Learning Challenges I have encountered recently.

I am a recent graduate who has always found it easy to cope with different environments. I also have found myself quickly learning stuff. However, since the start of the Andela Challenges, I have…

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Testimony to the Education Committee on a standardized curriculum for preschool in Gateway Communities

Erica Woloszynski

93 Centre St #2

203–313–2475

wolosze@gmail.com

Senate Chair Jason M. Lewis

House Chair Alice Hanlon Peisch

Committee on Education

Massachusetts State House, Room 511-B/473G

Boston, MA 02133

Dear Chairman Lewis and Chairman Peisch,

I am writing in regards to bill H.3761, which would require a standardized curriculum as a condition of pre-k funding for gateway communities. Expanding pre-k for vulnerable children is a goal I share, but that expansion being reliant upon adopting standardized programming is concerning. Unless it is highly flexible and developed in concert with early educators, a standard curriculum may not be developmentally appropriate; as a result it can be harmful to both children and educators.

There is admittedly great value to having a curriculum focused on fostering skills in each area of development. It is imperative to make sure each child is making progress across the areas for them to continue learning throughout their time in school.

Major areas of development:

· Socio-emotional

· Language

· Physical

· Cognitive

There are also subjects that are not areas of development in themselves, but their acquisition follows relatively predictable trajectories up into elementary and secondary education.

· Literacy

· Math

· Science

· Social studies

· The arts

However, it is important to keep in mind that young children learn best through varied experiences related to their preferences, instead of the subjects being artificially separated. Any interest can be used to target skills in every area in ways that will be relevant to individual children. We all have treasured memories from childhood that have stuck with us over the years, and we recall details about them easily because of how important those experiences were to us personally. High-quality early education curriculum guides the wonder that children experience when they are engrossed in a subject in order to deepen and expand upon their learning.

Example of interest centered learning across domains: Dinosaurs

· Socio-emotional: dinosaur toys allow exploration of social boundaries(when/where is it okay to pretend roar/bite?) and acting out simple emotional interactions (“oh no, my dinosaur is sad because…”)

· Language: the names of dinosaurs are often linguistically complex and model the use of multi-syllabic language in play(“my ankylosaurus bit your stegosaurus!”=12 syllables vs “my dog bit your cat!”=5 syllables) or the use of abbreviated language(T. Rex)

· Physical: activities to move(animal walks) or pose(dinosaur yoga) like different dinosaurs

· Cognitive: dinosaur toys are put out with various open-ended materials to facilitate their use symbolically(sticks as “trees,” playdough as “mud/tar,” blocks to make dinosaur houses)

· Literacy: teachers can put dinosaur books out in areas that explore dinosaurs to foster the link between reading and research and read dinosaur books during story/circle

· Math: small dinosaurs are out on a table with balancing scales, teachers encourage students to put different numbers in each side to see how quantity is related to weight

· Science: teacher-led discussions to make predictions about which dinosaurs eat plants and which eat meat and why; follow up with non-fiction book about the difference between herbivores and carnivores to confirm or reject their predictions.

· Social studies: teacher-led discussion/sorting of different dinosaur models into sand or water tables(basic understanding of geographic habitat)

The best curriculum allows teachers to choose an area of interest for each class while ensuring the activities are connected back to the areas in which progress must be made. It should also allow teachers to take the cultural values and practices of the school/families/community into account in order to best connect early learning experiences to their home life. Parents are most able to expand on their children’s learning when the format is accessible to them.

This brings me to my next point: teachers know their students best, and policy should strive to support their use of that knowledge rather than stifle it. I have seen multiple centers with a pre-written curriculum, and none of them have satisfied teachers or students. Instead of shaping activities based on children’s interests, teachers are forced to ignore their experience and do what is prescribed by someone who has never met them or set foot in their school. This leads to teachers frustrated with children for not following arbitrary guidelines and children frustrated at being told to do things they do not want to or are not capable of doing.

Back and forth interactions between children and teachers are the primary vehicle through which socio-emotional skills are developed, so making those interactions a power struggle instead of an affirmation can severely impact students for years to come. The last thing we want to do is send young children the message that school is too hard (or too easy) for them. Feeling that you belong in your school as part of the community lays the foundation for academic engagement in later years when it is much harder to be excited about school.

It also tells teachers that we do not trust them to plan high quality lessons on their own. The biggest reason to push for standardization is a fear that anything less structured will lead to lower quality; the insinuation which follows is that early educators themselves are not up to the task. This field already suffers from high turnover and low morale. Anything which further de-values this work makes people wonder why they are bothering when they can make just as much doing a much easier job.

I want to end with an example of research-backed systems which demonstrate some good components of standardization: The Creative Curriculum and Teaching Strategies GOLD.

Both are from the same company and are tied to the same 38 objectives across the developmental and learning areas.

Importantly, because they cover birth through third grade, the assessment views progress in the long term as opposed to yearly goals. The color-coded teaching sequences allow for differences in age of acquisition that are still within the typical range, which is consistent with developmental research and prevents unnecessary stress over meeting rigid deadlines.

Red= 0–1 year Orange=1–2 year Yellow=2–3 year Green=Preschool 3 Blue=Preschool 4 Purple=Kindergarten

Here the basic skill is emotional and behavioral regulation. The first set has a red-orange overlap, indicating most children learn to respond to change’s in adult tone/expression between ages 0 and 2.

The second overlaps orange, yellow and green, meaning there is great variance in the ages at which different children are usually able to accept redirection from adults, covering all of toddlerhood and early preschool.

The third overlaps yellow, green, blue and purple; given how many different pre-requisite skills are involved in following class rules and routines there are some toddlers able to do so and some kindergarteners still learning.

This one objective illustrates the need for curriculum to be as dynamic as the development of individual children, and for any assessment related to that curriculum to be flexible as well. These are not perfect, but they have many solid components.

Another invaluable resource is the incoming Head Commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care, Samantha Aigner-Treworgy. She was Chief of Early Learning in Chicago, where she began the city’s implementation of their universal full-day pre-k for four year olds, giving her experience highly relevant to this bill and others relating to early education. Her knowledge of system-level implementation is extremely impressive, and I would encourage you to watch her interview with the commission for a sense of how strong a partner she can be. Including her in the process before making any final decisions would be wise.

Thank you for your consideration on this matter,

Erica Woloszynski

Learning Challenges I have encountered recently.

Testimony to the Education Committee on a standardized curriculum for preschool in Gateway Communities

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