Moving Towards and Identifying High-Quality Pre-School Experiences

For Even Start Family Literacy Children in New York State

Introduction:

The everyday experiences of New York State’s Even Start children have a significant impact on their achievement in meeting New York State’s Learning Standards. Even Start plays an important role whether providing, supporting and/or guiding those everyday experiences.

This packet is designed for multiple purposes. It provides Even Start programs with benchmarks to measure the status of preschool services. The packet also provides technical assistance providers with a framework to be able to tease out what are distinguished and proficient practices across New York State; those practices can then be shared with other programs. The packet can also be used to help forge community and state discussions about what constitutes high quality and that quality can become part of a network of programs both within and outside of New York State’s Even Start Family Literacy Program.

In this packet, you will find the following tools:

1) A Program Profile packet that helps you identify:

A. Preschool programs which your preschool children attend (Pg.1)

B. How your preschool children scored on required state indicators (Pg. 2)

C. How your preschool children scored on other cognitive/ language measures used in your program. (Pg. 3)

2) Language and other literacy child outcomes for children participating in high-quality pre-school (Pgs.4-6)

3) Pre-school Program Self-Assessment that can be used by any program serving Even Start children (Pgs.7-14)

4) Principles for guiding program design (Pgs. 15-16)

5) Rubric to consider features of curriculum, assessment and the instructional cycle (Pgs.17-22)

6) Key Elements to Consider in Choosing Pre-School Curriculum: USDOE (Pgs.23-24)

1. Program Profile Packet

Name of Even Start Family Literacy Program: _____________________________________________________________

A) Name(s) of Pre-school Program(s) that Even Start children attend:

(duplicate this sheet if necessary)

Name: ___________________________________Operated by: __________________________Number of Children ________

Curriculum Used: ___________________________________________________________

Name: ___________________________________Operated by: __________________________Number of Children ________

Curriculum Used:___________________________________________________________

Name: ___________________________________Operated by: __________________________Number of Children ________

Curriculum Used: ___________________________________________________________

Name: ___________________________________Operated by: __________________________Number of Children________

Curriculum Used: ____________________________________________________________

B) Preschool Children’s performance in State indicators:

50% of all Even Start children age six months to five years who score at the 50^th percentile or below on either the auditory comprehension or expressive communication will increase their percentile rank on auditory comprehension and expressive communication as measured by the Preschool Language Scale after one year of participation.

The following questions would be considered in addition to information gathered from ES-STAR. This information provides a snapshot of a program in a single year.

Using the most current PLS-3 or PLS-4, how many children in your program, ages three to Kindergarten, scored above the 50^th percentile?

	Number of Children Above the 50^th Percentile
Auditory Comprehension
Expressive Communication

Using the most current PLS-3 or PLS-4, how many children in your program, ages three to Kindergarten, scored above the 75^th percentile?

	Number of Children Above the 75^th Percentile
Auditory Comprehension
Expressive Communication

C) The program demonstrates effectiveness using other forms of assessment that measure cognitive and language development. For preschool children:

Assessment(s) Used: _________________________________________________________________________________

What were the outcomes? (Describe the ages of the children, the types of measures, the degree of success, etc.)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ages of the Children in the Program	Numbers of Children	Type of Assessment Used	Expected Outcomes	Number of Children Attaining Outcomes Typical for this Age
3 (or eligible for 3 year old program)
4 (or eligible for 4 year old program)
5 (eligible for preschool )

2. Child Outcomes in the Language Domain

(Building Strong Foundations for Early Learning and New York State Learning Standards)

Consider the last group of children in your program who have completed preschool.  The total number of children that are in this group ________; next, place the number of children from that group who are able to...

A. Oral Language, Communication, and Listening	Please put the total number of children for each skill:
1. Communicate to be understood by adults and peers
2. Initiate and engage in conversations with adults and peers
3. Ask questions for information and to extend learning
4. Speaks with speed and expression appropriate for the purpose *
5. Listen to others and indicate understanding
6. Understand accurately directions with more than one step

B. Background Knowledge and Vocabulary	Please put the total number of children for each skill:
1. Learn new vocabulary from everyday situations
2. Attempt to communicate more than current vocabulary, extending to create new meaning
3. Use correct vocabulary related to position, order, direction, size, and comparison
4. Use vocabulary associated with scientific principles, e.g., sink, float, freeze, liquid, alive
5. Use basic computer vocabulary, e.g., mouse, keyboard, printer
6. Connects vocabulary and life experiences to ideas in books*

