PIMMS continued its commitment to improving Early Childhood Education in Connecticut through its second Early Childhood Leadership Institute. With support from a grant from the Braitmayer Foundation, thirteen teachers  from Middletown, Waterbury, and Windham completed the 2005-06 program.

PROJECT MODEL

The project included an introductory orientation session, a one-week intensive sSummer workshop, admission to a national mathematics conference (the NCTM Eastern Regional),  collaborative meetings between district Pre-K and Kindergarten participants, in-service workshops during the academic year, and classroom visits from project consultants Ann Spinelli and Ann Clark.

ORIENTATION
An introductory workshop was held July 9, 2005 to enable participating teachers to meet each other and receive an overview of the project. In this session, a brief presentation was made by Ann Spinelli highlighting the overall goals of the grant, and a preview of the project’s activities and expectations were outlined. Teachers also engaged in introductory mathematics and science explorations that served to represent the type of experiences and training they would have during the coming year.

SUMMER INSTITUTE
The week-long Summer Institute, conducted by Ann Spinelli, was held August 1-5, 2005. Teachers were exposed to standards-based instructional strategies and developmentally-appropriate classroom activities designed to enhance young children’s understanding of mathematics and science concepts and processes.

Specific mathematics ideas related to National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) content and process standards were discussed including the "big ideas" underlying Problem Solving, Data Analysis and Probability, Algebraic Reasoning, Geometry, Spatial Reasoning, and Measurement. Process standards for Representation, Reasoning and Proof, and Communication were explored as they relate to the young child.

Science exploration centered on ideas at the core of the National Science Standards and Connecticut Science Framework for the early learner. Teachers learned about the inquiry process, free and focused exploration, and basic concepts underlying the science of structures and bubbles.

Workshop activities helped deepen teachers’ background knowledge in mathematics and science. The sequential development of the "big ideas" of these disciplines were discussed and teachers discovered ways to make math and science connections across all disciplines. To encourage student discourse, teachers learned questioning techniques and the CT State Department of Education Early Childhood assessment tool was introduced enabling teachers to discover new observational strategies to help them better assess student understanding. 

NCTM CONFERENCE
In Fall 2005, teachers were able to attend the Eastern Regional NCTM conference held in Hartford, CT. A series of Pre-K focused lectures and sessions were included in the conference and participants were treated to a variety of sessions from nationally recognized experts in Pre-K mathematics education.

COLLABORATIVE MEETINGS
Teachers arranged two collaborative meetings with fellow participants from their respective school districts. These meetings were held after school and were designed to provide an opportunity for teachers to share information, ideas, and challenges as a means of supporting each other as they implemented new instructional strategies and activities from the project.

Collaborative meeting logs were used to document features about the meetings, specifically: meeting activities; successful and challenging math or science activities, instructional strategies, or assessment methods; evaluation of the actual collaborative meeting; and goals set for each attendee to accomplish before the next meeting. In many cases, teachers brought artifacts to these meetings to showcase what was happening in their classrooms.

IN-SERVICE WORKSHOPS
A December 2005 In-Service Workshop provided teachers the opportunity to come together as a group and extend the sharing that was done in the collaborative meeting sessions. Common challenges were discussed and suggestions for enhancing student-learning experiences were shared. Key mathematics and science concepts were revisited and new activities were presented to explore topics in earth science, water, weather.

At the April In-Service, teachers engaged in a Celebration of Learning and were invited to reflect on changes in their classrooms during math and science time. Teachers brought in artifacts to share and discuss, and a photo presentation from visits to preschool classrooms was made to provide a review of early childhood state and national standards for math and science. Teachers wrapped-up their experience in the Leadership Institute with a final review of the assessment process and provided feedback through a survey for overall program evaluation.

CLASSROOM VISITS
Project consultants, Ann Spinelli and Ann Clark, made 23 classroom visits during the academic year to support teacher participants as they implemented new instructional strategies and student activities. These classroom visits provided an opportunity for teachers to ask questions and receive feedback on instruction as well as student assessment. Visit logs were kept to document NCTM Content and Process Standards, CT Cognitive Standards, Science Inquiry Processes, Student Engagement and Classroom Discourse, Analyses of Learning and Instruction, and Learning Environment features.

During these visits, PIMMS staff shared tips and strategies with teachers and offered ways to incorporate new ideas and activities in their classrooms. Discussion topics included lesson planning, student observation assessments, classroom management, and enhancing the district’s existing mathematics and science curriculum. According to the project consultants, it was clearly evident that teachers were actively implementing the ideas and activities presented in the summer workshop and, further, were adding their own creative twists to enhance the learning experiences for their students.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT
During the project workshops, teachers learned about the seven Cognitive Performance Standards and associated benchmarks in mathematics and science, as outlined in the Connecticut Preschool Assessment Framework. Twelve of the teachers experienced the practice of observing children busy at a science or mathematics activity and evaluating their performance levels according to the benchmarks, using a prepared check-sheet to record their observations. Most importantly, teachers gained hands-on experience in the observation and evaluation processes, which also served to enhance their awareness of these actual behaviors as indicative of cognitive levels. This awareness forms the foundation for lesson planning and guiding instruction.

CLASSROOM MATERIALS
With Braitmayer Foundation grant funds, participants were able to order materials for their classrooms, including manipulatives that were used during the training, such as pattern blocks, number wall charts, size comparison magnets, sorting and time sequence cards.

PROGRAM EVALUATION
To evaluate the overall project, participants completed a survey in April 2006. Questions asked participants to reflect on how the program impacted their knowledge, skills, and understandings of State benchmarks and standards, as well as assessment practices.

Several principals from participating schools commented on how pleased they were with the program and noted the positive impact they observed in the teachers’ classrooms. One district was using the materials provided in the summer workshop to guide the development of their new curriculum for early childhood grades. Principals asked about future training because other teachers in their schools were expressing an interest and were eager to attend.

In the Final Evaluation, one teacher wrote:

PRINTER FRIENDLY COPY