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Archive for the ‘Pre-K to 3’ Category

How Effective is Head Start?

Posted in Achievement gap, Federal, Head Start, National, Pre-K to 3, Pre-kindergarten, Research on March 26, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Photo: Micaela Bedell for Strategies for Children

Photo: Micaela Bedell for Strategies for Children

Head Start has been in the news lately, both because of the effects of sequestration on the program and because of discussion about its effectiveness in light of proposals to expand early education. W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, sheds light on the research in a recent column on the Washington Post’s Answer Sheet blog.

Barnett concludes that Head Start is neither as ineffective as its critics contend nor as effective as its staunchest defenders claim. “Which side is correct?” he asks. “Neither.”

Barnett discusses the recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services that critics say show the benefits of Head Start fade by third grade. Although the study, based on a large-scale randomized trial, is the best to date on Head Start, Barnett cautions that it “does not say what critics claim it says.” (more…)

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MA Communities Get PK-3 Grants

Posted in Pre-K to 3 on December 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Aligning early learning settings with the public schools is one goal of the Massachusetts Early Learning Plan, the state’s blueprint for the four-year $50 million federal Early Learning Challenge grant awarded in December 2011. The Department of Early Education and Care recently announced the five grantees that will share $1 million in grants designed “to strengthen and advance their PreK-3rd Grade partnerships and coordination,” according to a news release.

The communities and lead agencies are: Square One (Springfield), Somerville Public Schools, Boston Public Schools, Berkshire United Way (Pittsfield), and Thrive in 5/United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley (Boston). The grants will be disbursed over two years.

“EEC awarded grants to communities with an existing infrastructure for PreK-3rd grade systems that will serve as the foundation for enhanced coordination and alignment of programs and services,” the news release states. “Components of this more effective and aligned system include: cooperative governance structures, educator collaboration and shared professional development, aligned curricula and assessment systems, streamlined data collection, joint parent and family engagement efforts, and access to extended learning opportunities.”

The grants are designed to improve partnerships between private, community-based early education and care programs and the public schools pre-kindergarten and primary grade programs. Grantees will work to share professional development, promote family engagement and align standards and assessments.

“Building stronger early education systems that provide an aligned experience and smooth transition for children and families is critical to improved child and family outcomes by third grade,” EEC Commissioner Sherri Killins said in the news release. “Partnerships that bring together both systems and key collaborators with a common focus and shared goals will help us achieve the goal of establishing a cradle-to-career education pipeline in Massachusetts that prepares our citizens for lifelong success’”

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At the November EEC Board Meeting

Posted in Dept. of Early Education and Care, Early educators, MA governor, MA state budget, Pre-K to 3, Pre-kindergarten, QRIS, Science & math on November 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

The audience at the November meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care broke into applause when the panel approved a fiscal year 2014 budget ask of $557,509,730, which is $69.4 million above current funding levels.

Our research and field associate, Emily Levine, who attended the meeting, reports that the $69.4 million will support access, quality and the early childhood workforce, as well as transportation. Here’s a breakdown:

  • An investment in quality: $15.6 million
    • Workforce quality: A rate increase of 3% to support an increase in salaries, benefits and stipends for early education and care workers ($13.8 million)
    • Quality Rating and Improvement System : A $1 million set-aside to support investments  in QRIS and help sustain program improvements
    • Quality infrastructure: $0.8 million to support staffing to hold providers accountable for health and safety, quality care and quality programs
    • An investment in children and families: $36.2 million to open access for preschool-age children
    • An investment in transportation: $17.6 million to affirm the board’s June vote to increase the rate paid for transportation to support system improvements and the addition of an adult monitor on all vehicles carrying infants, toddlers and preschool-age children.

In other news: (more…)

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2012 MCAS Results Show Little Progress in Third Grade Reading

Posted in Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education, K-12, Language development, Pre-K to 3, Reading proficiency on September 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released results of the 2012 MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) test today. Here is the news release about the third grade reading results that Strategies for Children sent to media outlets:

September 17, 2012 – In Massachusetts, 39% of third graders are not proficient readers, according to MCAS results released today. Performance in reading on the third grade MCAS has remained stagnant since 2001, when 38% of third graders scored below proficient in reading.  Among children from low-income families, 60%lag in reading.

See charts: Trends in Third Grade Reading, by Income and Third Grade Reading 2012 MCAS.

Reading is the foundation of success in both the classroom and the workplace. Research finds that third grade reading is a critical educational benchmark that strongly predicts children’s future performance in school and beyond. In July, the Legislature passed An Act Relative to Third Grade Reading Proficiency with overwhelming bipartisan support. Today, the bill was enacted by the House and Senate and is currently before Governor Patrick. The bill, which was introduced by Senator Katherine Clark (D-Melrose) and Representative Marty Walz (D-Boston), would establish an Early Literacy Expert Panel to advise state agencies on research-based strategies to improve the language and literacy development of children from birth to age 9.

Amy O’Leary, director of Early Education for All, a campaign of Strategies for Children, issued the following statement:

“We should all be alarmed that 39% of third graders are not proficient readers and that Massachusetts has made virtually no progress in third grade reading over the past decade. We should all be concerned about the wide and persistent achievement gap. We know what to do to improve children’s literacy. We must act now on this knowledge. (more…)

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Election 2012 Question of the Week

Posted in Election, Pre-K to 3 on September 14, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Election Day is fast approaching, and we want to make sure that candidates include young children and families in their education agendas. So, from now until the Friday before Election Day, I will run a question of the week to ask candidates running for state and federal office. The regular Friday “In Quotes” feature will return after Election Day.

Also, check out the Election 2012 page on our website. It provides tips for voters on how to focus attention on high-quality early education and reading proficiency this campaign season and information for candidates interested in becoming champions for young children.

