Early Learning Curriculum Research Articles

Supporting SEL in childcare centers with curriculum enrichment and an adapted professional development model

American children need access to high-quality early education. One limiting factor is the lack of professional development for the childcare workforce. This study examined the impact of a professional development model designed for teachers working with preschool children in childcare settings. Intervention included an evidence-based early learning curriculum focused on social-emotional learning and early literacy. Center directors were trained to serve as program coaches. Childcare centers with classrooms serving preschool children were recruited from ten counties in [state blinded for review] characterized by concentrated population-level poverty and randomized to intervention and control groups. Teachers and directors showed high levels of intervention engagement and good program implementation. Pre- to post-test comparisons of the intervention and control groups revealed that the intervention promoted responsive teaching practices, emotion coaching, enriched language use, and improved instructional quality. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.

Preschool Teachers' Opinions About Second Step Early Learning Curriculum

Children's problem behaviour in the preschool period is a severe obstacle to social-emotional development and a precondition for maladjustment in social relationships during school life. Professionals in the field have been improving existing practices to prevent and intervene in young children's challenging behaviour. To this end, many social-emotional learning curriculums are developed and put into practice. One curriculum that supports children's social-emotional learning during the preschool period is the Second Step Early Learning. The present study looked into the practical experiences of preschool teachers implementing the second step social-emotional learning curriculum. The study group consists of 13 preschool teachers who have received educator training in this learning curriculum and implemented it at schools. The teachers were asked questions about the curriculum's general qualities, its effects on the children's development levels, and their professional development. According to the study results, all teachers stated that the second step curriculum positively contributed to children's emotional and behavioural reactions. It helped them in class management and implementation, such behaviour as having confidence, asking for help, taking responsibility, and taking responsibility-sharing improved. In addition, expressing that they observed differences in hindering anger and in-class problem-solving processes, teachers emphasised that the children were more understanding and polite to each other, especially in free-time activities. Their interaction was healthier than before, and their listening and attention spans increased. Overall, the findings show preschool teachers' experience in implementation. They recommended the curriculum to their colleagues, claiming that it contributed to their professional development.

Anesthesiology Handoff Simulation Case: A Handoff From Intensive Care Unit to Operating Room for Anesthesiology Learners.

Handoffs have been shown to be a potential cause of communication failures, leading to possible inefficiencies and patient harm. We noticed that our CA-1 residents were struggling with patient handoffs and designed this simulation to improve their handoff skills. This anesthesiology-specific simulation introduced learners to the perioperative handoff process. We designed it for anesthesiology learners, including junior residents, medical students, and student nurse anesthetists. The simulation centered upon an anesthesiology resident taking care of an ICU patient and handing that patient off to another anesthesiology provider, who took the patient to the OR. We charged learners with reviewing the patient's history and hospital course and giving a complete handoff. We evaluated learners on the completeness and quality of the handoff, as well as on their performance during the session. Twenty-seven learners participated in this handoff simulation. The participants reported that the simulation improved their understanding of the anesthetic implications of medical conditions and gave them a better understanding of the essential elements of a handoff. Learners also indicated that the debriefing portion of the simulation was effective in filling some of their medical knowledge gaps and improving their handoff skills. This simulation was found to be an effective educational experience for our CA-1 and CA-3 residents, medical students, and student nurse anesthetists. Feedback was positive from all learners. As a result, this simulation will be implemented in the early learning curriculum for all of our CA-1 residents.

Spiritual Formation Parallels to Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum: A Contextual Analysis of ‘Frog Street Curriculum’

ABSTRACTSocial-emotional learning skills are desirable for healthy child development just as literacy and mathematical skills are desirable for academic development. Because three-year-old children are expected to participate in socially acceptable behaviour in society, many faith-based early learning centres use a curriculum that provides social-emotional learning skills. ‘Frog Street’ is an early learning curriculum that focuses on five learning domains: physical development, cognitive development, language development, approaches to learning, and social-emotional development. The portion of the curriculum devoted to social-emotional is based on ‘Conscious Discipline’ which is a programme that develops social and emotional intelligence. While neither ‘Conscious Discipline’ nor ‘Frog Street’ was designed to promote Christian spiritual formation in young children, the social-emotional component of Frog Street, built from Conscious Discipline, can allow teachers in faith-based early learning centres, who choose to do so, to incorporate elements of Christian spiritual formation alongside the impartation of social-emotional skills.

Exploring early childhood educators’ notions about professionalism in Prince Edward Island

Despite policy changes in a growing number of countries to increase the quality of early years education through the introduction of national curricular frameworks, conceptualizations of early childhood professionals remain distinctly variegated. Early learning curriculum frameworks have become embedded into the 21st-century early learning movement, creating a shift in professional deliverables and system expectations. This study explores how early childhood educators (ECEs) in Prince Edward Island (PEI) understand the concept of professionalism in their everyday practice. The researchers used qualitative methodology and a variety of methods, including workshops, interviews, and field notes, to gain insight into how ECEs understand professionalism. The data was analyzed through thematic analysis and understood through the lens of sociocultural theories of learning that embrace communities of practice as a positive way to promote professional learning. Primary findings explore (1) how ECEs understand professionalism in PEI, (2) positive and negative impacts on their understanding of professionalism in their daily practice, and (3) professional development opportunities that impact professionalism in the early childhood field.

