Category: Education Kindergarten

More kindergartners, families will benefit from pilot expansion

Riko Dwianto, 19/09/2024

A pilot has expanded to nearly double the number of schools in BC, providing more families with access to affordable early learning and child care, before and after school, conveniently located in the kindergarten classroom.

“Adding more Seamless classrooms means providing continuity for more BC kids and peace of mind to more BC parents,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care. “To have kindergarteners learning and receiving before- and after-school care all in one place makes days easier for everyone.”

Seamless Day Kindergarten integrates before- and after-school care into the kindergarten classroom, delivered by certified early childhood educators (ECEs) who work alongside the classroom teacher. The program makes the best use of available school space, existing classrooms, outdoors, school gyms and libraries outside of school hours.

“We know many families continue to need child care once their children start school,” said Grace Lore, Minister of State for Child Care. “The Seamless Day Kindergarten classroom offers child care before and after school and will make it easier for busy families to get through their workday knowing their children are learning and well cared for at school.”

The province’s first Seamless Day Kindergarten pilot began at Oliver Elementary in the

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Lower Merion approves full-day kindergarten for 2024-2025 school year

Riko Dwianto, 04/09/2024

LOWER MERION — After years of parents asking for it, Lower Merion School District officials have approved a plan for full-day kindergarten.

But, school district officials say that full-time kindergarten will come at a cost.

During its December board meeting, the Lower Merion Board of School Directors voted for the district to move forward with the full-day kindergarten beginning in the fall of 2024.

Before the board’s vote, Superintendent Steven Yanni outlined some of the issues connected with the district’s change to full-day kindergarten.

Among the changes Yanni mentioned was the need for increased revenue from taxpayers.

“There is no way to bring in full-day kindergarten and the number of staff we need to bring without that tax increase,” Yanni said.

Yanni said they are projecting an approximately $400 tax increase for a medium-valued home to pay for the full-day kindergarten.

One thing that is expected to stay the same, according to Yanni, is class size.

“We may see an additional student or two in classrooms, and that’s going to allow us to naturally create capacity to reroute positions to full-day kindergarten,” Yanni said.

Yanni said all the new kindergarten positions will not be new, so they plan on surveying

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MNPS launches innovative reading program for kindergarten students

Riko Dwianto, 28/08/2024

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) has joined forces with a leading tutoring company, Once Early-Reading Program, and Stanford University. The collaborative effort is geared towards equipping kindergarten students with the essential skills to become professional readers from an early age.

Warner Elementary School is full of activities, as kindergarteners are learning how to read.

The school has embarked on a mission to ensure that its young students not only read aloud in the classroom but also receive personalized, one-on-one instruction.

Asjah Hall, a paraprofessional at Warner Elementary, stresses the significance of individualized attention.

“We sat down with them for about 15 minutes, going through letter sounds and gradually combining them to form words. Our goal is to progress to reading full sentences and paragraphs as the program unfolds,” she said.

The unique program, set to run throughout the 2023-2024 school year, is a joint venture between MNPS, Once Early-Reading Program, and Stanford University.

The initiative not only seeks to provide kindergarten students with a head start in their reading journey but also includes a randomized controlled research study to evaluate the efficacy of personalized tutoring.

Matt Pasternack, CEO of Once, liked the research study to conducted

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‘Love and patience get tested’: Preschool educators on hiring processes and their challenges at work

Riko Dwianto, 27/08/2024

TIGHT ON TIME AND LABOR

Preschool teachers described the toll taken by the long hours and heavy workload that included not just lessons, but unseen preparation and administrative work.

Star Learners’ Ms Chen said the demand for early childhood educators “significantly surpasses” the available supply of qualified applicants.

The school’s centers are thoroughly staffed, but “short-term staffing gaps” appear from time to time, she said. These are filled by relief teachers. The school also offers internships and practicums, and participates in career conversion programs.

The retired preschool teacher said that the staffing situation has already improved from the past, recalling that 10 years ago, the ratio was two teachers to almost 30 nursery students.

But others may still find the situation untenable.

The former MindChamps teacher left in 2020 after three years on the job, when the stress started spilling over into her personal life and she found herself getting “very irritable, exhausted and sick most of the time”.

“Preschool teachers are overworked, lowly paid and put under so much pressure,” said the former teacher, who has left the sector entirely.

“Everyone joins the industry with love and patience, but it really gets tested throughout. I think it’s not something

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Portland preschool teacher breaks the mold of early childhood education

Riko Dwianto, 18/08/2024

Outside the Sunshine Center in North Portland’s Overlook neighborhood, the sounds of children playing, laughing and singing greet visitors. Inside the preschool and child care center, you’ll find founder Troy Tate.

A Black male teacher, Tate is a rarity in Oregon early childhood education, where the vast majority of professionals are white women.

As families across Oregon prepare this month to send their children back to school, Tate said he is aware he is offering something unique.

“It’s not better or worse, just different,” Tate said. “Most students aren’t going to have a Black male teacher this early in their academic career – some not at all.”

In 2022, roughly 92% of Oregon early education professionals were women, and 75% identified as white, according to a survey of the state’s early childhood care providers. That doesn’t match Oregon’s overall student population. According to the National Council on Teacher Quality, 40% of pre-K through 12th grade students are children of color compared with 15% of all teachers.

