“As Spotlight Grows on Pre-K, We Can’t Forget the Early Grades”
“Few conversations focus on improving early elementary years, the linchpin of the pre-K-to-12 education system.” A good article on an important component of the Birth-Third Agenda by Laura Bornfreund of the New America Foundation’s Early Education Initiative.
National P-3 Institute this October
From Kristie Kauerz, Director of the National P-3 Center at the University of Washington. Please let me know if anyone would be interested in organizing a Massachusetts delegation. Applications are now open for the October 27-30, 2014 team-based National P-3 Institute. This four-day professional education institute is focused on implementation and evaluation of comprehensive P-3…
Snapshots of Birth–3rd Strategies in Five Communities
This week I’m posting short bulleted summaries of the core strategies of the first five EEC alignment partnerships, an idea prompted by a helpful conversation with Titus DosRemedios of Strategies for Children last week at an ESE Kindergarten Networking Meeting. These updated summaries may be helpful to the seven new communities coming on board in…
New Birth-Third Alignment Partnerships Announced
Congratulations to the twelve communities that recently received Birth-Third Alignment Partnership grants from the Department of Early Education and Care. Momentum around Birth-Third continues to grow in Massachusetts, and we are expanding the base of experience that all communities can draw on and build from as they work to improve children’s early learning experiences. The graphic below…
Three New Curriculum Mapping Tools
A critical step in improving teaching and learning in the early elementary grades is developing an effective, coherent curriculum. To support districts in aligning curriculum to the 2011 Common Core-aligned frameworks, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education worked with the Readiness Centers to develop the Curriculum Alignment and Mapping Project, a resource that includes recorded webinars and…
Curriculum Mapping Resources
My colleague Renee Perdue and I are leading a Curriculum Mapping Institute tomorrow (Tuesday) for the MA ESE and the Readiness Centers. See the Massachusetts Curriculum Alignment and Mapping Project for a variety of resources and sample curriculum maps, including our presentation on The Why and What of Curriculum Mapping.
May 13 Round-Up
NEW RESOURCES OF INTEREST Formative Assessment: Guidance for Early Childhood Policymakers. Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes at NIERR. This policy report provides a guide and framework to early childhood policymakers considering formative assessment. The report defines formative assessment and outlines its process and application in the context of early childhood. This guide provides a…
Magic Tree House author Mary Pope Osborne in Pittsfield on May 17
DATE: MAY 17, 2014 TIME: 1:00 – 3:00 P.M. ON SAT. MAY 17TH The Pittsfield Promise is offering a FREE presentation for families, children and educators with Mary Pope Osborne, the #2 Children’s Author in the World, and author of the Magic Tree House Series. Saturday, May 17th from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. at South Congregational Church at 110…
Communities of Practice in Lowell: Supporting Family Child Care and Center-based Providers
As discussed last week, there are multiple entry points for understanding Lowell’s Birth-Third work—the Leadership Alignment Team, the use of the CLASS tool, the emerging school readiness agenda—but a good place to start is with Lowell’s communities of practice. Supporting family childcare providers is a logistically more challenging and less common component of Birth-Third initiatives.[1]…
Building a Common Vision of Quality across the Birth-Third Continuum
Birth-Third projects often begin with a focus on aligning community-based preschool and kindergarten. For the leaders of Lowell’s Birth-Third initiative, it was important from the outset that their project be broader in scope, spanning the Birth-Third continuum by developing meaningful roles for family childcare providers, community-based preschools, and elementary schools. Lowell’s leaders wanted to build…