C. Early Literacy Phonological awareness	Please put the total number of children for each skill:
1. Recognize that words are made up of individual sounds
2. Recognize that language is made up of words
3. Recognize and produce rhyming words
4. Perceive the difference between similar sounding words
5. Identify words that begin with the same sounds
6. Break words into syllables
Alphabetic principle
7. Understand that sounds are represented in print by combinations of letters
8. Make some sound-letter matches
Letter awareness
9. Know some alphabet letter names, including those in own name
10. Recognize own name and several high frequency words in environment
Print awareness
11. Understand that print conveys messages
12. Understand that there are different text forms used for different functions
13. Demonstrate book awareness, e.g., holding the book right side up, turning pages
14. Understand print conventions, e.g., left to right, top to bottom, and spaces between words
Writing
15. Use symbols or drawings to express ideas
16. Use letter approximations to write words or ideas
17. Dictate words, phrases, sentences to adults for recording
18. Write letters in own name
19. Uses spaces between letters and words*
20. Shows interest in sharing writing and drawing with others*
D. Comprehension	Please put the total number of children for each skill:
1. Retell the sequence of main events in a story
2. Predict events in a story
3. Connect information in books to real life experiences
4. Show interest in reading for different purposes*
5. Asks and answers questions about the content of the book*

E. Interest in Literacy/ Motivation to Read*	Please put the total number of children for each skill:
1. Play with the sounds of language in games and songs
2. Attend to and engage in discussion about books when being read to
3. Show interest in reading-related activities
4. Attempt to read and write independently
5. Have favorite books and request re-reading of books
6. Enjoy library visits and select books by own criteria

F. Fluency*	Please put the total number of children for each skill:
1. Read own name*
2. Recognize and identify environmental print including signs and labels*

* Skills taken directly from the NY State Learning Standards

3. Program Self-Assessment
(excerpted from Building Strong Foundations in Early Learning)

Please rank your program using a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 indicating “Not At All Descriptive” of your program practice to 5 which indicates “Very Descriptive” of your program practice.

A. CONTENT PLANNING/CURRICULUM

Curriculum Please identify curriculum used:	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 Staff explicitly teaches phonological awareness skills through rhyming, categorization of sounds, and identification of syllables. On a daily basis, staff uses rhyming, poetry, music, and word play with sound clusters to build sensitivity to sounds and awareness of phonemic patterns.
2 Staff frequently makes explicit connections between speech and print, e.g., pointing out letters of the alphabet associated with sounds and speech units and taking dictation from children.
3 Staff explicitly teaches skills associated with conventions of print and literacy, e.g., book handling, following print on a page.
4 Adult-child shared book reading of quality children’s literature occurs every day. During story reading and telling, instructional approaches are used frequently to engage children in dialogue about the story and telling the story.
5 Teachers encourage children every day to talk about their experiences and to represent their ideas in stories and pictures.
7 Staff encourages direct, first hand, interactive experiences with natural and manipulative materials. The real world is the subject of learning activities. Children have the opportunity to develop concepts about the natural world, including the basic needs of living things, the differences and similarities among objects and organisms, the materials things are made of, and cycles and patterns of change.
8 Staff develops children’s understanding of key vocabulary associated with sequencing, comparisons and sorting, spatial relationships, and temporal relationships.
9 Children have the opportunities to learn the functions and properties of objects, and classify and group materials.
10 Staff provides instruction and practice in recognizing numerals, counting objects, describing and naming shapes, reproducing and extending simple patterns, using basic measurement tools, and collecting and organizing information.
11 Staff helps children develop simple investigations that involve asking questions, making observations, gathering information, drawing conclusions, and communicating findings.
12 Adults engage throughout the day in meaningful conversations with children, including conversations initiated by children. Adult speech is pleasant in tone, varied in complexity, and understood by children.
13 Vocabulary development is part of all learning activities. Staff takes advantage of routines, informal daily activities, and play opportunities to point out new words in context, and adults expand upon children’s speech.
14 Staff members exhibit respect for the home language of children. Staff may use the language in some daily conversations and include stories and materials in the home language.

Planning	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 The early childhood program has identified foundational concepts and specific skills that all children should learn. Curriculum content is designed to achieve long range goals for children. The early childhood curricular expectations are linked to elementary school standards.
2 The curriculum is organized within conceptual frameworks such as projects, units, and themes in order to provide context for abstract concepts.
3 Staff members in the early childhood program are able to describe the theoretical base from which the program operates.
4 The curriculum allows for children to work at different levels on different activities. Children are not expected to all do the same thing at the same time.

