Idahos Early Learning Standards

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Idahos Early Learning Standards
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AGENDA

• Background information and definitions
• Brief introduction to standards and standards
  documents
• Overview of Idahos Early Learning Standards
• How will the Standards affect my program?
• What issues and activities will the Standards
  support in Idaho?
• Questions and Comments

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The Rise of Standards-Based Education

• Publication of A Nation at Risk (1983) initiated
  the modern standards movement
• President Bush and state governors met in 1989
  and agreed to develop a set of national goals for
  education, and in 1991 drafted goals for student
  demonstration of competency in English, math,
  science, history, and geography

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The Rise of Standards-Based Education

• Currently, every state except one is developing
  or has developed standards
• Idaho has developed standards over the past 8
  yearsThe K-12 Standards
• Idahos Standards for Excellence have been
  approved by the Legislature and the State Board
  of Education

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The Rise of Standards-Based Education

• School Readiness initiatives
• NAEYC/NAECS/SDE position statement
  http//www.naeyc.org/resources/position_statements
  /conditions.htm
• States that included pre-K education as a part of
  the public education system were the first to
  develop early childhood standards
• Other states followed after the 1997 Amendments
  to the Individuals with Disabilities Education
  Act (IDEA)

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Standards and the IDEA Whats the connection?

• Requirements for Aligning Individual Education
  Plans (IEPs) to State Standards
• Goals for most special education students should
  be consistent with the expectations set for all
  students.
• The IEPs must indicate how the child is involved,
  and how the child progresses in the general
  education curriculum.
• Standards provide targets for developing
  objectives/benchmarks to achieve these goals.

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Standards and Preschool Learners??

• In recent years, major studies have found that
  the seeds of reading and other skills critical
  for success in school are planted before children
  enter school. Important skills do not develop
  spontaneously instruction shapes them. Preschool
  and child care, along with the parents, must
  supply the experiences to build basic knowledge
  in children.
• Adapted from Bodrova, Leong, and Paynter, 1999

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Writing standards for young children

• Begin with early developmental sequences, not
  just downward extensions of kindergarten skills
• Reinforce ethical principles
• Provide a strong supportive foundation for
  programs, professionals, and families
• Address significant developmental and educational
  content
• Use an informed process to develop and revise the
  standards
• Link effective, developmentally appropriate
  strategies for implementation and assessment

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High quality programs are an essential foundation!

• Quality means
• Supportive environments
• Trained personnel
• Quality materials
• Strong supportive relationships between programs
  and families
• Strong supportive relationships among agencies,
  districts, private providers

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The Building Blocks Model
Child-Focused Instructional Strategies
Embedded Learning Opportunities
Curriculum Accommodations and Adaptations
High Quality Early Childhood Program
Schwartz and Sandall. 2002
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Developmentally Appropriate Practice

• The process of professionals making decisions
  about the well-being and education of children
  encompasses at least three important kinds of
  knowledge
• What is known about child development and the
  process of childrens learning
• What is known about the strengths, interests and
  needs of each individual child in the group
• Knowledge of the social and cultural contexts in
  which children live.

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Guidelines for DAP

• Creating a caring community of learners
• Teaching to enhance development and learning
• Constructing appropriate curriculum
• Assessing childrens learning and development
• Establishing reciprocal relationships with
  families

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To create an educational program that is
developmentally appropriate and standards-based

• Concepts and skills must be developmentally and
  individually appropriate.
• Instructional techniques must be developmentally
  and individually appropriate.
• Standards and authentic, appropriate assessment
  must guide instruction.

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Why Develop Early Childhood Standards?

• Standards must be clearly aligned with
  assessment, curricula, and instructional
  practices.

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Why Develop Early Childhood Standards?

• Standards provide the base for collecting
  evidence regarding student learning.
• Evidence should inform parents and program staff
  how children are progressing in their learning
  processes.

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Why Develop Early Childhood Standards?

• Standards provide a way to report child progress
  and to measure growth from one year to the next.
• Standards provide a focus for determining
  appropriate interventions for those students who
  excel in their learning and for those students
  who need support.

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Standards are an essential first step for
designing effective preschool curricula, because
they represent an agreed upon agenda for teaching
and learning . . . Standards are excellent
because they recognize the interconnectedness of
emotional, social, cognitive, and physical
development and learningthe whole child. Like
all good standards, they should be used as the
basis for reflective teachers as they create
learning experiences that build on what children
already know and capture their interest in
learning. Barbara Bowman,
Erickson Institute
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What do we want? An aligned learning System to
ensure quality in our educational system
Standards
Curriculum Instruction
Assessment
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What standards are are not!

• Are!
• A way to identify important learning targets by
  aligning them with standards
• A way to guide authentic assessment
• A way to support childrens learning and
• A way for program staff to know whether they are
  effective

• Are NOT!
• The curriculum
• Daily activities
• A way to sort children or families
• A way to punish programs
• A way to exclude children

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What are Standards?

