Making a Difference
Purchase
Description
"It's time to build a bridge between early childhood programs and the K–3 system to ensure continued success for all children. This is the ultimate how-to manual for administrators and teachers who wish to maintain and maximize the gains children make in preschool."
—Sally Wingle, Preschool Teacher
Chelsea Community Preschool, MI
"A great guide pointing in the right direction for starting a program. With the U.S. Department of Education's emphasis on early childhood education and new monies available from the stimulus plan, this book is a valuable resource."
—Cindy Luna, Principal
Northside ISD, San Antonio, TX
A 10-step plan for linking early childhood education to the K–3 system!
The national push for improving young children's early learning experiences is no longer just about preschool. Now the focus is on strategic planning to increase achievement by reaching out to community early childhood education providers, establishing a strong PreK–3 foundation that connects early childhood education standards and goals to a K–3 system, and ensuring that young learners receive high-quality instruction before kindergarten.
Drawing on more than 20 years' success with a PreK–3 system in Washington state, the authors present a 10-step, field-tested model that demonstrates how early childhood professionals and K–12 school leaders can outline a clear implementation plan for an integrated PreK–3 system that:
- Identifies both families' and children's needs
- Shares developmental information about individual learning skills and social/emotional development as children transition to kindergarten
- Aligns resources, curriculum, instruction, and assessments
- Anticipates challenges and celebrates successes
- Invites input from superintendents, state officials, Head Start leaders, and Title I directors
Contents
Foreword by Ruby Takanishi
Foreword by Ruby Takanishi
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
About the Authors
Introduction
- Step 1. Establishing Need and Common Interests
- Connecting to Your Preschool Community
- Connecting the Early Childhood Community and K-12 Public School
- Establishing the Need and Prioritizing Your Efforts PreK-3
- Your First Early Childhood and K-3 Meeting
- Step 2. Locate and Connect With Your Early Childhood Learning Environments
- Locating Your Community Preschool Partners
- Identifying and Locating Key People in Your School District
- Planning for Your "Kick off" PreK-3d Meeting
- Step 3. Develop a Leadership Group
- Your Leadership Group
- Vision Plus Action
- Quality Preschool
- Step 4. High Quality Professional Development
- How to Provide Professional Development Aligned to Your Goals
- Target Professional Development to the Needs of Your Community
- Establish Your Professional Development System
- Information to Refine Your Work and Strive for Excellence
- Step 5. Connect and Align Quality PreK to Kindergarten
- Connect Your Community Preschool and Kindergarten Programs
- Develop an Assessment and Information Loop
- Align Curriculum and Instructional Practices
- Step 6. Maximize the Benefits of Full-Day Kindergarten
- Advantages
- National Trends
- How to Design a Full-day Kindergarten
- Developing a Planning and Implementation Team
- Developing Goals for the Program
- Using Research to Drive the Process
- Core Curriculum Selection Process for Your Kindergarten (PreK-3rd Grade) System
- Low-to-No-Cost Options
- Developing Daily Schedule Expectations
- Data Sharing
- "Friendly Accountability"
- Step 7. Align and Connect Full-Day Kindergarten With Grades 1-3
- Connect Your FDK to Grades 1-3
- Align Your K-3 Standards
- Align Your Assessment and Information Loop
- Align Curriculum and Instructional Practices That Support Children's Learning and Development K-3 (PreK-3rd)
- Tiered Systems
- Connect and Align Resources to Focus on Your Goals
- Step 8. Conquer the Fade Out
- Teach the Conventional Reading Skills That Are Developed Birth to Age 5
- Horizontal Alignment
- Vertical Alignment
- Temporal Alignment
- Step 9. Create a Sustainable System of Support
- Broad Base Support and Financing Your Goals
- Celebrate and Publicize Your Efforts
- Continuous Engagement
- Step 10. Review, Revise, and Extend
- Next Step: Looking Ahead and Planning
- Review Your Goals
- Are We Making a Significant Difference?
- Your Leadership Group (ECCE Group)
- Looking Ahead
References
References
Resource A: Books and Web Sites
Resource A: Books and Web Sites
Resource B: Steps for Your First Leadership Meeting
Resource B: Steps for Your First Leadership Meeting
Resource C: Leadership Guide
Resource C: Leadership Guide
Resource D: Curriculum Adoption Form
Resource D: Curriculum Adoption Form
Resource E: Glow and Grow Self-Reflection Form
Resource E: Glow and Grow Self-Reflection Form
Resource F: Look Fors in Early Childhood Programs
Resource F: Look Fors in Early Childhood Programs
Resource G: Four Key Components to Sustainability Guide
Resource G: Four Key Components to Sustainability Guide
Index
Index
Additional materials
Description
"It's time to build a bridge between early childhood programs and the K–3 system to ensure continued success for all children. This is the ultimate how-to manual for administrators and teachers who wish to maintain and maximize the gains children make in preschool."
