Starting Points: Quality of Boston's Center and School-Based Preschool Classrooms - Presentation

Starting Points:Starting Points: QQuality of Bostonuality of Boston’’s Center and s Center and

SchoolSchool--Based Preschool Based Preschool ClassroomsClassrooms

Boston CPC Governing CouncilBoston CPC Governing CouncilSeptember 13, 2007September 13, 2007

Motivation for the Studies

•

Present a comprehensive picture of the quality of Boston’s ECE programs to inform strategic planning

•

To provide a baseline within Boston Public Schools for improvement efforts

•

Hired the same research team –

led by Nancy Marshall at the Wellesley Centers for Women

Overview of the Scope & Methodology

Scope of the Study

BPS:Visited 43 K1 and 85 K2 classrooms in 68 schools

Community:Visited 81 center-based PreK classrooms

BothClassrooms randomly selectedSurveyed families, teachers and principals

Areas of Assessment

Curriculum Instructional SupportsLiteracy SupportsEmotional & Social SupportsHealth & Safety

And in BPS:Professional DevelopmentTransportationAfter schoolFamily Engagement

And in Community:Comprehensive ServicesFamily Engagement

Methodology

ECERS-RCLASSSELATeacher surveyPrincipal / Director surveyFamily survey

“Boston Public Schools K1 and K2 Programs, Needs Assessment”Nancy Marshall, Joanne Roberts and Linda MillsWellesley Centers for Women September 2006

“Boston Quality Inventory”Nancy Marshall, Joanne RobertsWellesley Centers for WomenJuly 2007

There are two more studies coming from the community:Family Child Care and Infant/Toddler

Presenter

Presentation Notes

The ECERS Curriculum Index includes measures of the availability of resources as well as the teacher’s behavior. ECERS Curriculum is an average of the subscale scores for Space & Furnishings, Language-Reasoning, Program Structure and Activities, as well as the Interaction scale without the two supervision items. The ECERS Health & Safety Index is an average of the health items from the ECERS Personal Care Routines scale (meals/snacks, naps, toileting, health behaviors) and the average of the two supervision items from the interactions scale. The Emotional and Social Support Index includes the CLASS dimensions of Positive Climate, Negative Climate, Teacher Sensitivity, Regard For The Student Perspective And Behavior Management. The Instructional Support Index includes CLASS dimensions of Productivity, Instructional Learning Formats, Concept Development, Quality Of Feedback And Language Modeling. The SELA Literacy Index consists of five of the SELA scales, The Literate Environment, Language Development, Knowledge of Print/Book Concepts, Phonological Awareness and Letters & Words.

Research has proven what closes the

achievement gap

RESEARCH•

NIEER

•

UPK Study by Frank Porter Graham

•

Nancy Marshall•

ECERS

•

National Longitudinal Study

Higher quality closes the achievement

gap

Do we as a city want to bring all programs to

a 5 / “Good”?

Opportunities:•

Close the achievement gap

•

Strengthen access for all

families to

high quality ECE

Challenges:•

Costly

•

Need solutions for how to raise salaries

Health & Safety

(ECERS)

Emotional & Social Support

(CLASS)

Literacy Supports (SELA)

Instructional Supports (CLASS)

Curriculum (ECERS)

Adequate Inadequate Good

Summary of Findings: BPS K1 & K2

“Closes the Achievement Gap”30%

54%

16%

5%

69% 67% 80%

27%

64%

12%2%

27% 21% 18%9%

Presenter

Presentation Notes

To introduce this slide – BPS has done a lot in the last year around expansion – growing to accommodate 1,500 K1s But this shows that just expansion won’t do it Walk through what is in each category 1. Curriculum 2. Instructional Support 3. Literacy Support 4. Emotional & Social Support 5. Health & Safety Walk through what is meant by 1. Good 2. Adequate 3. Inadequate

Good Adequate Inadequate

Summary of Findings: Center-Based PreK Classrooms

“Closes the Achievement Gap”

48%

42%

10%33%

42% 45% 80% 41%

35%44%

6%

25%

11% 14%25%

Curriculum(ECERS) Instructional

Supports(CLASS)

LiteracySupports(SELA)

Emotional &Social

Supports(CLASS)

Health &Safety

(ECERS)

Presenter

Presentation Notes

To introduce this slide – Community programs are comparable to BPS K1 & K2 programs * differences: Community programs more likely to meet Good benchmark on ECERS Curriculum, and ECERS Health & Safety (Curriculum differences partially reflect the lack of paraprofessionals in BPS classrooms, compared to community centers ratios of adults to children. Health & Safety is largely because community programs are in buildings designed for early childhood programs, with bathrooms and sinks located in or near classrooms) BPS classrooms are more likely to meet the Good benchmark on Literacy Supports. The majority of both BPS and community programs do not yet meet the Good benchmark.

What are common pulleys and levers to improve the

quality of

classroom- based preschool in

Boston?

