Blended Learning Implementation Strategies for the K-12 Classroom

• January 3, 2012 by Cory Armes

Blended learning, the combination of independent online learning with supervised brick and mortar programs, is on the rise.  While there were 2.94 million students participating in a hybrid learning program in 2010, it is expected that the number will be 10.07 million by 2015.  

This growth pattern surpasses homeschooling, virtual schools and online charter schools.  Schools employing these methods believe that students are more engaged with a 24/7 access model and have seen improvement in both district achievement and graduation rates.  It does require a culture shift that includes a strong emphasis on trust, but there are many benefits.

Through a blended learning program, educators can move beyond the “one teacher, one textbook model” of education in a host of ways, including:

• Allowing students to move at their own pace and excel
• Providing “just-in-time” intervention
• Grouping students more effectively
• Providing real world experiences
• Helping students construct meaning rather than just memorizing (and forgetting) facts
• Creating learning opportunities across grade levels, subjects, departments and between teachers and students
• Teaching problem-solving in multidisciplinary units
• Encouraging 21^st century collaboration through videoconferencing with authors, speakers and other students from around the world
• Increasing productivity – both for themselves and students
• And more

The trend toward blended learning within a district often begins in a specific school or grade level.  For example, some districts start using blended learning strategies with their alternative education program, as the students are monitored by teachers at the alternative school but are supported by their general education teacher’s instruction, which can be delivered virtually.  Others have found it makes sense to prepare students taking AP classes by providing virtual summer reading groups that include discussions and self-assessments in pre-class learning.

As blended learning takes hold with the starting group, the enthusiasm often quickly spreads when teachers see the opportunities for stronger student engagement and enhanced learning.  Some districts also have found it helpful to implement online professional development programs as another way to help teachers gain acceptance and make the transition to blended learning.

Teachers can build powerful learning systems over time by adding online components to their classes.  Starting gradually allows teachers to learn at their own pace and gives them a better understanding of what is needed on the teacher’s side to make blended and online learning more successful for students.  A simple way to begin is with a blogging program, posting stimulating questions to foster student discussion, then guiding students in ways to respond appropriately to their peers in writing.  Once the initial tools and processes are mastered by teachers and students, teachers can expand the initiative by asking students to turn assignments in electronically, encouraging students to participate in discussion boards or providing online quizzes that are self-graded.

Incorporating a virtual option into their classroom model enables teachers to more easily and effectively communicate with parents, collaborate district-wide via online communities and distribute curriculum materials.  When curriculum maps are loaded into the district learning platform, students, parents and teachers can see where they are in the curriculum, and where they should be, at any given point in time.

The addition of virtual learning options can also solve pacing disparities that are more difficult to address in standard classrooms, such as providing more rigorous programs and college courses (engineering and biomedical classes, etc.) for advanced students.  Similarly, students in need of credit recovery can be grouped in virtual learning programs that help them catch up and move forward, rather than re-teaching in the traditional environment.

Transitioning to a blended learning model is not about spending more, but about reallocating resources, changing mindsets and creating a paradigm shift within an existing culture. Most importantly, though, it’s about doing what is right for kids.  The world they live in is fast, flexible, and online, and their schools should be, too.

References

Blended Learning Strategies for K-12 Leaders

Hybrid Learning Pushes Personalization Forward

Related Reading:

The Trend to Blend: The Debate Over Online and Blended Learning

Individualizing Instruction Through Understanding Different Types of Learners

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, blended learning, creativity, curriculum, digital natives, how children learn, innovation, learning environment, motivating students, school leader effectiveness, student growth, teacher effectiveness, technology in education

School Gardens: Sowing the Seeds of Experiential Learning

• December 15, 2011 by Norene Wiesen

Many children’s songs and rhymes reference gardens and the vegetable world, but when I was a student we stayed indoors singing rather than experiencing that world firsthand. But in the last two decades, schools have introduced gardening into the curriculum as a way for students to learn lessons only nature can provide. Allowing students to research, design, and build a garden gives a teacher an opportunity to demonstrate the practical application of classroom subjects in a real world scenario.

Activities such as composting, selecting appropriate plants for a climate zone, and profiling soils are directly related to science and ecology. Building trellises, measuring wood for fences, and solving garden equations such as “If a row is 10 feet long and we plant our corn 12 inches apart how many corn stalks can we grow in one row?” all contribute towards mathematical problem solving. Having students keep a handwritten and illustrated journal is a great way for them to develop handwriting and written communication skills, and to scientifically observe and chronicle the seed-to-plant life cycle.  The opportunities for learning go on and on, from collecting bugs and insects in a terrarium and observing their habitat and behavior, to researching the nutritional composition of vegetables grown, to learning safe kitchen procedures and following a recipe in preparation for cooking the harvest later in the school year.