Pathways to Kindergarten Readiness: The Roles of Second Step Early Learning Curriculum and Social Emotional, Executive Functioning, Preschool Academic and Task Behavior Skills.

Efforts to improve the achievement gap between low-income children and their more affluent peers has led to the development of classroom interventions and curricula to increase executive functioning (EF) and social-emotional skills (SE), thought to be foundational for learning. The Second Step Early Learning (SSEL) curriculum is a commercially available curriculum designed to improve school readiness by building EF and SE skills. However, although widely used, it has not been widely studied. Modeling SSEL’s underlying theory of change, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to longitudinally examine the effects of the curriculum on low-income preschool children’s kindergarten school readiness through the hypothesized mediating role of EF and SE skills in improving pre-academic skills and task behavior in preschool. In a cluster randomized trial, 972 children attending 63 preschool classrooms within 13 low-income Head Start or community preschools were individually tested at the beginning (T1) and end of preschool (T2, n = 836) and followed into kindergarten. Children’s average age at T1 was 53 months, with 51% male, 42% Anglo-American, 26% African–American, and 40% Hispanic-American. Children’s EF, social skills, pre-literacy/language, and pre-math skills were assessed by trained child assessors blind to study conditions at T1 and T2. Assessors also rated children’s task behavior in the testing situation at T1 and T2. School records of children’s kindergarten screening scores were obtained on 345 children at T3. It was expected that SSEL would have both direct and indirect effects on kindergarten readiness through improvements in children’s SE and EF skills preschool academic skills and on-task behavior. We found no direct effects of SSEL on either pre-academic or on-task behavior outcomes in preschool, nor on later kindergarten readiness. However, SSEL significantly increased EF, and as expected by SSEL’s theory of change, growth in EF predicted gains in both pre-academics (particularly pre-math), and on-task behavior in preschool. End-of-year pre-academic skills and on task behavior in turn predicted better kindergarten readiness. Further, SE (although not impacted by SSEL) had direct and indirect effects on kindergarten readiness. Thus, overall, our findings largely support SSEL’s theory of change, particularly in relation to EF.

Give Them Time – an analysis of school readiness in Ireland's early education system: a Steiner Waldorf Perspective

This paper examines a Steiner Waldorf Perspective to School Readiness and applies that international ideology to educational practice and curriculum policy in modern Ireland. The case for a later school start is championed with strong arguments underpinning the reasons why a later start is better in the long run for children's formal learning capacity and enthusiasm. Current primary school curriculums for the early years are also analysed and catalogued against Steiner philosophical best practice in early learning to promote a child-centred early learning curriculum within the Irish primary educational system.

An Examination of International Early Childhood Curriculum Documents

This review explored early childhood curriculum documents produced in 17 countries and five Canadian provinces between 1996 and 2011. The review forms the foundation for the creation of a meaningful, pedagogical tool that could inform the early childhood research community, front line educators and policy/decision–makers. By comparing the vision and guidelines of early learning curriculum documents as articulated by early childhood leaders in various jurisdictions, stakeholders can identify similarities and highlight gaps.

The Accuracy of Teacher’s Predictions on Children’s Learning Performance

The present study is designed to investigate the possibility that teachers could accurately evaluate students’ learning progress without following formal testing procedures. During the experimental period, a battery of criterion-referenced tests developed for an individualized early learning curriculum was administered to each child on a biweekly schedule by research assistants. Teachers were asked to predict in advance each child’s performance on these tests. The results clearly indicate the variability in the accuracy of teacher’s informal observations for evaluating and diagnosing student learning needs. The accuracy of teacher’s predictions and implications for formulating the teacher’s role in evaluating student’s learning progress under an individualized early learning program are discussed.

Psychometric Studies in the Validation of an Early Learning Curriculum

WANG, MARGARET C. Psychometric Studies in the Validation of an Early Learning Curriculum. CmLD DEVELOPMENT, 1973, 44, 54-60. Several studies of hypothesized hierarchies of early mathematics skills are discussed. These studies employed scaling and other psychometric methods for assessing hierarchical relations among learning objectives. Methodological issues in validating branching hierarchies are discussed, with particular reference to tests of disjunctive branchesinstances in which learning either of 2 simpler objectives is sufficient for acquiring a more complex objective. The use of validated hierarchies in the construction of criterion-referenced placement and diagnostic test batteries are considered.

Psychometric Studies in the Validation of an Early Learning Curriculum

Psychometric Studies in the Validation of an Early Learning Curriculum