—Sally Wingle, Preschool Teacher
Chelsea Community Preschool, MI
"A great guide pointing in the right direction for starting a program. With the U.S. Department of Education's emphasis on early childhood education and new monies available from the stimulus plan, this book is a valuable resource."
—Cindy Luna, Principal
Northside ISD, San Antonio, TX
A 10-step plan for linking early childhood education to the K–3 system!
The national push for improving young children's early learning experiences is no longer just about preschool. Now the focus is on strategic planning to increase achievement by reaching out to community early childhood education providers, establishing a strong PreK–3 foundation that connects early childhood education standards and goals to a K–3 system, and ensuring that young learners receive high-quality instruction before kindergarten.
Drawing on more than 20 years' success with a PreK–3 system in Washington state, the authors present a 10-step, field-tested model that demonstrates how early childhood professionals and K–12 school leaders can outline a clear implementation plan for an integrated PreK–3 system that:
- Identifies both families' and children's needs
- Shares developmental information about individual learning skills and social/emotional development as children transition to kindergarten
- Aligns resources, curriculum, instruction, and assessments
- Anticipates challenges and celebrates successes
- Invites input from superintendents, state officials, Head Start leaders, and Title I directors
Contents
Foreword by Ruby Takanishi
Foreword by Ruby Takanishi
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
About the Authors
Introduction
- Step 1. Establishing Need and Common Interests
- Connecting to Your Preschool Community
- Connecting the Early Childhood Community and K-12 Public School
- Establishing the Need and Prioritizing Your Efforts PreK-3
- Your First Early Childhood and K-3 Meeting
- Step 2. Locate and Connect With Your Early Childhood Learning Environments
- Locating Your Community Preschool Partners
- Identifying and Locating Key People in Your School District
- Planning for Your "Kick off" PreK-3d Meeting
- Step 3. Develop a Leadership Group
- Your Leadership Group
- Vision Plus Action
- Quality Preschool
- Step 4. High Quality Professional Development
- How to Provide Professional Development Aligned to Your Goals
- Target Professional Development to the Needs of Your Community
- Establish Your Professional Development System
- Information to Refine Your Work and Strive for Excellence
- Step 5. Connect and Align Quality PreK to Kindergarten
- Connect Your Community Preschool and Kindergarten Programs
- Develop an Assessment and Information Loop
- Align Curriculum and Instructional Practices
- Step 6. Maximize the Benefits of Full-Day Kindergarten
- Advantages
- National Trends
- How to Design a Full-day Kindergarten
- Developing a Planning and Implementation Team
- Developing Goals for the Program
- Using Research to Drive the Process
- Core Curriculum Selection Process for Your Kindergarten (PreK-3rd Grade) System
- Low-to-No-Cost Options
- Developing Daily Schedule Expectations
- Data Sharing
- "Friendly Accountability"
- Step 7. Align and Connect Full-Day Kindergarten With Grades 1-3
- Connect Your FDK to Grades 1-3
- Align Your K-3 Standards
- Align Your Assessment and Information Loop
- Align Curriculum and Instructional Practices That Support Children's Learning and Development K-3 (PreK-3rd)
- Tiered Systems
- Connect and Align Resources to Focus on Your Goals
- Step 8. Conquer the Fade Out
- Teach the Conventional Reading Skills That Are Developed Birth to Age 5
- Horizontal Alignment
- Vertical Alignment
- Temporal Alignment
- Step 9. Create a Sustainable System of Support
- Broad Base Support and Financing Your Goals
- Celebrate and Publicize Your Efforts
- Continuous Engagement
- Step 10. Review, Revise, and Extend
- Next Step: Looking Ahead and Planning
- Review Your Goals
- Are We Making a Significant Difference?
- Your Leadership Group (ECCE Group)
- Looking Ahead
References
References
Resource A: Books and Web Sites
Resource A: Books and Web Sites
Resource B: Steps for Your First Leadership Meeting
Resource B: Steps for Your First Leadership Meeting
Resource C: Leadership Guide
Resource C: Leadership Guide
Resource D: Curriculum Adoption Form
Resource D: Curriculum Adoption Form
Resource E: Glow and Grow Self-Reflection Form
Resource E: Glow and Grow Self-Reflection Form
Resource F: Look Fors in Early Childhood Programs
Resource F: Look Fors in Early Childhood Programs
Resource G: Four Key Components to Sustainability Guide
Resource G: Four Key Components to Sustainability Guide
Index
Index
Additional materials
Reviews
Making a Difference
10 Essential Steps to Building a PreK-3 System
January 2010 | 184 pages | Corwin
| Format | Published Date | ISBN | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback | 01/02/2026 | 9781412974233 | $37.95 |
| Lifetime | 01/02/2026 | 9781452271224 | $35.00 |
"It's time to build a bridge between early childhood programs and the K–3 system to ensure continued success for all children. This is the ultimate how-to manual for administrators and teachers who wish to maintain and maximize the gains children make in preschool."