B. INSTRUCTION

Learning How to Think	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 During all types of activities, staff frequently uses open-ended questions with all children to develop children’s thinking.
2 Staff conducts and facilitates conversations among children on a daily basis, ensuring that all children have the opportunity to participate in taking turns during conversations.
3 Each day staff provides opportunities for children to ask questions and explore responses, reason and problem-solve, and use both deliberate and trial and error approaches for investigations. Staff encourages all children to participate in hands-on activities and interact with peers and adults about their observations.
Structure and Individualization	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 Each day includes some opportunities for child-initiated learning activities along with teacher-structured activities.
2 Children’s daily schedules include a mix of whole class, small group, and individual interaction with teachers.
3 Staff spends time each day observing children, including during play. Staff records observations for use in planning, and discusses observations of progress to match activities to the child’s level of development.

Literacy Environment	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 Arrangements and selection of materials engage children’s interest in exploration. Children’s work and products are displayed in the classroom.
2 The early childhood classroom has many and varied books, which are displayed attractively and are accessible to children. Writing materials are available in many different parts of the classroom.
3 The classroom contains alphabet materials, including posted letters, labels on objects in the environment, alphabet manipulatives, and alphabet books.
4 At least some reading materials have been selected for their connections to children’s linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
5 Children have access to a wide range of literacy materials within different learning centers, such as the art center, dramatic play area, and building center.
6 Staff routinely provides books and other literacy materials for use in the home environment. Staff encourages parent-child book reading in a variety of ways. Staff demonstrates ways to read with children.
7 Staff makes home visits for instructional purposes as appropriate.
8 During parent-teacher conferences, staff asks parents for their observations about their child’s language and literacy development. Staff uses the knowledge in ongoing assessment and planning.
9 The program makes available opportunities for parents to extend their own literacy learning, directly or through referrals.

C. ASSESSMENT

Assessment for Screening	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 The program has a process in place for screening and referring children for special education and other services. The process includes provisions for informing parents of the referral in advance, along with their associated rights. Parents may remain with the child during assessments.
2 Teachers know the signs of children who may be having difficulty acquiring language skills. Assessments take into account a child’s ability in English and his or her stage of native and English language acquisition.
3 Results of screening tests are not used as the sole criterion for placement into special programs.

Assessment for Individualization	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 Teachers use a variety of assessment procedures that are embedded in instruction on an ongoing basis, including observation, performance assessment, work samples and interviews.
2 Records of assessments document what children know as well as what they do not yet know. Teacher records show which children are not making adequate progress in order to ensure that attention is paid to skill development.
3 Teachers use information obtained through a variety of assessments to guide instruction and inform learning objectives.

Assessment for Planning	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 Staff and parents meet to develop instructional and other goals for children.
2 The annual review of the program includes performance data about children collected by teachers. Multiple indicators of progress are included to assess program effectiveness in meeting instructional goals.

D. EARLY CHILDHOOD STAFF

Staff Background	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 Early childhood teachers have at least baccalaureate degrees, ideally with specialization in early childhood education. At a minimum, early childhood instructional assistants are high school graduates or have equivalent credentials and have been trained in early childhood education.
2 Early childhood teachers and instructional assistants have state certification for early childhood.
3 At least some members of the staff speak the home language of the majority of the children.

Professional Development	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 All early childhood staff members (teachers and instructional assistants) have training in child development; child observation and assessment; early literacy and language acquisition, including second language acquisition; curricula, environments and materials for young children; parental involvement; cultural diversity and special needs; and working with other staff.
2 At least weekly, staff has an opportunity to discuss their observations of children’s development and seek guidance for instructional approaches.

Management	PROGRAM SELF-RATING
	1	2	3	4	5
1 During the school day, staff spends little time on tasks that do not involve children’s learning.
2 Early childhood staff members receive supervision from an early childhood specialist with at least a Masters degree in early childhood education.

4. Principles of High-Quality Practice in Early Education

While this is not an inclusive list of all of the principles of a quality preschool environment, these principles are critical to preschool programming for children in New York State Even Start Family Literacy programs. These markers can be found with greater explanation in Building Strong Foundations for Early Learning and Keys to Quality.

a) Intensity and Duration: The amount and length of time a child participates in high-quality experiences is important. The strongest program designs target 40 hours per month for 3 year olds; 60 hours per month for 4 year olds; and 20 hours per month of supplemental instruction for school-age children. In addition to hour-intensity, the length of time measured in days/months and years for participation matters most for children placed at risk of school failure; Even Start children are highly vulnerable and benefit greatly from both intense and long term high quality instruction.

b) Teachers have early childhood background and expertise: teacher’s ability to help a child learn on a daily basis is what makes the long term difference in a child’s outcomes. In New York State, all staff whose salaries are paid in whole or part with Even Start funds must meet qualifications set forth in section 1235(5)-Program Elements of the federal Even Start Family Literacy Statute as well as New York State certification requirements. Instructional staff must have an associate, bachelor or graduate degree in early childhood, elementary, secondary education or adult education (or in a field related to one of these areas) and be certified in early childhood, elementary, secondary or adult education.

c) Interactions: Children’s cognitive growth and language development are primarily influenced by the daily interactions between children and the adults (teachers and parents) who are guiding their learning opportunities.