When I was a child I detested most vegetables, even ones I had yet to taste! Because students are often willing to taste vegetables they have helped to grow, school gardens can improve a child’s eating habits, giving them nutrient rich foods that may be lacking in their diet. It’s also fun for children to participate in the preparation of meals, adding a sense of accomplishment in seeing their harvest from seed to plate. Students can opt to sell their vegetables and flowers to raise money for their school or a class field trip to a local garden. Introducing a business plan and how to handle money is a great hands-on math assignment that can be rewarding for students.

Just as important as the practical, hands-on skills that the garden teaches, are the aspects of self-regulation required to bring plants to maturity.  A student who wishes to eat a carrot must leave the carrot in the ground until it is grown rather than pulling it up as soon as it sprouts.  This lesson is quickly learned, as is the lesson that the carrot plant must receive proper care and nurturing  in the form of sun and water and protection from frost and pests so it can fully develop.  For many students, a garden provides a rare opportunity to experience first hand the importance of patience and nurturance as life skills.  There are no short cuts, and pulling a big orange carrot out of the ground is an irrefutable reward for a job well done.

School gardens provide a highly practical and direct form of education, where children can see the results of their decisions and actions. Learning how to grow good food not only gives students a chance to apply classroom learning in a practical setting, but can also improve health, provide a livelihood, and increase self-sufficiency.

So find out how you can get involved in your school’s garden, or start to build one with your students.  What a difference it can make.

Related Reading:

Modeling Healthy Choices: Three Habits for Optimal Brain Health

Individualizing Instruction Through Understanding Different Types of Learners

 

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: creativity, how children learn, learning environment, learning through play, math, motivating students, novelty, nutrition, play, school leader effectiveness, science, teacher effectiveness, teacher impact

Using the Power of Optimal Timing to Improve the Brain’s Ability to Learn

• December 13, 2011 by Bill Jenkins, Ph.D.

Learning is both a behavioral and biological process that is supported by the neurons in the brain over time.

When we learn, our brain cells physically change in response to stimulation, forming pathways to facilitate the connections we use repeatedly. For example, if you meet a person only once, you might not remember their name or recognize their face if you were to run into them on the street ten years on. On the other hand, if you see that person every day for a year, you will likely be able to recognize their face and remember their name much more readily should you not see that person for a long period of time.

Learning processes like these in the brain take predictable, measured amounts of time. While these rates will vary from person to person and nervous system to nervous system, we can depend upon certain relatively constant timeframes for learning and processing an understanding of some of these timeframes can allow educators to take maximum advantage of them. That’s why the Fast ForWord® products function on each of these scales by design, using the power of optimal timing to improve the brain’s ability to learn.

Learning depends upon a specific feedback loop characterized by timing between stimulus, response and reward ^[i]. Here are some of those timescales, along with how Fast ForWord works within each:

• Milliseconds: Auditory processing happens on the millisecond timescale. Fast ForWord helps improves auditory processing rate to ensure that students are able to “keep up” with auditory input such as spoken directions from their teacher.
• Seconds: Reinforcement learning happens on a scale of seconds and is achieved by interacting with one’s surroundings.  The Fast ForWord program’s reward system is based on this time scale, delivering rewards to students at just the right moment to maximize reinforcement learning, helping students get the most benefit from the program.
• Minutes: Our actions change based on how we perceive our surroundings. This kind of adaptation can take minutes. As students move through Fast ForWord exercises, they can see their performance results changing minute by minute. Being able to see such improvement helps motivate students toward greater learning. In other words, as they perceive the positive results of their actions, students adapt and learn to generate more of those positive results.
• Days or Weeks: Consolidation and maturation of memories can take days or weeks. When a student overcomes an obstacle in Fast ForWord, their confidence is strengthened and they not only learn the material, but they learn about their own capabilities and what success feels like. The memories of such experiences and the associated feelings – gathered and built upon over the days, weeks and months – lay the foundation to spur them on to future success. Such success in the classroom can lead to a greater drive to perform well in other areas, such as doing well on a test, winning on the athletic field, or successfully completing that college application.   We cannot underestimate the power of experiencing success and the sensation that it creates.

In the classroom, having an awareness of how long it takes for a student to assimilate and process certain kinds of information can add an entirely different rhythm to our instruction. In having such an understanding of how the brains of our students work, we can time our teaching to optimize learning and help our students achieve maximum success.

