Advanced Start STEM Preschool Program

In a recent article posted on the Channel-13 website, a new program will hopefully give students from low-income houses a head start in early education. The program is called the Advanced Start STEM Preschool Program and will provide parents with lesson plans and materials for monitoring student progress throughout the time they are in the program. The program targets three and four year olds that are getting ready to enter pre-school or kindergarten.

Bob Singer-the creator of the program-says the emphasis will be early math skills with other lesson plans that focus on vocabulary and reading. Because of the need for math skills at an early age, the lesson plans in math will be more common and focused. The goal of the program is to have kids enter school a full year ahead of where they should be. This will help these students get a head start and start off strong in the school.

By focusing on low-income kids-this program is helping kids that might otherwise be at risk when they started school. Many students that come from low-income families have less support at home since their parent(s) are typically working more hours to make end meet. In the article, the family they were focusing on was a single parent home. The mother in the article was thankful because the program allowed her to start her child off sooner and allowed her to be more involved in the learning.

I think this program is a good idea for many families. I do think it should be expanded and be available for all families. To assume that families where the parents make more money are better off is incorrect. Although these children might have the opportunity to be involved in more early education programs-the parents may not be enrolling their children in these programs for other reasons. I think that once this pilot study is concluded, the program leaders should also look at expanding to middle income families and families where English may not be the language spoken at home.

I also think that this program allows for more families to start their students off on the right foot in their early education. Because the lesson plans are provided I think this program allows for these students to receive a more uniform early start into education. I think some of these families with lower incomes might try to do more work with their kids at home and may need more help to get their kids started in the right way. This program allows these families to learn good practices, monitor their performance, and makes sure that their kids are learning the right material.

The best way to get kids used to working with ideas in school is to get them exposed to it as often and early as possible. The article focuses on a family where the mother works and attends school so she may not have the time to find material for her student to work on. This program not only gives her the lesson plans, but also a way to monitor her student’s progress. The Evelyn Davis Learning Center is the lead academic partner in this project and will provide support for the parents that are part of this pilot study.

Programs like this help increase a student’s confidence before they enter the school. Feeling more confident will help them be more successful in different subjects in school. I think this is one of the most important functions on this program. Whether these students are actually a year ahead or not, just being exposed to the information will help them feel more comfortable working with it again in school and will help them be better learners.

Resources:

Towe, J. (2013, June 26). Advanced start: Families test new education program. Retrieved from http://whotv.com/2013/06/26/advanced-start-families-test-new-education-program/ 

Rockford Schools to Pilot Behavior Program at Meadow Ridge Elementary

A recent article published on the mlive.com website-a website that covers news and events from across the state of Michigan-that covered the plans of implementing a new method of behavior and classroom management.  This article, titled “Rockford schools to pilot behavior program at Meadow Ridge Elementary” written by Monica Scott, outlines the schools plan to implement a new program for student  behavior at this school within the Rockford school district.  The elementary school that will be participating in this pilot program is Meadow Ridge Elementary school, a school of approximately 600 general education and special education students from kindergarten up to 5^th grade (Scott, 2013) .  This school currently uses a variety of individual  behavior plans in conjunction with school wide rules for behavior to manage the behavior of its students in and out of the classroom.  Starting in the fall of 2013, this school will start using the PBIS method for improving student learning and behavior in the schools (Scott, 2013).

            PBIS- or Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, is currently used in more than 16,000 schools across the United States and there are 790 schools that are implementing this program in Michigan (Scott, 2013).  PBIS is a method that involves teaching behavior and sets behavioral guidelines as if they were any other core subject area taught in the school (US Department of Education, 2009).  This method often includes teachers, parents, and other adults that work with students to create an environment for students to learn in a safe and productive way (Scott, 2013).  By including everyone, from students to all of the teachers that interact with the students, a community is created that helps foster learning for each student.  Adults that work with students in the school help students learn appropriate behaviors by teaching the appropriate behaviors, modeling these behaviors, and using positive reinforcement (Scott 2013).   

            The benefits of this program have been seen in schools all across the country.  Many schools that use this program see a decline in the amount of  negative behaviors seen in the classroom and learning is improved when students can focus on learning and not the behaviors of students around them.  This also gives the schools in Michigan-and other areas-that are new to the program an advantage.  Schools that are new to the PBIS program can see what strategies have worked in other schools, talk to teachers and administrators in these schools to talk about the program, and create their program based on the research that already exists on the subject.  The high prevalence of this program in other schools also means that the likelihood that a new teacher entering the school has already had some level of exposure to the PBIS method is high;  these new teachers with experience with PBIS will be able to help further integrate this program into their classrooms and the school overall.  

            PBIS allows for teachers, parents, and other adults to all be engaged in the education of students.  By ensuring that the same methods are being taught in the classroom and at home, the positive behaviors that are taught in school can be reinforced at home.  Often times, lessons that are taught in school by teachers is lost because the positive behaviors as not reinforced at home by the parents.  By keeping the parents in the loop and making sure that they understand the expectations that are established in school, teachers can ensure that these expectations are also set at home for the students. 

            Using programs like PBIS in new schools is interesting to read about.  Many people are already familiar with the program because it is already present in schools in their area, but for new teachers being introduced to the program it is a big change.  Although this is a change for these teachers, the administrators in this-and many districts, see PBIS as an important method to prevent behavioral problems and reduce the need for intense and individual interventions (Scott, 2013).   Being proactive about shaping behavior in students helps create a more positive and efficient learning environment than being reactive to problems that arise.  The research surrounding PBIS shows that this program has been successful in many of the schools that use it and schools in Michigan that have already implemented the program have seen progress (Scott, 2013).  The success of the program in this school will be closely monitored and it would be very interesting to see the results that they see in just a few years at this school!

References

Scott, M. (2013, June 25). Rockford schools to pilot behavior program at meadow ridge elementary.        Retrieved from http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-        rapids/index.ssf/2013/06/rockford_schools_to_pilot_beha.html

US Department of Education. (2009, May 24). School-wide pbis. Retrieved from             http://www.pbis.org/school/default.aspx

Sample Post 7/2/13

Happy 4th of July!