{"id":202776,"date":"2015-08-27T12:41:52","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T16:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=202776"},"modified":"2023-08-15T12:44:53","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T16:44:53","slug":"neag-schools-new-prek-3-leadership-program-highlights-importance-of-early-childhood-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2015\/08\/neag-schools-new-prek-3-leadership-program-highlights-importance-of-early-childhood-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Neag School\u2019s New PreK-3 Leadership Program Highlights Importance of Early Childhood Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Children who take part in early childhood education programs, research shows, are apt to reap the benefits for years to come. Not only are these children more likely to be more successful throughout their years in school, but also \u201cto have jobs and to be contributing members of society\u201d later in life, says Karen List \u201983 Ph.D., project director for a new Neag School program designed to help school principals, superintendents, other administrators, teachers, and community members lead their schools, districts, and communities in investing in early childhood education.<\/p>\n

In fact, for every dollar invested in early childhood education, there is a $7 return \u2013 \u201cmuch better than returns on Wall Street,\u201d says List, citing findings from James Heckman, American economist and Nobel laureate at the University of Chicago.<\/p>\n

\"PreK-3
The first cohort of the Neag School\u2019s PK-3 Leadership Program sits in on a session this past July, led by Kristie Kauerz, research assistant professor of P-3 Policy and Leadership at the University of Washington. (Stefanie Dion Jones\/Neag School of Education)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And yet many people, List notes, mistakenly equate preschool \u2013 particularly in public settings \u2013 with daycare. \u201cThey don\u2019t see the intentional nature of quality preschool learning or the value in keeping intentional play in a curriculum for kindergartners or first-graders,\u201d she says. \u201cThose opportunities really help kids develop social skills, think creatively, and problem-solve. The capacity that young children have is extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n

PK-3 Leadership Program
\n<\/strong>Launched through the Neag School of Education this past summer in partnership with Connecticut\u2019s Office of Early Childhood (OEC), the new\u00a0PK-3 Leadership Program<\/a>\u00a0welcomed 18 educational leaders from districts across Connecticut, including Bridgeport, Torrington, Manchester, Meriden, Norwich, Plainville, and East Hartford, among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re really going to change the outcomes for children, we need more and more people to be knowledgeable about why [early childhood education] is so important \u2013 and to have the language to be able to talk about it with credibility.\u201d<\/h3>\n

\u2014Karen List \u201983 Ph.D., project director,\u00a0PK-3 Leadership Program\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

The program is specifically designed for elementary school and pre-K school principals and assistant principals; early learning directors and program managers, including child care center directors; and school superintendents, assistant superintendents, and central office directors. A three-year grant through the OEC has helped to assist with development costs and reduce tuition for participants.<\/p>\n

Amidst reading assignments, lectures by guest speakers, and classroom discussion, participants in the 10-month program will also spend time collaborating closely with one another to develop early childhood education action plans that they will ultimately endeavor to bring to fruition in their respective communities. The program comprises three focused modules: curriculum and instruction; assessment and evaluation; and leadership for excellence, equity, and early success. While the first component, for instance, centers in part on growing participants\u2019 knowledge base about recent research on brain development in young children, the third component on leadership aims to prepare participants with the ability to communicate the value of early childhood education to stakeholders and to gain consensus.<\/p>\n

\"PreK-3
Kristie Kauerz, research assistant professor of P-3 Policy and Leadership at the University of Washington, leads a session for the first cohort of the PK-3 Leadership Program, held in Middletown, Conn., in July. (Stefanie Dion Jones\/Neag School of Education)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the same time, List says, the program engages the participants in considering how they might go on to apply the lessons from each module most effectively in their own districts. \u201cWe\u2019re asking them constantly: How does this apply to you? How will you help your community understand that you need to invest in pre-K?\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s about having a plan [but also about] how to bring about changes systemically, how to bring people on board, and knowing where to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

List, who worked in West Hartford (Conn.) Public Schools for more than 30 years before retiring last year, has long been dedicated to expanding public prekindergarten programs in her former district. Under her leadership as superintendent, the West Hartford district opened preschools in neighborhoods with high poverty rates and the community\u2019s lowest percentage of children participating in early childhood education. As a direct result of List\u2019s advocacy work, West Hartford now has four public, full-day preschools, with five more slated to open in 2016.<\/p>\n

Going Beyond Pre-K
\n<\/strong>Yet quality early childhood education does not stop with preschool. \u201cOne of the things we\u2019ve learned over time is that preschool isn\u2019t enough,\u201d List says. \u201cIt\u2019s what happens in the preschool as well the alignment, at least through third grade. A preschool teacher needs to understand what a child needs to know by the end of third grade \u2013 just as a third-grade teacher needs to know how a young child learns and what is being focused on at a young level with children. So that continuum of learning is very important to sustain the gains made in pre-K. That\u2019s one of the reasons there is this focus [in our program] on the pre-K through 3rd-grade continuum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, List says she hopes the PK-3 Leadership Program will develop strong leaders who can continue to advocate for the value of early childhood education. \u201cWe want the program to be meaningful for our participants,\u201d she says. \u201cWe need them to be ambassadors for this work. If we\u2019re really going to change the outcomes for children, we need more and more people to be knowledgeable about why it\u2019s so important \u2013 and to have the language to be able to talk about it with credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program is designed to give leaders the skills to help reduce inequities in educational outcomes that occur at the earliest stages of public education,\u201d adds Casey Cobb, associate dean for academic affairs at the Neag School of Education. \u201cConnecticut knows that to redress opportunity gaps, early intervention is critical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sue
Susan Fergusson, a principal in Torrington, Conn., joins\u00a0other members of first cohort of the Neag School\u2019s PK-3 Leadership Program for on a session this July. (Stefanie Dion Jones\/Neag School of Education)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cobb is part of a core development team that helped develop the program over the course of the past several years and that includes representatives from the OEC, the Connecticut Association of Schools, the Neag School, and the Connecticut State Department of Education. In addition, List and her team consult with a panel of advisors, composed of experts in the field hailing from the Neag School, as well as other leading research universities nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s always about what\u2019s in the best interest of children,\u201d List says. \u201cI don\u2019t remember who said it, but in Connecticut, children are approximately 25 percent of our population \u2013 and 100 percent of our future. I\u2019ve always wanted to have pre-K to be part of what we do, and now it\u2019s finally happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the PK-3 Leadership Program, visit\u00a0pk3leadership.uconn.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Children who take part in early childhood education programs, research shows, are apt to reap the benefits for years to come. Not only are these children more likely to be more successful throughout their years in school, but also \u201cto have jobs and to be contributing members of society\u201d later in life, says Karen List […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2427,2424,1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1878],"class_list":["post-202776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-educational-leadership","category-neag-community-engagement","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 06:18:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202777,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202776\/revisions\/202777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202776"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=202776"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=202776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}