EdReports to Expand Free, Educator-Led Reviews to Pre-Kindergarten Instructional Materials
10 July 2024 - 11:00PM
EdReports, a nonprofit organization that provides free reviews of
instructional materials, proudly announces its intention to extend
its efforts to include pre-kindergarten (pre-K) instructional
materials. This expansion aims to support educators and families in
gaining a deeper understanding of quality educational resources,
empowering decision-makers to select materials that effectively
prepare students for success in school and life.
More than $250M is spent annually on pre-K curriculum,
assessment, and professional development. With approximately 1.6
million children enrolled in state-funded pre-K programs
nationwide, ensuring that all pre-K teachers have the strong
materials they need to support our youngest learners is
essential.
"Every student deserves access to an engaging, high-quality
curriculum that prepares them for success in both school and life,
and this principle extends to our youngest learners as they embark
on their educational journey," said Courtney Allison, chief
academic officer for EdReports. "EdReports has helped set the
standard for what high-quality instructional materials look like in
K–12 education, and we're eager to apply our expertise to inform
the development of quality resources for early childhood
education."
To address this challenge and improve the quality of available
resources, EdReports aims to provide a trusted source of free
information about pre-K products, mirroring its successful model in
the K–12 market.
A robust preschool education plays a pivotal role in fostering
critical development and learning, setting the stage for success in
school and beyond. Preschool curricula must advance learning in key
areas such as math, early literacy, and science, particularly for
multilingual learners and children from marginalized
backgrounds.
"There is substantial evidence demonstrating the lasting
positive impact of high-quality preschool programs. However, the
critical role of curriculum—specifically, what and how children
learn—in fostering an engaging and effective learning experience
for all students has not received adequate attention," said Shana
Weldon, director of pre-K at EdReports. "EdReports' early childhood
reviews will seek to empower educators to choose materials that
address the needs of their communities and support all students to
thrive."
Currently, there is no single set of national early learning
standards. However, individual states develop early learning
standards that encompass all areas of child growth and development,
addressing multiple domains that promote school readiness such as:
approaches to learning and executive function; social and emotional
skills; language and early literacy; cognition and general
knowledge; and physical well-being and motor development.
Anthony Burns, director of the Instructional Materials Bureau at
the New Mexico Public Education Department, expressed support for
this initiative, stating: “New Mexico supports rigorous
instructional material reviews to identify high-quality
instructional materials. EdReports has been at the forefront of
reviewing K–12 instructional materials, and their expansion to
include pre-K reviews will provide value for educators across the
country in this critically important area.”
EdReports will focus on essential early learning domains,
drawing upon research-based evidence highlighted by the National
Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) through
their report, A New Vision for High-Quality Preschool Curriculum,
which provides a common definition of quality in early childhood
education. The report articulates a vision for high-quality
preschool curricula for all children, grounded in equity and
justice-oriented principles from inception to implementation and
evaluation.
EdReports will begin its Listening and Learning Tour to
establish review criteria, select materials for review, and recruit
and train early childhood educators to form review teams starting
this summer. Inaugural reviews are slated for release in late
2025.
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EdReports is at the forefront of the curriculum reform movement.
By increasing the capacity of educators to identify and demand the
highest quality curriculum, EdReports is both disrupting a
multibillion-dollar market and transforming the way students are
taught and ultimately perform. With the firm belief that what is
taught matters and that all students deserve standards-aligned,
research-based materials tailored to diverse needs, including
multilingual learners, EdReports publishes free, online,
evidence-rich reviews of instructional materials. Since its launch
in 2015, EdReports has trained nearly 900 educators to conduct
rigorous reviews of instructional materials and has released over
1,100 reviews of math, ELA, and science curricula. The
organization's work has been instrumental in helping educators
across the country make informed decisions about the materials they
use in their classrooms.
For more information about EdReports, visit the organization's
website at www.edreports.org.
- EdReports to Expand Free, Educator-Led Reviews to
Pre-Kindergarten Instructional Materials
Janna Chan
EdReports
206-321-0339
jchan@edreports.org