When Tate opened the school in 2010, he said some people were appreciative about sending their children to the Sunshine Center because of their gender and race.

“I hired a white woman, and I

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Post 5: Racial Differences in Educational Experiences and Attainment

Riko Dwianto, 03/08/2024

This is the fifth installment in a series of blog posts on racial inequality produced by the Office of Economic Policy. The other posts can be found at these links: 1. Racial Inequality in the United States, 2. Racial Differences in Economic Security: The Racial Wealth Gap, 3. Racial Differences in Economic Security: Housing, 4. Racial Differences in Economic Security: Non-housing Assets

Introduction

Free public primary and secondary education in the United States was established to ensure that all Americans have access to educational opportunity and are equipped to fully participate in our democracy. However, laws banning enslaved people from being taught to read, exclusionary Jim Crow laws, and the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson entrenched racial segregation of public schools in the South, and, while not mandated by law, a de facto system of segregation became commonplace in Northern states at the same time. These systems were used to deprive people of color of the educational resources required to prosper in society throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Nearly 70 years after the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that ended legal school segregation, substantial racial disparities in educational opportunity and attainment still exist.

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LAUSD makes big expansion in education of its smallest students – Daily News

Riko Dwianto, 30/07/2024

The Los Angeles Unified School District is pushing the gas pedal on its expansion of transitional kindergarten, and will offer the program to all four-year-olds this fall, two years ahead of the state’s mandate that school districts must do so.

The expansion seeks to better prepare all children for school and life, but especially low-income children, English language learners, and children with disabilities. Research shows that children who attend school before kindergarten are more likely to take honors classes and less likely to repeat a grade or drop out of school.

“Why wait two years to empower students with early literacy, early numeracy, earlier socialization … when we can do it now?” said LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, unveiling the plan at Van Deene Avenue Elementary STEAM Academy in the Harbor Gateway. “It’s literally an early start for students who absolutely need the normalcy, the routine and the early attention.”

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho is joined by California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond to unveil a plan that expands Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) programs across the school district during a speech at Van Deene Avenue Elementary STEAM Academy in Torrance on Friday , May 26, 2023.

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California Charter Schools Exempt From Universal Preschool Requirement

Riko Dwianto, 26/07/2024

By fall 2025, every 4-year-old will be eligible for a free preschool program at California public schools, but charter schools are exempt from the mandate.

For close to a decade, transitional kindergarten was only available to students with birthdays in certain months. Charter schools have never been required to offer the early learning program, but hundreds have opted to enroll younger students.

“A lot of those who offer kindergarten already see it as an opportunity to get students into school earlier,” said Ricardo Soto, chief advocacy officer and general counsel at the California Charter Schools Association.

As part of California’s push to create free, universal preschool, school districts must expand their transitional kindergarten program to every 4-year-old in the state by the 2025-2026 school year. In the academic year that starts this fall, students who turn 5 between Sept. 2 and April 2 can enroll, although some districts are offering the program to more kids ahead of schedule.

A CCSA analysis found that 11% of students

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United Way childhood program prepares kids for kindergarten

Riko Dwianto, 23/07/2024

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Campbell Park Network for Early Learning is strengthening United Way’s Quality Childhood Initiative. A partnership with a childcare provider in St. Petersburg means she is able to expand services.

What You Need To Know

Retmus Academy of Learning opens a second location thanks to the partnership with United Way

United Way’s Quality Childhood Initiative is helping preschoolers prepare for kindergarten

The Campbell Park Network for Early Learning focuses on increasing kindergarten readiness of children who live in the Campbell Park area

Cynthia Sumter-Scott is director and owner of Retmus Academy of Learning. Sumter-Scott first started providing daycare at home and opened a facility in St. Petersburg after partnering with United Way. She’s now preparing to open a second location in February.

“Parents are calling every day. ‘When are you going to open?’ I’m trying, I’m trying,” said Sumter-Scott.

She said she recognizes many parents are not only struggling to find childcare, but are also struggling to afford it. On top of that, the expiration of federal relief funds has forced other facilities to fold.

“The cost of living is going up so high, I’m trying to keep my childcare fees down where they can afford it,”

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Shenendehowa School District moves to full-day kindergarten

Riko Dwianto, 15/07/2024

The Shenendehowa Central School District is making some upgrades to its kindergarten classrooms.

In Ms. Alison Luke’s kindergarten class, they’re working on two very important skills: writing and spelling. Ms. Luke has been teaching young kids for over 15 years and he loves that every day is a new day.

“Every day, the kids come in with smiles on their faces and ready to learn new things,” said Luke, a teacher at Shatekon Elementary School.

What You Need To Know

Right now, in the Shenendehowa Central School District, kindergarten is only a half day but that will change once the district finishes building their new ‘Early Learning Center.’

It’s a new building that will take kindergarten classes like this one from elementary schools around the district and put them in one centralized building

Upgrading from half, to full day kindergarten

Right now, in the Shenendehowa Central School District, kindergarten is only a half day but that will be changing once the district finishes building their new “Early Learning Center.”

It’s a new building that will take kindergarten classes like this one from elementary schools around the district and put them in one centralized building, upgrading from half to full-day kindergarten.

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