Recommendation: Bring all

programs up to the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards.Community and BPS: Support NAEYC accreditation

–

In community, programs that were NAEYC accredited were less likely to be rated as inadequate, compared to programs that were not accredited.

Community: Teachers with BAs in every classroom–

Over half of community classrooms had at least one teacher with a BA or more.

–

Classrooms with a BA-level teacher were significantly more likely to meet the Good Benchmarks.

BPS: Ensure that all classrooms have a paraprofessional present for the entire day and that class sizes meet NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards–

Classrooms that met NAEYC recommendations for ratios and class size were more likely to be meet the Good benchmarks than were classrooms that did not meet NAEYC standards.

Presenter

Presentation Notes

While community programs are as likely to meet the Good benchmark as are BPS classrooms, more community programs were judged inadequate. NAEYC accreditation is an important tool to bring inadequate programs to at least the adequate benchmark. The NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards recommend a ratio of no more than 12 children per qualified adult in kindergarten (K2) classes and a ratio of no more than 10 children per qualified adult in preschool (K1) classes of 4- and 5-year olds. Paraprofessionals are particularly important in classes with more than 12 children. BPS classrooms with more than 12 children and only one teacher were less likely to meet the Good Benchmark on the Curriculum Index and on the Health and Safety Index than were similar classes with a paraprofessional present throughout the day, or classes with 12 or fewer children.

Recommendation: Provide additional professional development.

•

Literacy support

•

Instructional support

•

Social and emotional support

•

Hand-washing and health procedures

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Both the BPS and BQI studies found a need for further professional development. The most important areas are: Supporting literacy skills in young children. About half of BPS and community teachers did not regularly call attention to the functions and features of print, note the sounds of letter and words, facilitate children’s letter recognition and promote children’s interest in writing – all activities that support children’s emerging literacy. Development of “best practices” in instructional support: In the best classrooms, teachers consistently and effectively use multiple methods, materials and modalities to promote children’s learning. Most BPS and community teachers were inconsistent in their use of “best practices.” Social and emotional support. While most teachers provided a positive learning climate in their classrooms, fewer teachers in BPS and community classrooms received high scores on facilitating the development of student autonomy during both structured and unstructured class time, offering activities that were consistent with student interests and motivations, providing multiple opportunities for children to talk and interact with one another and on preventing and redirecting students’ negative behavior. Hand-washing and health procedures. The NAEYC Standards require that staff observe regular hand washing and ensure that children wash their hands before and after meals, and that programs maintain sanitary conditions around diapering and toileting. Most BPS and community classrooms often neglected hand-washing before and after meals; half of classrooms neglected hand washing after toileting.

Recommendation: Improve the safety of playgrounds

•

Community programs used public playgrounds, which often lacked adequate fencing or well-maintained equipment, or required young children to walk along busy city streets to reach them.

•

BPS programs’

playgrounds often had inadequate fencing around the outdoor play space, giving children access to parking lots and busy city streets.

Recommendation: Provide all classrooms with the equipment and materials needed to provide a high quality early childhood program for all students

•

Both BPS classrooms and community programs need:–

Art materials

–

dramatic play materials–

fine motor activities

–

science materials and activities–

children’s books

Additional Recommendation: Incorporate community programs into Boston’s citywide planning for early education and care

•

Staff Diversity Reflective of Children Served

•

Full-day, Full-year Programming to Meet the Needs of Working Families

•

High Levels of Family Involvement

•

Comprehensive Services for Families

Children are in all

settings

•

We need common efforts for all programs to reach all children

•

The question is not what to do but how to do it?

BPS Example: Major Findings and Drivers

Amount of time children are spending on age appropriate tasks and specifically what those tasks are (center time, choice activity, etc.)

Classes with paraprofessional were more likely to meet the good benchmark of quality

1.

Curriculum No strong uniform curriculum for K1 and K2

Teachers are not trained in current early childhood practice

Principals need more supports to monitor quality

Areas of Findings Study Findings Interpretation/Drivers

BPS

Example (cont’d): Planned Strategic Investments

K1 Curriculum: OWL and Building Blocks

Implement an assessment system that aids teachers in their classroom practice

Create Comprehensive K2 Curriculum

1.

Curriculum K2 Curriculum aligned with K1 and 1st

Grade ($450,000 Stone Foundation Grant)

Comprehensive Assessment System in Place

Longitudinal Research Capacity

Areas of Findings Short Term Solutions Long Term Solutions

For more information and full copies of the reports:For more information and full copies of the reports:

Corey ZimmermanCorey Zimmerman 617617--695695--0700 x 2290700 x 229

[email protected]@associatedece.org www.bostonequip.orgwww.bostonequip.org

Jason SachsJason Sachs 617617--635635--97019701

[email protected]@boston.k12.ma.us

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.bostonequip.org/

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Starting Points: Quality of Boston's Center and School-Based Preschool Classrooms - Presentation