—Sally Wingle, Preschool Teacher
Chelsea Community Preschool, MI
"A great guide pointing in the right direction for starting a program. With the U.S. Department of Education's emphasis on early childhood education and new monies available from the stimulus plan, this book is a valuable resource."
—Cindy Luna, Principal
Northside ISD, San Antonio, TX
A 10-step plan for linking early childhood education to the K–3 system!
The national push for improving young children's early learning experiences is no longer just about preschool. Now the focus is on strategic planning to increase achievement by reaching out to community early childhood education providers, establishing a strong PreK–3 foundation that connects early childhood education standards and goals to a K–3 system, and ensuring that young learners receive high-quality instruction before kindergarten.
Drawing on more than 20 years' success with a PreK–3 system in Washington state, the authors present a 10-step, field-tested model that demonstrates how early childhood professionals and K–12 school leaders can outline a clear implementation plan for an integrated PreK–3 system that:
- Identifies both families' and children's needs
- Shares developmental information about individual learning skills and social/emotional development as children transition to kindergarten
- Aligns resources, curriculum, instruction, and assessments
- Anticipates challenges and celebrates successes
- Invites input from superintendents, state officials, Head Start leaders, and Title I directors
Table Of Contents:
- Foreword by Ruby Takanishi
- Acknowledgments
- About the Authors
- Introduction
- Step 1. Establishing Need and Common Interests
- Connecting to Your Preschool Community
- Connecting the Early Childhood Community and K-12 Public School
- Establishing the Need and Prioritizing Your Efforts PreK-3
- Your First Early Childhood and K-3 Meeting
- Step 2. Locate and Connect With Your Early Childhood Learning Environments
- Locating Your Community Preschool Partners
- Identifying and Locating Key People in Your School District
- Planning for Your "Kick off" PreK-3d Meeting
- Step 3. Develop a Leadership Group
- Your Leadership Group
- Vision Plus Action
- Quality Preschool
- Step 4. High Quality Professional Development
- How to Provide Professional Development Aligned to Your Goals
- Target Professional Development to the Needs of Your Community
- Establish Your Professional Development System
- Information to Refine Your Work and Strive for Excellence
- Step 5. Connect and Align Quality PreK to Kindergarten
- Connect Your Community Preschool and Kindergarten Programs
- Develop an Assessment and Information Loop
- Align Curriculum and Instructional Practices
- Step 6. Maximize the Benefits of Full-Day Kindergarten
- Advantages
- National Trends
- How to Design a Full-day Kindergarten
- Developing a Planning and Implementation Team
- Developing Goals for the Program
- Using Research to Drive the Process
- Core Curriculum Selection Process for Your Kindergarten (PreK-3rd Grade) System
- Low-to-No-Cost Options
- Developing Daily Schedule Expectations
- Data Sharing
- "Friendly Accountability"
- Step 7. Align and Connect Full-Day Kindergarten With Grades 1-3
- Connect Your FDK to Grades 1-3
- Align Your K-3 Standards
- Align Your Assessment and Information Loop
- Align Curriculum and Instructional Practices That Support Children's Learning and Development K-3 (PreK-3rd)
- Tiered Systems
- Connect and Align Resources to Focus on Your Goals
- Step 8. Conquer the Fade Out
- Teach the Conventional Reading Skills That Are Developed Birth to Age 5
- Horizontal Alignment
- Vertical Alignment
- Temporal Alignment
- Step 9. Create a Sustainable System of Support
- Broad Base Support and Financing Your Goals
- Celebrate and Publicize Your Efforts
- Continuous Engagement
- Step 10. Review, Revise, and Extend
- Next Step: Looking Ahead and Planning
- Review Your Goals
- Are We Making a Significant Difference?
- Your Leadership Group (ECCE Group)
- Looking Ahead
- References
- Resource A: Books and Web Sites
- Resource B: Steps for Your First Leadership Meeting
- Resource C: Leadership Guide
- Resource D: Curriculum Adoption Form
- Resource E: Glow and Grow Self-Reflection Form
- Resource F: Look Fors in Early Childhood Programs
- Resource G: Four Key Components to Sustainability Guide
- Index