Here is this week’s question:

Education is a continuum that runs from birth to college and career. For young children that means aligning early childhood settings with the primary grades. What will you do to support high-quality education for young children, from early childhood to third grade?

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In Quotes

Posted in Family engagement, Full-day kindergarten, Pre-K to 3, Quotes on August 31, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“There is curriculum in the kindergarten classroom, even though to the naked eye you wouldn’t think so. There’s a lot of learning going on, but it’s also through structured play.”

Carolyn Lyons, Strategies for Children, “So You’re Going to Kindergarten” video, August 2012

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Evidence Mounts of Lasting Benefits of Early Education

Posted in Achievement gap, Cognitive development, Head Start, K-12, Pre-K to 3, Pre-kindergarten, Research on June 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

There’s yet more evidence of the long-term benefits of high-quality early education, this time from Michigan’s Great Start Readiness Program, a state-funded pre-kindergarten program for children at risk of school failure founded in 1985 as a limited pilot. It now serves about 30,000 children.

Researchers from the HighScope Educational Research Foundation have been following 338 children who attended Great Start (GSRP) in 1995-6 and a control group of 258 children from similar demographic backgrounds. The children have now graduated from high school, thus yielding valuable longitudinal data, which HighScope recently presented to Michigan’s board of education.

The findings include:

  • Kindergarten teachers consistently rated GSRP graduates as more advanced in imagination and creativity, demonstrating initiative, retaining learning, completing assignments and as having good attendance.
  • Second grade teachers rated GSRP graduates higher on being ready to learn, able to retain learning, maintaining good attendance and having an interest in school.
  • A higher percentage of 4th grade GSRP graduates passed the MEAP [Michigan Educational Assessment Program] compared to non-GSRP students.
  • Significantly fewer GSRP participants were retained in grade than non-GSRP students between 2nd and 12th grades (36.5% versus 49.2% in 12th grade).
  • Significantly fewer GSRP children of color were retained for two or more grades than their non-GSRP counterparts by the 12th grade (14.3% versus 28.1% in 12th grade).
  • More GSRP students graduated on time from high school than non-GSRP participants (58.3% versus 43.0%).
  • More GSRP children of color graduated on time from high school than non-GSRP participants (59.7% vs. 36.5%).

Researchers also estimated that 43.5% of Great Start’s cost was recouped through savings from the reduction in grade retention.

“This simple calculation does not quantify additional savings from reducing school failure and delayed high school graduation, as well as their lifetime effects on earnings and employment and crime reduction,” the report states. “This return could be increased by better targeting of children and better funding per child leading to higher-quality programming.”

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They’re Gaga About Reading

Posted in K-12, Pre-K to 3, Reading proficiency on June 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

The children at the Roger Clap Innovation School, an elementary school in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, earned quite an end-of-the-year treat. Their principal, Justin Vernon, dressed up as Lady Gaga and milked a cow named Moxie.

What did the children do to earn such august entertainment? They read a lot of books. Vernon had promised them that if they read 10,000 books by the end of the school term, he would dress up as Lady Gaga. They read 13,000 books, and Vernon was true to his word, The Boston Globe reports. He donned a blond wig, black dress and tiara.

“’I can’t tell you how proud of you I am,’ Vernon, dressed as the pop star, told students. ‘And I think I make for a pretty good Lady Gaga,’” the Globe reports.

“Amid the squeals of classmates, fifth-grader Margaret Gould said: ‘We were very excited to see our principal dress up, and we’re really impressed that he did it.’”

The Roger Clap is Boston’s first innovation school. After being threatened with closure in 2010, it reopened as an innovation school in September. The school has about 150 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, according to its website. That comes to an average of about 87 books per student.

Joseph Shea, Boston’s academic superintendent for elementary schools, witnessed the festivities at Roger Clap. “This is absolutely fantastic,” Shea told the Globe. “In my 40-plus years, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

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Using Observation to Evaluate Teachers of Young Children

Posted in Early educators, Pre-K to 3 on June 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

As I recently reported, Robert Pianta, dean of the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, suggests that those interested in K-12 reform learn from systems of teacher observation common in early childhood settings. An earlier report — “Watching Teachers Work: Using Observation Tools to Promote Effective Teaching in the Early Years and Early Grades” — calls for utilizing objective observation tools to assess the practice of teachers of young children, birth to third grade. The successful implementation of these observation tools, it notes, requires effective professional development and training in their use.

“Watching Teachers Work” is written by Lisa Guernsey, director of the Early Education Initiative of the New America Foundation, and Susan Ochshorn, founder and principal of the consulting firm ECE PolicyWorks.

Observation “tools can allow for measurements that are far less subjective than many of the checklists and rubrics currently used by supervisors as they pop in and out of classrooms, as long as they include two attributes: They need to be reliable, meaning they can be trusted to provide consistent measures of quality no matter who is doing the observing. And they should be validated, meaning that studies show their measures to be associated with positive impacts on children’s learning, helping them to gain skills in language, literacy, math, social interactions, and other domains,” the report states.

The report is based on in-depth interviews conducted around the country, including Boston. (more…)

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In Quotes

Posted in Early educators, K-12, Pre-K to 3, Professional development & preparation, Quotes on June 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“At least some of the answers to turning around our nation’s struggling K-12 public schools can be found at the nearest preschool….  At a time of considerable urgency and demand for improvements in our nation’s schools, particularly when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of teachers, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Instead of looking to the development and implementation of new educational models and methodologies, K-12 educators would do well to learn from the lessons and experience accrued by their counterparts in the early childhood sector, specifically when it comes to teacher performance evaluation.”

Robert Pianta, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, “Implementing Observation Protocols: Lessons for K-12 Education from the Field of Early Childhood,” May 2012

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