Build community-wide foundations before implementation through knowledge exchanges and planning meetings across sites¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Before implementation, project staff engaged pre-K and kindergarten teachers and administrators across the community in a series of knowledge exchanges and planning meetings, which the report says "provided an important foundation for im plementation across grades and schools." Teachers reported the community-wide focus was unique and central to their engagement, having previously had limited to no opportunity to engage with educators outside their sites. This strategy addresses the isolation that otherwise blocks cross-grade alignment.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Convening teachers and administrators across all schools and early childhood centers serving the community's pre-K and kindergarten students

Constraints¶

• Philosophical and structural differences across settings (school-based vs. center-based pre-K; neighborhood vs. charter elementary schools) and curricular differences posed barriers to consistent implementation

Target Learners¶

• pre-K and kindergarten educators across a community's schools and early childhood centers

Target Learning Goals¶

• creating alignment between pre-K and kindergarten teaching and expectations

Related Strategies¶

• Form design teams by building trust and relationships and prioritizing meaningful representation before project kick-off.
• Implementation-phase supports: staff engagement, communication and action plans, thought partnership, and self-assessment rubrics

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Spain, A.K., Ehrlich, S.B., Cowhy, J.R., Dasgupta, D.K., & Lockaby, T. (2018). A community effort to support the transition from pre-K to kindergarten. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/community-effort-support-transition-pre-k-kindergarten