Pre-Kindergarten Exploration West Hempstead School District Board of Education Presentation November 19, 2013

Strategic Plan

Raising Student Achievement Academic Excellence Educational Equity Community Relations Educational Technology Use of Data To Improve Instruction

Educational Equity Action Plan Examine the need and feasibility of a pre-school program Visit programs Investigate pre-school options Research success of this early intervention in the literature

The Need 34% of the current kindergarten students have no preschool experience (range from 31%-38% over the past four years) The 2013 average incoming screening score (including motor, language and concepts): 51% for students without pre-school 77% for students with pre-school (51% higher than students without pre-school)

Visitations Westbury Freeport Long Beach Herricks Oceanside Lawrence Franklin Square

Models Funding: UPK, District, UPK/District, Parents Pay (scholarships available) Providers: District staff or outside contractors (Harbor Day, St. Joseph’s College, SCOPE) Length of Day: half day, full day, optional length of day

Classroom Set-up

Program Components: Group Time

Center Time

Literacy

Numeracy

Blocks

Dramatic Play

Movement

Music

Artistic Expression

Collaboration with Families

Benefits: Exposure to the “Language” of School Experience with the “Routines” of School Expansion of Background Knowledge Foundation in Academic Vocabulary Initial Foundation in the Common Core Curriculum Socialization and Learning through Play Closing the Achievement Gap Through Early Intervention

Projected Costs One-time Start up Costs: --development of space --classroom set-up ($8,000-$10,000 per classroom—4 classes/2 classrooms $16,000- $20,000) Recurring Costs: --per-pupil cost can range from $2,700- $6,000 per student per year, --depending on the model selected (4 classes/64 students--$172,800-$384,000)

Next Steps Decide whether to proceed with exploration Continue to examine research Choose a model and determine cost of program Determine number of students to be served Determine cost of developing space Explore funding sources Identify selection process Develop curriculum

The Big Questions… Are we ready to open the door of opportunity for all students by building a strong pre-school foundation?

Do we believe that pre-school can help to close the equity gap?

How will we fund the program?

Do we fund Pre-K before we consider restoring/filling in what has been lost?

What does the research say? Stanford University: the achievement gap starts as early as 18 months, by age five there can be a two- year gap. Dickinson (Vanderbilt) and Snow (Harvard)—a child’s vocabulary score in kindergarten can predict reading comprehension scores in later grades. Fernald and Weisleder (Stanford)—there is a wide discrepancy between the number of “child-directed” words heard per day by pre-schoolers (670 vs. 12,000). Children who hear more words have larger vocabularies by age two. There is a correlation between strength of vocabulary and literacy development in children.

Research continued…. Pianta, University of Virginia—after receiving high-quality Pre-K, at risk students demonstrated the same achievement levels as their peers without risk factors. Gormley, Georgetown University—Preschool education has considerable potential to improve educational outcomes for Hispanic children.

What does our data tell us? Language and concept scores on the kindergarten screening indicate a significant discrepancy between the students who have attended pre-school and those who have not attended pre-school. The number of letters and sounds that students can identify upon entering kindergarten is significantly different for the two groups of students. Additional factors such as ELL and poverty exacerbate the discrepancy between the two groups of students.

Are we ready to launch a developmentally-appropriate pre-kindergarten option?