Early Learning Center Stays True to Learning Through Play Philosophy with Fun, Individualized Assessment

Elgin, IL | serving 170 students 6 weeks to 6 years of age

SUMMARY

Elgin is part of The Goddard School, an award-winning network of accredited childcare centers offering early learning and afterschool programs. It is one of more than 160 Goddard schools using the Children’s Progress Academic Assessment (CPAA) nationwide. At Elgin, the CPAA is used in all pre-kindergarten, kindergarten prep and kindergarten classrooms to inform lesson planning, engage the parents of current and prospective students and prepare all students for success in elementary school and beyond.

Our kids love it. Our teachers love it. It’s a win-win. Parents are impressed to know that their children are receiving an individualized, developmentally-appropriate and engaging learning experience with the help of this program.
Sheryl Nelson
Owner

CHALLENGE

Prior to using the CPAA, Elgin’s teachers used observation forms in line with Goddard’s FLEX curriculum to evaluate student learning in relation to key developmental milestones. While these checklists were valuable, school owner Sheryl Nelson and her educators were eager to use an objective measure to help identify skill levels for children in a quick and measurable way.

“First of all, it’s the only way to truly individualize instruction. Second, it sets us apart from other early learning centers where the instructional focus may not be as rigorous or as personalized,” Nelson explains.

SOLUTION

The CPAA is used with all children in the prekindergarten, kindergarten prep and kindergarten classrooms at Elgin. For most students, the assessment is administered six times a year – about twice each season (fall, winter and spring).

Nelson explains that the administration schedule is tailored for each student and assessments are only performed as necessary. For instance, she says, “If we see that a child has made significant improvement in a concept, we sometimes re-administer the CPAA to help determine whether he or she is ready to move on to a new reading group or a different classroom to help keep the level of work challenging.”

Teachers use CPAA reports to identify individual student needs and strengths and inform weekly instructional planning. The reports are especially helpful in assisting with grouping decisions and choosing activities for each group and the whole class. All teachers’ weekly lesson plans are reviewed at the school level to ensure that activities are developmentally appropriate and in line with student needs.

Nelson references her reports regularly as well. “As a school owner, I’m interested in looking at the data longitudinally to determine whether enrolling in our program for a longer period of time has a bigger positive effect on student performance. I love being able to share findings with parents who are considering our school. It’s great to have objective information to back up our beliefs about the importance of quality early childhood instruction.”

In addition to reviewing longitudinal reports, Nelson also uses CPAA data to proactively identify areas of need at the school level and shares reports with parents of current students in parent teacher conferences. Finally, when students are ready to graduate and move on to elementary school, Sheryl says, “I like to print the CPAA report for parents to take to their next school. It’s a great objective overview that can help the school get a sense of that child’s literacy and mathematics skills.”

IMPACT

Learning Through Play, Even During Assessment
“The CPAA is fun. The kids enjoy it. I firmly believe that learning should be enjoyable. There’s nothing we do at our school that is not fun for our students. It’s wonderful that we can use this tool – which is so much in line with our learning through play philosophy – and also gain such valuable objective information from it,” Nelson explains.

She adds, “Our teachers also love this program. The fact that it’s user-friendly for them and fun for the kids just makes it such a feel-good experience overall.” Nelson also mentions that her preschool teachers have indicated that they wish had something similar for their students.

Keeping Parents Informed
Nelson and her teachers share CPAA data with the parents of both current and prospective students. Parents of current students are able to use recommended activities designed for the home and parents of prospective students are able to learn about Elgin’s unwavering commitment to engaging, individualized instruction. Nelson points out that parents are often impressed by the CPAA and enjoy knowing that it is a key component of Elgin’s academic program.

Data-Driven, Individualized Education for All
Using CPAA reports to pinpoint learning needs and teach to them helps Elgin’s teachers keep their lesson plans focused each week and provides them with additional activity ideas. Nelson shares, “In order to truly differentiate instruction, we have to teach to each child’s developmental level. Being able to collect objective information about that level quickly and get ideas of activities for the classroom and the home is invaluable.”

For more about the Goddard School in Elgin and the CPAA, see this article from www.chicagonow.com