 |
High-quality early care and education have been associated with both short- and long-term cognitive, social and emotional benefits for young children’s development.
Publicly funded preschool programs, such as Head Start, have been shown to affect different aspects of children’s cognitive, social and emotional development. Results of short-term preschool studies (e.g. Head Start Impact Study and Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey) have found growth in children in areas such as literacy skills, vocabulary, early writing skills, social skills, and reduced behaviour problems. Benefits for families include access to health care and, reduced use of physical discipline.
Evaluative program studies (e.g. High/Scope Perry Preschool Study, Carolina Abecedarian Study, Chicago Longitudinal Study) have found a variety of important positive long-lasting effects on participants, including intellectual abilities, school achievement and commitment, high school graduation, college attendance and grade retention. Adult earning levels, as well as employment rates, special services placement, teen parenthood and juvenile arrests, have also registered long-term improvements. These studies also have demonstrated substantial economic return on investment – up to $17.07 per dollar invested.
Curriculum (the content of what is taught and what is learned), which has been studied empirically, is a critical component of preschool programs. Theories of child development have served as the principal foundation for curriculum model development. Variations among curriculum models reflect differences in values concerning what is more or less important for young children to learn, as well as differences in the process by which children are believed to learn and develop. These variations inform the role of teachers, the curriculum’s focus, the classroom structure and ways in which children participate in learning.
Early childhood curriculum models also vary in terms of the freedom granted to teachers to interpret how the model’s framework is implemented. Some curriculum models are highly structured and provide detailed scripts for teacher behaviours. Others emphasize guiding principles and expect teachers to determine how best to implement these principles. Curriculum models, regardless of their goals and the degree of flexibility in their implementation, are designed to promote uniformity across early childhood programs through the use of a prepared curriculum, consistent instructional techniques and predictable child outcomes.
Each curriculum model has significantly different effects on children. Child results are contingent not only on the curriculum, but also on children’s temperament, family background, social class, cultural traditions and the qualifications and qualities of the classroom teacher.
See also...
|
|