References:

[i] Why Time Matters Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center. University of California San Diego

Related Reading:

The Brain Gets Better at What it Does: Dr. Martha Burns on Brain Plasticity

Video Games: A New Perspective on Learning Content and Skills

 

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Categories: Brain Fitness, Brain Research, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, accelerate learning, auditory processing, brain plasticity, emotions in learning, how children learn, learning environment, motivating students, processing rate, teacher impact, technology in education

The Making of a 21st Century Educator: 5 Ways to be a Better Teacher in Today’s Classroom

• December 6, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

The highest calling of today's education system is to equip students with the characteristics and skills needed to navigate the ever-changing 21st century global economy as adults. We talk a lot about how to engage students and make them better learners, but how often do we step back and consider how to make better educators? The success of our students and the effectiveness of the education system as a whole starts and ends with the teacher.

So what might an effective 21st century educator look like? eSchool News recently polled its readers and came up with five characteristics that the most effective educators have in common.  Here’s what you can do to emulate them:

• Be forward thinking. The 21st century educator must have a broader vision, anticipating and adapting to trends, not only in education, but technology and science as well. Our teachers are tasked with preparing students, not for the world as it exists today, but for the one they will someday inherit.
• Be an eager learner. Technology has become a fundamental part of our students' daily experience, both in and out of the classroom. Educators operating in such a rapidly evolving technological climate simply must be willing to learn to effectively teach. The phrase "lead by example" comes to mind. If we want our students to be inquisitive, open-minded and willing to learn from making mistakes, so must be our teachers.
• Be a builder of relationships. Today's students are more likely to gauge their number of friends on Facebook than by who sits with them at the lunch table. In such a world of technological isolation, where it's possible to go through an entire day without real human interaction, we must facilitate interpersonal relationships within the classroom while prioritizing communication, respect and cooperation.
• Be equipped to teach all levels of learners. As effective 21st century educators, we not only need to be armed with the same characteristics and skills we plan to impart on our students, we must also have the ability to teach those characteristics and skills to every student at every level in the classroom. This includes the ability to effectively relate to students and teach to their unique learning styles.
• Be able to implement technology effectively. Enhancing the educational environment with technology can facilitate faster learning and streamline teacher tasks, such as grading, planning and presenting lessons, but simply putting a computer in front of your students isn't enough. Technology can just as easily be distracting or unproductive. An effective 21st century educator will have the discernment and know-how to incorporate technology into the classroom in a way that facilitates, rather than distracts from, teaching and learning.

As educators working under pressure to maximize student performance, we sometimes focus all of our time and energy on developing curriculum, planning and implementing lessons, and accessing our students' skill level at the expense of our own ongoing education. If we take the time to foster the characteristics necessary to be an effective educator in ourselves and our peers, our students will ultimately benefit.

References:

Five characteristics of an effective 21st-century educator

Related Reading:

Using Google in the Classroom: Two Simple Tips to Refine Your Search

Facebook in Schools: Tool or Taboo?

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: how children learn, learning environment, motivating students, school leader effectiveness, teacher effectiveness, teacher impact, technology in education

Facebook in Schools: Tool or Taboo?

• December 1, 2011 by Joseph DuLaney

When it comes to opinions on the use of Facebook in education, there’s a pretty clear dividing line: one side believes that when used in the right way, Facebook can be a tool, while the other thinks it is a distraction that should be kept away from schools. 

Statistics show that 85 - 95% of American high school and college students are on Facebook, with a majority accessing Facebook via smartphone. When so many students access Facebook on their phones, it would be easy to take the position that Facebook could siphon time from classwork and create distraction.  The clear remedy would be to ban cell phone use and block Facebook access on campus.

One question, though, begs to be asked those who have taken this approach:  How is this working out for you?

This question is not a criticism of school or district policy, as the appropriate use of technology in education is a legitimate concern and there are challenges that arise from open access to Facebook in schools.  However, when our students are using Facebook via smartphone as a primary means of communication, should we be communicating with them as “digital natives” on their terms?

There may be constructive alternatives to banning one of the most powerful tools our students have access to today.  Let’s take a look at a few simple ways to use Facebook as an education tool and eliminate some of the taboo that comes along with it.

1)      Create a private, closed group page for a class and invite students to join.  Teachers can use a group page like this to invite students to connect in a safe manner that does not connect them to personal pages.  In addition, teachers can add or remove students at any time, thus keeping the group intact and current their current class.

2)      Post a daily topic of discussion.  Have the students view the page daily to see what the next day’s class discussion topic will be.  Via the comments section, allow students to ask questions and post thoughts that can be used to guide the next day’s lesson.  This is also a great way to see where your students’ base knowledge of a subject lies.  If you’re worried about inappropriate comments, set clear guidelines up front and let students know that access will be permanently removed for any student who violates the rules. Chances are, students will see it as more important to be able to access Facebook and use the tool than to test the boundaries and be banned.

3)      Post links to articles, resources and websites for your students.  Your Facebook group page is a quick and easy place for you to share other learning tools you have found that could help them.