• General statements that identify what children
  should know or what skills children should be
  able to do as a result of their educational
  experience
• Serve to organize a domain through a manageable
  number of generally stated goals

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How are the Early Learning Standards organized?

• Content -Specific Academic represent what
  information students should know/understand or
  what skills/processes students should be able to
  do.
• Examples
• Science Understands concepts and processes of
  evidence and models.
• Language arts (written expression) Understands
  and uses the writing process.
• Health Acquires the skills to lead a healthy
  life.

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Other important types of standards are
incorporated into content standards

• Cross-Discipline Learning standards that
  represent generic information skills/processes
  that cut across content areas
• Thinking and reasoning Applies basic principles
  of logic and reasoning.
• Information processing Uses a variety of
  information gathering techniques and information
  resources.
• Communication Expresses ideas clearly.

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More important standards which are incorporated
in the content standards.

• Life skills standards that represent generic
  information and skills/processes, which are
  useful within the workplace
• Self-Regulation Sets and manages goals.
• Collaboration Works towards the achievement of
  group goals.

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What Are Content Knowledge and Skills?

• Content Knowledge and Skills are clear, specific
  descriptions of knowledge or skills that children
  should acquire by a particular point in their
  schooling
• The specific skills that build to the standard
  whose content they address

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What Are Content Knowledge and Skills?

• Assigning a grade or age level, or a range at
  which the child is developmentally ready to
  acquire the understanding or skill it describes
• For preschool, the range is 3 to 5 years
  (Kindergarten standards start at 5 years)
• The assumption here is that the child would have
  had the opportunity to learn or has received all
  prior instruction necessary to learn the
  material.

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A working example of how to apply standards
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What are Samples of Applications?

• In the Idaho Standards for Excellence, Samples
  of Applications are given for each standard, and
  content knowledge and skills.
• Illustrate the meaning of the content knowledge
  and skill
• Demonstrate the childs learning in the content
  knowledge and skills
• Represent possible areas of application
• NOT the curriculum!
• Not intended to be an exhaustive list of possible
  applications

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What is a curriculum?

• Curriculum
• A connection to the standards,
• An organized framework that delineates the
  content children are to learn,
• The process through which children achieve
  identified curricular goals,
• What teachers do to help children reach these
  goals, and
• The context in which teaching and learning occur.

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Constructing Appropriate Curriculum

• Provides for all areas of development
• Includes a broad range of content across
  disciplines that is socially relevant,
  intellectually engaging, and personally
  meaningful to children
• Builds upon what children already know and are
  able to do and
• Frequently integrates across traditionally
  subject-matter division to help children make
  meaningful connections and provide opportunities
  for rich conceptual development.

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In addition, curriculum

• Promotes knowledge and understanding, skills, and
  the disposition to enable children to use those
  skills to continue to learn
• Develops intellectual integrity, reflects key
  concepts and tools of inquiry in ways that are
  accessible for children
• Provides opportunities to support childrens home
  culture and language while developing abilities
  to participate in the shared culture of the
  community and
• Is realistic and attainable for all children.

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Assessment

• The purpose of assessment
• To ensure that the needs of children and families
  are being met
• To monitor progress towards attainment of
  standards
• To inform instruction and
• To enhance communication with parents, other
  agencies, and among team members.

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Assessment

• Use multiple assessment types
• Norm referenced
• Criterion referenced
• Authentic assessment
• Observation
• Portfolios
• Anecdotal records

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Authentic assessment

• Includes all domains
• Uses multiple sources of information
• Uses procedures that reflect the ongoing life of
  the classroom and typical activities of the
  children
• Considers all cultures, language groups, and
  developmental levels with fairness and respect.

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Potential Uses of the standards document

• For family members
• Build the awareness of child development,
• Assist to involve families in their childrens
  education, and
• Enhance the awareness of the systems needed to
  support the growth and development of children.

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Potential Uses of the standards document

• For Teachers and Caregivers
• To guide in planning learning experiences for
  children in programs,
• To provide direction for authentic assessment of
  young children,
• To construct a possible framework for program
  evaluation and program improvement, and
• To enhance ideas for training and staff
  development.

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Potential Uses of the standards document

• For community members
• To build a framework for needs assessment in the
  community, and
• To enhance advocacy efforts within the community.
• For Policymakers
• To emphasize the importance of early childhood
  education,
• To assess the impact of public policies on young
  children and their families, and
• To improve public understanding of appropriate
  expectations, accountability, and responsibility.

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Where are we now and how did we get here?

• A stakeholder group convened to develop preschool
  standards
• Reviewed current work in Idaho
• Reviewed reference documents from other states
  and national organizations (NCTM, MCREL early
  literacy, etc.)
• Aligned preschool standards with Idaho Standards
  for Excellence, and to flow into kindergarten
  standards
• Included new research and best practices for
  early literacy and mathematics and
• Identified concerns to address in dissemination
  and training.

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What are our goals?

• To work together to assist children to meet
  achievable and challenging expectations, and
• To provide quality programs and necessary
  supports to programs, children, and families.

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What does this mean to me and my program?

• Concerns and possible benefits or applications to
  your programs.