The Children’s Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center, directed by Dr. Susan Landry in Houston, has announced the Texas early childhood classrooms who are School Ready! certified. This year’s number is 2,084 classrooms from 844 facilities which is double the number since last year. The certification which is announced annually demonstrates that children who graduated from preschool classrooms entered kindergarten with the fundamental skills (social/emotional, cognition) in place to be successful. Upon reviewing the list, it should be noted that for profit, non-profit child care, Title 1 Pre-K, charter, Head Start, faith-based and a homeless shelter qualified. These classrooms are located across the state of Texas. You may view the entire list at http://www.texasschoolready.com.
In this scientific model, it appears that Texas is determining the definition of quality which could inform other states. Some questions for consideration are:
- Is a four-year degree teacher or a very highly trained teacher required to prepare children with fundamental skills for kindergarten?
- What kind of professional development is needed?
- Is assessing or progress monitoring children important?
- Is a mixed delivery model ideal to prepare children for kindergarten?
- How much funding is needed to create a high quality environment?
These are very interesting questions for us to consider. I would be happy to hear if there are other states using research to determine their definition of quality prekindergarten.
Subscribe