This document discusses strategies for improving education from birth through 3rd grade. It describes initiatives in several communities that have strengthened collaboration between early childhood programs and elementary schools. Key strategies discussed include developing coherent systems, focused improvement plans, intensive focus on curriculum and instruction through professional development and data use, and partnerships across sectors. Case studies highlight efforts in Union City, Montgomery County, and Boston that led to improved outcomes by applying familiar practices in systematic ways. The document emphasizes themes like building relationships, demonstrating progress, and developing capacity over time to achieve significant gains in early learning.

1. Learning from the Field: Strategy and
Implementation in Leading Edge Birth
through Grade 3 Efforts
David Jacobson
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

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3. “In recent years preschool’s educational purpose and potential
have been increasingly recognized, and this recognition
contributes to the blurring of the preschool-elementary
boundary. The two spheres now have substantial reasons to
strive for greater continuity and collaboration.”
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

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5. NAESP Competencies
• Embrace the PreK-3rd Early Learning Continuum
• Ensure Developmentally-Appropriate Teaching
• Provide Personalized Blended Learning Environments
• Use Multiple Measures of Assessment to Guide Growth in
Student Learning
• Build Professional Capacity Across the Learning Community
• Make Your School a Hub of PreK-3rd Learning for Families and
Communities
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

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8. Research
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10. Experience Shapes Brain Architecture
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11. Research
Leading Edge
Communities
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

12. Birth through Third Grade Learning Hub
birth-third.net
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

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21. Union City
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

22. http://birth-third.net/resources/
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

23. Familiar Practices, Implemented Deeply
and Systematically
“When boiled down to its essentials, what Union City is doing
sounds so obvious, so tried-and-true, that it verges on platitude.
Indeed, everything that is happening in Union City should be
familiar to any educator with a pulse.”
“System is the star. Organizations make people smart.”
- David Kirp
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

24. • d
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30. “I feel like it would make me a better teacher to really know what
is expected of my students. What do you really need to know for
kindergarten? I think they are ready. I think I am getting them
ready. But I’m not 100% sure, and I want to be. Learning about
kindergarten makes me look at myself as a teacher.”
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

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33. Partner Chat: Three Take-Aways?
• Union City
• Somerville
• Springfield
(4 minutes)
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

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35. Green and Red Zones
Montgomery County, MD
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36. “Once we fixed the system, the kids were suddenly okay. Same
kids, just a different system. And we started at the beginning of
the education value-chain—early learning.”
- Jerry Weast
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

37. System Goal as North Star
• 100% would graduate high school and 80% college ready by
2014
Seven Keys to College Readiness
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

38. “I thought I would enter the change process through the culture
door and then engage everyone in creating systems and
structures that would support the culture. But I couldn’t get
traction, so we started to build the systems anyway, and it
seemed that the culture started to shift as people saw that the
changes worked for kids.”
--Jerry Weast
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

39. Montgomery County Results
90% Almost 90 percent of kindergarteners enter first grade
with essential early literacy skills
88% Nearly 88 percent of third graders
read proficiently
90% About 90 percent of 12th graders
graduate from high school
77% 77 percent of graduating seniors
enroll in college
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

40. Raise the Bar and Close the Gap
(3rd Grade Reading)
48%
65%
66%
67%
73% 76%
80%78%
86% 88% 88% 92% 93%
94%
83%
89% 91% 91% 94% 95% 95%
60% 63%
70% 75% 76%
83%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
African American Students Asian American Students
White Students Hispanic Students
Percent Proficient or Higher
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45. Partner Chat: Three Take-Aways
• Montgomery County
• Boston
(4 minutes)
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49. Themes
• Coherent systems
• Focused plans and plan management
• Intense focus on curriculum, learning, and teaching
– Implement deeply and systematically
– Professional development
– Coaches
– Professional learning communities
– Effective use of data
• Meaningful collaboration districts and community-based
preschools
• Larger partnerships that integrate social services
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51. Activity
1. What are the main activities and services currently
underway in each of the four circles? (~5 minutes)
2. What would you need to add/change/deepen to yield
significant improvement within two years? (~ 15 minutes)
3. In order to make this happen, what do you need to do in
the next month and who needs to be involved? (~10
minutes)
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

52. Primary Years Partnerships
Two Both/And Principles
• Build relationships and trust while taking action to
demonstrate progress
• Act with an eye towards building capacity and
expertise
2/27/2015 MA Dept. of Early Education and Care