![]() PLEASANT AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT – PRE-K COUNTS RUFFSDALE/SOUTHMORELAND SCHOOL DISTRICT – HEAD STARTħ2 ext. PENN TRAFFORD SCHOOL DISTRICT – HEAD START GREENSBURG/HEMPFIELD AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT – HEAD START Locations of Head Start and Pre-k Counts classrooms: BELLE VERNON – HEAD START To qualify for these programs, families must be residents of Westmoreland County, have children 0-5 years of age and must meet income guidelines. These programs support parent and family engagement, optimal child growth and development, and school readiness. Our Early Childhood programs for children, birth to 5, include Head Start, Early Head Start and Pre-K Counts. A well-aligned, written curriculum is the foundational structure to ensure that every student who walks through our doors has the opportunity to achieve success within our walls and beyond.Įnsure your curriculum is reflective of learning at your school with unit planning template examples.The program is FREE and applications can be completed year round. I would argue that of greater importance is the moral imperative to provide equitable access to learning for all students. In the United States, there is a legal mandate to offer a free and appropriate education to all school-aged students. By changing the opportunity structure to include equal access to the school curriculum, schools essentially level the playing field for those students whose achievement would otherwise be measured by their economic status. The primary objective of deep curriculum alignment is to change the opportunity structure that continually favors those students in schools who are fortunate enough to belong to a particular cultural subset. She found that after only one year of using a strongly aligned curriculum for third grade students, a 6-point NCE gain was obtained on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and there was no statistical difference when student scores were analyzed for socio-economic status. Moss-Mitchell’s 1998 research in DeKalb County, Georgia confirmed the importance of a viable, aligned curriculum. Without a written and aligned curriculum, the four variables that will determine student achievement are: a) the education of the parents, b) the number of parents in the household, c) the type of community, and d) the poverty rate (Robinson & Brandon, 1994). Without a written school curriculum, this type of cultural capital becomes the determining factor between success and failure in educational systems. Spark inspiration for next-level curriculum design with curriculum map examples from schools and districts across the world.Įxplore the curriculum template library > Overcoming Barriers to Success Template Examples for Designing Your Curriculum Map English’s grandchildren will have a serious advantage over less fortunate children when they discuss astronomy and space exploration in science class or read a non-fiction passage about the lunar space module. What an advantage to be able to purchase background knowledge. ![]() For many other families the price of entrance would have been prohibitive. This story resonates with me because for this family it was a surprise, but not out of the question, to pay the fee. Her response, “You are going to get out your credit card, pay for the entrance fee, and take your family to NASA like you promised.” He turned to his wife and asked what he should do. ![]() A quick calculation led to the realization that this was going to cost him about $300. Upon arriving at their destination, English discovered that there was an entrance fee upwards of $15 a person. As the story is told, English had his children and grandchildren gathered for a visit to the NASA complex in Houston, Texas to see the space shuttle and other NASA artifacts. When I think about school curriculum, I am always reminded of a story about Fenwick English, the curriculum “guru” and author of several books detailing the importance of aligned curriculum. And, above all, it must provide equity, ensuring that every student has access to the curriculum. It must provide connections to reinforce complex learning that leads to mastery within and across grade levels. School curriculum must provide focus to identify what is essential and significant for student learning. However, if the standard of belief is that all children can and will learn, and the content of that learning impacts life-long opportunities, then a written set of learning objectives is not only essential, it is imperative. If it doesn’t matter whether or not all children learn if any learning is an acceptable measure of learning, then no written set of learning objectives is needed. By Stacy Winslow, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Derry Township School District
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