Partnerships For Early Childhood Curriculum Development: Readiness Through Integrative Science And Engineering (RISE)

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The RISE project is creating curriculum resources for dual language learners (DLLs) in science, technology and engineering (STE). Participants include teachers in pre-K programs in the Boston area selected to target Hispanic and Chinese students and their families. University partners include Tufts, Rutgers, Miami, and Northern Iowa, who will work with ABCD Head Start. An innovative feature is the incorporation of family funds of knowledge as a basis for the curriculum development. There are two research questions. 1. What are the most productive procedures for appropriate application of the full integrated RISE curriculum in Head Start classrooms serving DLL children? 2. What is the impact of the fully integrated RISE curriculum versus the comparison condition on teacher attitudes, classroom instruction, and quality, home-school relationships, and DLL children's STE knowledge and approaches to learning? In years 1 and two, 5 teachers are being supported, with 10 teachers in year 3. Participating parents are 40, 105, and 180 for years 1, 2 and 3. Professional development and mentoring is being provided for the teachers, and parent-teacher discussion groups are facilitating communication. The research data is based on extensive classroom observations as well as interviews and surveys. For question 2, the project plans a quasi-experimental study of 10 RISE and 8 randomly selected comparison classrooms sampling 10 students in each classroom. Data will be analyzed with ANCOVA. The curriculum will be based on the Massachusetts framework, one of only a few states with pre-K standards. The evaluation will monitor both the progress of the research and development and the dissemination to the target audiences. The curriculum materials are to be posted on the Tufts University website and a commercial publisher is being sought. Units are to be 6-12 weeks in duration, with a typical classroom engaging approximately four units. With the growing population of DLL students and the recognition that early childhood education in STE makes significant contributions to children's education, this project has the potential for national impacts.