrounds) and promotes school readiness, in which boost pre-reading, writing and math skills. Anasari and Winsler’s article examines the Montessori method of education in promising the idea of large areas where children can spread out and learn, and work independently. The independence gives children to learn about the things they are interested in and develop their own passion for their own education. I feel that as teacher who teaches pre-kindergarten we need to allow for not just academic growth but also developmental growth in our classrooms. The administrators need to have a background knowledge and idea about where our children are coming from developmentally, and why teachers are doing certain things in their classrooms, that may be different from the older grades.
Veronica,
DeleteI resonated with your point about meeting developmental needs as well as academic needs. In fact, I think it is more important at this age. Administrators absolutely need to have at least some education on DAP to help gain an understanding of how important it is for young children. Without this training and education, a collaboration between pre-K and the K-12 sector will not be successful.
Veronica and Ashley - I absolutely agree that of all the professional development opportunities, administrators should receive DAP time. Pre-K and ECE is vastly different from K-12, and DAP is a huge portion of this. Teacher evaluation systems for K-12 do not properly account for DAP in pre-k, and therefore makes it difficult for administrators to understand and assess what we are doing in our classrooms. Proper training would increase administrators ability to determine teacher success in the classroom and continue providing meaningful opportunities for professional development.
DeleteI agree with you Veronica and fear that principals will decide to just push a kindergarten curriculum onto PreK Students as a way to save money and dodge the learning that will be required for them to understand EC best practices.
DeleteI have never worked in the public school setting before, but I do know that school principals and superintendents have big shoes to fill. In a way, they are ultimately responsible for teacher and child outcomes. It only makes sense that they be knowledgeable about all age groups within the school/school district. They are also responsible for providing staff opportunities to grow and learn through professional development. I was shocked to learn that many school administrators do not have any training in ECE (Shue, Shore and Lambert, 2012), though schools have implemented such programs. With all the research out there on the positive effects of high-quality programming for pre-k children, it seems that there would be higher standards out there for administrators, especially those who have pre-k programs that they are responsible for.
ReplyDeleteI found the results of the Tulsa Public School (TPS) study (Gormley, 2010) to be very interesting. The children in this study were from the largest district in the state, enrolled a high percentage of 4-year-olds, included a diverse population in both race/ethnicity and socioeconomic backgrounds, and had high-quality programming implemented by high-quality staff. Gormley (2010) found the positive outcomes in this study to be favorable for short-term effectiveness, though it was unable to show what the long-term effects might be. It was interesting though that this study touched a lot of the key points that we have been discussing, high-quality, varied backgrounds, and high enrollment. If long-term effects were known, this might be a model program.
I also found the study by Ansari and Winsler (2014) to be interesting as well. Though it looked at targeted programming rather than universal, it showed that the type of programming offered had varying outcomes for children of different ethnic backgrounds.
I think that it is definitely important for administrators to have training in all age-groups that they will be working with. In order for them to be able to develop curriculum/polices, and to provide teachers with the support they need, they have to have some background in DAP for pre-k children. The above mentioned studies have shown that high-quality teachers/programming can have positive effects on children's outcomes.
Julie…
DeleteI completely agree with you that administration responsible for overseeing early childhood programs need to have a solid understanding of early childhood development. Having agreed to become the principal at my district’s early childhood center, is my main reason for enrolling in UMF’s program. Beyond principals, I think that curriculum coordinators, instructional coaches, and mentors also need professional development in early childhood education if they work with teachers in preK positions. I am struggling right now with the fact that our teacher evaluation model does not fit with developmentally appropriate practice and one of the administrators responsible for formal assessments of teachers has never worked with learners younger than fourth grade. I think that we need to be cognizant of who is responsible for ensuring preschool learners are receiving high-quality, developmentally appropriate education!
Julie - In teaching in a public pre-k, I have seen how limited the knowledge of ECE is in administration. I feel that before a district implement a public pre-k program, administrators who would be responsible for overseeing and working the teachers go through professional development (including DAP) prior to implementing the program. I feel administrators do not understand how much they are taking on when they implement the program, and often find themselves treading water when the program is implemented and they are in the trenches. Having prior knowledge and education before implementing the program would give a lot of much needed background information, and prepare them better for the job ahead.
DeleteMelissa, I couldn't agree more!
DeleteVeronica
ReplyDeleteI agree we must consider and promote developmental growth as well as academics. I personally feel that K-12 could take many things from early childhood and implement them into their programs, like more nature opportunities and therefore more physical movement. With that same point I am also sure we could learn from K-12 in areas.
In other thoughts, I would find a way to implement Maine's Quality Rating System, (QRIS) system in the public pre-k sector. Having the Revised QRIS would provide additional opportunity for professional growth and maybe open the doors to some additional funding.