1 Family Involvement: Early childhood teachers have the responsibility for reaching out to parents and engaging them with their children’s learning so that parents understand and assume the responsibility they have for supporting their children through the school years.

2 Pace of Development: Children enter family literacy programs with many significant differences in their cognitive, social, physical, and motor skills. The role of educators is to learn about and build upon the individual and developmental characteristics that the child brings to the learning situation.

3 High Quality Programming for Children: Children who may not be as advanced as their age peers in some areas of development are likely to benefit most from high-quality preschool experiences. It is especially important that children who enter family literacy programs have access to quality early childhood education that provides appropriate learning experiences that address the language, intellectual, motor and social-emotional domains of development.

4 Continuity: Children (and families) thrive in stable relationships with adults who know and care for them. The strongest programs keep staff turnover to a minimum, employ staffing patterns that keep primary teachers with the same children over several years, use a team approach, and try to keep the peer group stable over time.

5 Quality Resources: High-quality early childhood programming including elements such as teaching expertise, small groupings low ratios, materials to support instruction, continued professional development is worth the investment in terms of its promise of school success.

5. Rubric: Curriculum, instruction and assessment

The rubric provides some of the important markers for thinking about curriculum, instruction and assessment. The markers chosen provide a framework to help programs evaluate and design high quality preschool practice.

Curriculum: A set of intended learning outcomes based on child learning theory and program standards

LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE
Elements:	Unsatisfactory	Basic	Proficient	Distinguished
Quality of Curriculum	There is no curriculum or the curriculum does not support foundational concepts for language, reading, math, and/or science.	The intent of the curriculum is limited, with some elements to support foundational concepts for language, reading, math, and/or science.	Curriculum supports foundational concepts for language, reading, math and/or science.	Curricular goals are explicit and support foundational concepts for language, reading, math, and/or science. Content is planned using conceptual frameworks such as projects, units, and themes to provide context for abstract concepts. Curriculum allows for learning of higher order thinking skills.
Comments:
Links to Assessment and Instruction	There is no apparent link across curriculum, instruction and assessment.	The curriculum is developed in short-term increments with weak linkages to long-term learning objectives, instruction and/or assessment.	Some aspects of curriculum content are linked to assessment and instruction, but the relationships are not always systematic.	Curriculum content is designed to achieve long range goals for children, is guided by assessment, and informs instruction in a systematic and identifiable way.
Comments:
Format and Availability	No written curriculum is evident.	Curriculum is in a written format, which some staff access for planning instruction.	Staff members have limited understanding of the theoretical base of the written curriculum but all can describe the content and use the curriculum for planning instruction.	In addition to using curriculum and scientifically-based research for planning instruction, all staff members are able to describe the content, theoretical base, and specific skills children should learn.
Comments:

Instruction: Teaching with Effective and Research-Based Strategies

LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE
Elements:	Unsatisfactory	Basic	Proficient	Distinguished
Use of Instructional Strategies	There is no consistent set of instructional strategies used by staff to guide program practice.	Staff uses a variety of instructional strategies, but not with intention or understanding.	Staff uses a variety of instructional strategies, with intentionality and understanding of the theoretical base.	Staff use a variety of instructional strategies, with intentionality and understanding of the theoretical base, and are able to reflect on and analyze effectiveness.
Comments:
Differentiated Instruction	Staff does not use instructional approaches to match individual child’s needs.	Staff uses a variety of instructional approaches, but do not intentionally match the approach to individual child’s needs.	Staff uses a variety of instructional approaches that match individual child’s needs using flexible groupings to achieve outcomes.	Staff uses a variety of instructional approaches that match individual child’s needs, using flexible groupings to achieve outcomes and scaffolding content effectively with individual children.
Comments:
Instructional Cycle: direct teaching, practice, and feedback	Program relies on providing activities with no direct teaching, practice, or feedback evident.	Program activities allow for individual elements of the instructional cycle, but not in a systematic way. Teacher randomly uses the elements with little to no apparent links.	Program provides direct teaching, practice, and feedback when providing instruction in a systematic (sequential) approach. There is some evidence of the cycle in daily practice.	Program provides direct teaching, practice, and feedback when providing instruction; that instructional cycle is consistently linked to assessment. There is relatively consistent evidence of cycle; teacher can address what learning was intended and outcomes achieved for specific children.
Comments:
Learning Environment	Environment does not support instruction and learning.	Access to learning materials and space is limited; the environment meets minimum standards for safety.	Learning materials and space are always available; space and materials encourage language and literacy development.	Learning materials are easy to access and in good condition; the environment invites exploration, space is consistently available and encourages learning.
Comments:

