A Closer Look at FirstSchool’s PreK-3rd Grade Approach

The September/October 2013 edition of Principal Magazine, a publication of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, spotlights early learning in the context of aligning pre-kindergarten with the early grades. It includes two pieces, “Bright and Early” and “The Power of Pre-K” which focus, respectively, on the theory and practice of FirstSchool, an initiative established by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The model champions seamless PreK – 3^rd grade education and emphasizes improving early educational opportunities for minority and low-income children. The FirstSchool model has been implemented in several school districts in North Carolina and Michigan.

In “Bright and Early,” Sam Oertwig and Sharon Ritchie of FirstSchool explain their research that finds children experience very different types of play and instruction in pre-K as compared to the early grades. In pre-K, children are offered more opportunities for choice activities, in which they are able to select with whom and what they play. In the K-3rd grades, children spend most of their time in whole-group instruction. The FirstSchool model encourages principals to support early grade teachers in striking a balance between choice and instruction, and to vary their instruction to ensure they are teaching in the ways that young children learn best. The FirstSchool framework includes an emphasis on a culture of caring, competence, and excellence. FirstSchool staff provides teachers with research-based practices for creating strong learning environments that emphasizes these principles. Additionally, FirstSchool uses two observational tools, Snapshot and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) (which are explained in more detail in a paper written by New America’s Lisa Guernsey and co-author Susan Ochshorn), to help teachers better understand how they are spending time in the classroom and the types of instruction they rely on (whole-class vs. small-group, direct instruction vs. more cooperative learning, etc.) and to use that information to make changes to improve student learning. According to Oertwig and Ritchie, for an environment of “continuous improvement and a culture of collaborative inquiry” to be successful, strong principal leadership is key.

“The Power of Pre-K” is a firsthand account of an implementation of the FirstSchool model at Gier Park Elementary in Lansing, Michigan. Rebecca Stephens, principal at Gier Park and author of the article, says she always had an understanding of the importance of early childhood education. Stephens explains that “publicly funded pre-kindergarten came at a time when we were seeing a decrease in student achievement” and as part of the alignment of pre-K into the school, in 2011, she volunteered to participate in The FirstSchool project. FirstSchool partnered with three school districts in Michigan to implement its model.

After two years of taking part in the program, Stephens recalls the challenges and successes of integrating pre-K into the K-3 program. Stephens writes:

Even though research supports the early learning model, the impact is maximized if the pre-kindergarten classrooms are completely integrated into the K-3 program. One of the biggest challenges has been doing just that: integrating the pre-K classroom—the teachers, students, and parents—into the rest of the building-wide program. Differences in schedules, professional development, and financial compensation for teachers created a chasm between the pre-K staff and the rest of the K-3 staff. Initially, we knew these teachers and students existed because we saw them every day. But they were simply housed in our building, with no real connection to our K-3 program.

To address this, Stephens brought the pre-K and K-3 teachers together to explore the early ed program and K-3 grades to understand where there might be gaps in instruction. The teachers and administrators then worked together to align the pre-K-3 classrooms. To build on this collaboration, PreK-3^rd grade classrooms partnered on joint classroom projects, bringing students and teachers across the early learning program together.

Stephens also began to recognize professional development (PD) needed to evolve and teachers needed training on how to use student data to improve instruction. As early grade teachers began working together, the administrators found that professional development experiences of the pre-K and K-3 teachers were very different and separate from one another. Gier Park worked to incorporate the PD for all teachers taking part in the PreK-3^rd grade integration. Additionally, teachers were coached on data-driven decision-making, an important part of the FirstSchool model. These group learning sessions became an additional time for teachers of the different grades to not only work together but also to talk about and understand student data and how it can help them to plan and improve their instruction. Stephens notes both challenges and opportunities implementing the First School model. She says, “Our involvement in FirstSchool united our staff by allowing us to explore who we are, how we are perceived, and what we want and need to change in order to give our students the best possible learning experiences.”

FirstSchool provides a research-based method of helping schools and school districts think more intentionally about how to create a strong continuum of teaching and learning across the PreK-3^rd grades. As we here at Early Ed Watch have written before, this is an important piece of helping to ensure that all children are provided with a strong start to school.

Click here to read the September/October 2013 edition of Principal and here to learn more about FirstSchool."