I like the way that that Ansari and Winsler (2014) emphasize the Montessori Program when discussing the importance of considering the socio-economic status and cultural backgrounds of our students when designing our PreK programs. With the push for Universal PreK in our schools, I fear that curriculums will become too academic and not include enough social and emotional skills with our children at this very tender age. It's important for administrators to look very closely at how a child develops and what is age appropriate in catering to the needs of the whole child.
ReplyDeleteGormley (2010) emphasizes the importance of standards when establishing PreK programs. While this is important, I hope that as we develop these programs social emotional standards are held to an equal standard as the academic ones. It is so very important to spend a great deal of our time with teaching children how to interact and maintain self control. Many children don't receive enough of these sorts of healthy experiences at home and need to practice each step of their daily routines at school in a mindful way. They need to be taught how to stand in a line, how to use a pair of scissors, how to hold a book, how to interact, how to play, how to regulate emotions,etc. Often times in school where academics are pushed hard, time that should be dedicated to these social-emotional skills is brushed aside due to the lack of time. Children need to have these skills and routines established before academics are stressed.
Shue et al. discussed the role that strong leadership has on a learning environment. This is so important. Weak leadership leads to a lack of trust and effects everyone. Students can sense when there are issues amongst adults. As we move ahead with Universal PreK, one of the big issues that I think we will face is a lack of understanding in our staffs in what is developmentally appropriate for our learners. I respect administrators that admit that they need to learn about this and actually meet with EC Professionals to work together as a team to do what is needed in our schools to ensure that programs and routines are age appropriate.
Hi Justina,
DeleteI also appreciated the Ansari and Williams (2014) article because of the diverse backgrounds of the students. I think since we live in Maine we do not see how diverse cultures and families play apart of a high-quality education. I grew up in Connecticut, and even though I went to school since pre-k with different students with diverse backgrounds.. when I moved up to Maine. I saw for the first time a change in the way of education was here and where I came from.
I also agree with you on the little things that students need to learn in pre-kindergarten that they will not get at home. My example of this is last year I worked with a little boy who has a stable home life but he did not know how to eat pizza with holding the pizza in his hands and shoved it in with the topping of the cheese first. I had to re-teach him how to hold it and take little bites going from the pointed edged and going to the big crust. While he did have a disability, I saw it again with a child this year who did not. I think a lot of people underestimate our importance and what we actually do.
Based on the information presented by Ansari & Winsler (2014) the curriculum picked for implementation may have to take into consideration the population. When looking at the Montessori curriculum study, results suggested that Latino children made significant gains in comparison to children who were Black. Each curriculum has its own layout and expected outcomes. If the population of children being served in these communities are not taken into consideration an ineffective curriculum could be picked. Today I attended the New England Early Intervention Conference (NEEIC) and one presenter shared her program and values with us. She has a program in Portland called Roots and Fruits. In her program, the children backgrounds and current practices are the focus of the program. When selecting curriculum it is very important to consider the population of students you will be serving.
ReplyDeleteGormley (2010) suggests that a well thought out Pre-K program can promote school readiness. Children will have skills to support them later in school success in relation to cognitive development. The Tulsa program supported its children with significant gains in letter-word identification and spelling. Even though this study suggests having a well thought out program can produce higher results for children not all programs are well planned prior to start up. In Shue, Shore and Lambert (2012) only 12.5% of principals agreed or strongly agreed on having had a training in preparing for being an administer of an early childhood education program. With this low 12.5% the same principals stated that they were confident in evaluating early childhood teachers (84.9%). How can a program be implemented in a school where the administrators have not had much training in working with an early childhood program and yet these administrators feel confident evaluating these teachers? If we want to implement these programs into the district administrators need to be ready for the children and staff. If teachers are confident in their leaders they themselves because stronger. When you have an administrator that you are supposed to look towards for answers who does not know much about the early childhood field how does that make you feel as a teacher. You may possibly feel that you have no one to go to for your questions/ concerns. We as teachers need to be prepared for our students and administrators need to be prepared for its teachers.
Hi Brittany,
DeleteAttending the New England Early Intervention Conference sounds like a great experience. I would love to hear more about the "Roots and Fruits" program. Is it a private preschool?
It sounded like a small program of only 35 students. I would assume it is private but I am unsure. Here is a link to the website: http://rootsfruits.org/
DeleteBrittany - I agree that teachers who are confident in their leaders become stronger teachers. Shue, Shore and Lambert (2012) make a good point that principles have not only an impact on teachers, but also on student outcomes. It's really important for principles to have knowledge on how to run DAP programs for all their children, including preK. I was surprised to read that Shue, Shore and Lambert, (2012) found that only 8% of the principles surveyed were concerned about peek joining their elementary schools. It leads one to believe that they are ignorant to the issues that may arise if they aren't concerned.
ReplyDelete