Assessment: Evaluating the effectiveness of instruction in meeting learning objectives

LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE
Elements:	Unsatisfactory	Basic	Proficient	Distinguished
Choice of Assessment (including formal and informal)	Only mandated assessment is given.	A singular assessment (beyond the mandated assessment) is chosen for all children regardless of age, culture, language, and/or developmental factors. The assessment provides limited information about language and literacy benchmarks.	The program has identified some appropriate assessments (beyond the mandated assessment) for progress monitoring. Some, but not all, cognitive, language and literacy benchmarks are assessed.	All assessments are chosen with consideration to age, development, culture; assessments address progress and achievement in all learning domains with appropriate measures for cognitive, language and literacy benchmarks that align with state learning standards.
Comments:

LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE
Elements:	Unsatisfactory	Basic		Proficient		Distinguished
Use of Assessment	Assessment results are not used.	Assessment results are consulted occasionally, but not used to plan instruction.		Most staff members use the results of assessments on an ongoing basis to inform their own instructional planning and learning objectives.		Assessments are used systematically to guide instruction and inform learning objectives (i.e., for understanding what a child knows and can do, where to go next). All assessment results are integrated and revisited routinely by program leadership. Assessments are used to monitor progress and plan instruction for each child.
Comments:
Administration of Assessment	No staff training in administration of mandated assessment.		Staff is only trained to give assessment to meet performance indicator requirements.		Staff is trained to administer multiple formal assessments that are completed at specific points in time, are tabulated and analyzed at least twice a year.		Staff is trained to administer on-going, assessments using informal and formal instruments throughout the program year. The assessments are tabulated, analyzed and reviewed for immediate application in planning instruction and for defining gaps, trends, strengths and weaknesses in program design and practice.
Comments:

6. Key Elements to Consider in Choosing Pre-School Curriculum: USDE

The United States Department of Education is currently overseeing a study to determine the effectiveness of a number of preschool curriculums; the results of this study are not scheduled to be completed for a few years. In the interim period, the Department has offered some guidance regarding the selection of curriculum. An initial requirement for choosing any curriculum is that it has content, scope and sequence. In addition, the following key elements and indicators should be considered in selecting/designing curriculum for language and early reading:

Language and Literacy Goals: Curriculum identifies specific language and early reading goals in each key concept area (oral language, background knowledge, phonological awareness, print awareness and alphabet knowledge.)

Phonological Awareness Skills: Curriculum addresses PA skills in the prescribed sequence (listening, rhyming, alliteration, sentence segmenting, syllable blending and segmenting, onset-rime blending and segmenting, phonemes)

Print Knowledge: Curriculum guides teachers in developing children’s print knowledge (e.g. title, author, illustrator through high quality children’s literature in narrative and informative books; book handling; directional orientation; print conventions; letters and words).

Alphabet Knowledge: Curriculum guides teachers in providing instruction that moves from easier to more difficult alphabet letter naming activities (e.g. saying/singing letter names, naming letters, producing letters, associating letters with pictures and words, associating letters with individual sounds). All letters are addressed.

Oral Language: Curriculum guides teachers in the explicit teaching of oral language skills, including vocabulary words. Vocabulary words are identified with sufficient frequency such that children will learn, on average, 3 new words per day.

Background Knowledge: Curriculum guides teachers in how to provide opportunities for children to acquire vocabulary and information about the world. Activities are provided around “powerful” topics for the children’s investigation, topics should help children understand their world.

Instructional Design Features:

ü provide multiple learning opportunities/activities that are appropriate for young children using large/small groups, play/ center activities, etc.;

ü guide teachers how to provide explicit instruction in each of the key concepts in a variety of contexts through meaningful learning opportunities;

ü guide teachers in how to engage in the ongoing assessment of children’s development in each of the key concepts;

ü provide suggestions for additional instruction for children needing support;

ü are clearly aligned with state standards;

ü detail how daily language and early reading “fits” into weekly and monthly instructional plan; and

ü clearly describe how teachers move instruction from their explicit teaching to children independently practicing to children knowing.