Abstract
<p>Many states have adopted the Common Core Standards for literacy and math and have begun enacting these standards in school curriculum. In states where these standards have been adopted, professional educators working in K-12 contexts have been working to create transition plans from existing state-based standards to the Common Core standards. A part of this process has included re-aligning professional development models to support implementation of these new standards. While K-12 professional educators have been hard at work in this changeover, little attention has been paid to early childhood contexts and the need of pre-school curriculum to support learners in moving toward new kindergarten goals in the Common Core.</p><p>This study examines the alignment between an existent professional development model for preschool literacy widely employed in one Southern state and the new Common Core Standards. The researcher’s goal was to examine the existent professional development model to determine if the offered curriculum supported teachers in supporting learners’ knowledge and skills expected in a kindergarten classroom preparing students for the common core. The researchers sought to determine where the curriculum supported learners in this new standards environment as well as to recommend revising the professional development content as necessary in light of the new standards. The overarching goal of the study was to support preschool teachers’ abilities to prepare their students for the new expectations for school-based literacy.</p>
Highlights
The Common Core Standards reflect a change in the state’s curriculum to focus more on relevancy and real-world applications of literacy and less on discrete skills-based instruction
This study examines the alignment between an existent professional development model for preschool literacy widely employed in one Southern state and the new Common Core Standards
The primary focus of this study was on the impact an existent professional development curriculum had on preschool teachers’ perceptions of their ability to support their learners in meeting the new Common Core Kindergarten literacy standards
Summary
The Common Core Standards reflect a change in the state’s curriculum to focus more on relevancy and real-world applications of literacy and less on discrete skills-based instruction. Of concern to the researchers of this study was the alignment of the new Common Core State Standards with existing preschool literacy professional development practices. The state where this study occurred has a well-developed and robust preschool literacy curriculum and assessment model; the researchers questioned how well that curriculum would prepare young learners to enter classrooms implementing the new Common Core standards. Both researchers are licensed educators with experience in early childhood classrooms and with extensive backgrounds in early childhood literacy development. The concerns shared by the researchers led them to develop the following research questions for the purposes of this study:
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