4)      Once a week, have a student create a daily topic of discussion.  Open up discussion to topics your students find relevant in their world.  A topic may not be within your exact curriculum, but use it as a chance to understand their world and have a meaningful line of communication.

5)      Review the comments monthly with your students. As the year goes on, the level and depth of discussion should grow. Use this as an opportunity to motivate your class by going back and reviewing the comments with your students.  Assess the growth as a group, having the class highlight comments they felt led to higher level thinking and challenged them.  Support the conversation by recognizing discussions you feel had a strong impact on the group as a whole.

Whether you are in favor of using Facebook in schools or not, there’s no denying that our students today learn, communicate and socialize in ways that we never imagined.  It is a challenge for us to reach them sometimes, and every once in a while we will have to take a leap and try something new.

Related Reading:

Using Google in the Classroom: Two Simple Tips to Refine Your Search

Opening the Classroom Through Online Collaboration: 21^st Century Learning Environments

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: creativity, curriculum, digital natives, innovation, learning environment, motivating students, technology in education

Creating Safe Learning Environments: How Classroom Management Influences Student Performance

• November 15, 2011 by Sherrelle Walker, M.A.

Think back to your grade school days. Did you ever experience a class where a bully ruled the roost? Were you ever bullied yourself?  Did you ever have a teacher who frightened you or who made you feel bad for underperforming? Or was there simply a disruptive class clown who constantly broke the classroom rhythm the teacher was trying so hard to create?

To varying degrees, all of the above situations can create what we might consider an unsafe learning environment. The teacher must take unquestionable ownership of the classroom, but do so in a positive, caring, constructive manner. The class succeeds or fails on his or her decisions and management of the entire learning experience.

Why is managing that classroom and creating that safe environment where learning can happen so essential? In her article on the value of safe learning environments, Lora Desautels, Ph.D., reminds us that during adolescence, the part of the brain that controls emotional responses—the amygdala—develops faster than other centers of the brain while the prefrontal cortex, a center for logical thought and rational response, develops later. Thus, our students are more effectively wired for emotion than logic. Their systems are primed to react to situations with feelings and they have not yet fully developed the ability to apply logical thinking to keep those feelings in check.

It follows that the stimuli within and surrounding the learning environment can have great effects on these emotional responses and can serve to either support or impair the learning process. The bully, the clown, and the teacher can all have a profound effect on how well a student learns.

So what can we as educators do to bring down the levels of stress in our classrooms and make sure that our learning environments are safe places where optimal learning can take place? How can we create spaces that keep the emotional responses as positive and free of stress and anxiety as possible so that we can most effectively engage fresh young minds?

Rebecca Alber has written a wonderful list of twenty ways to create a safe learning environment for Edutopia, which I highly recommend. Her advice for educators includes building community, setting clear boundaries, smiling and laughing a lot, and getting to know each individual student, as well as allowing them to get to know something personal about you. She says we should sit with our students. We should keep our expectations for student performance and behavior high. And we should incorporate art and music into the day.

I agree with Alber’s top twenty. I find it wonderful that she strikes a balance between creating a space that is fun and welcoming and full of laughter, but also one where expectations are set and failures become learning opportunities. All of them can do wonders when it comes to creating a space where students can let go of their stresses and anxieties and free their minds to absorb all the wonderful learning we have in store for them.

In the end, the responsibility for implementing these kinds of principles and removing the stressors that can impair learning lie with us, the educators. Creating that safe learning environment is a multifaceted challenge that, when done well, allows students to flourish.

Related Reading:

Tapping the Source: Finding and Using the Innate Student Passion for Learning

Inspiring Students to Dream, Learn and Grow

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Categories: Brain Research, Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, behavior, brain development, emotions in learning, health and well being, how children learn, learning environment, self-esteem, teacher impact

Shaming Some Kids Makes Them Aggressive

• November 3, 2011 by Bill Jenkins, Ph.D.

Many people believe that youth who are aggressive and violent towards other children have low self-esteem. Youth programs are often designed to boost self-esteem in kids at risk. Does the research support this belief? A team of researchers designed a study on young teens to examine their responses to feeling shame.

The subjects were asked to compete in an easy, timed task against a competitor.  Some of the youth experienced shame when they were shown a fake list of competitors’ times and saw their own times at the bottom of the list.  The group that did not experience shame was not shown competitors’ times or their own rank.  Then all participants were given an opportunity to act aggressively by blasting their opponent with loud noise through headphones.  All participants also completed self report measures of narcissism (grandiose views of self, inflated sense of entitlement) and self-esteem a few weeks prior to the competition. 

The results of this experiment showed no evidence that the kids with low self-esteem were more aggressive.  Instead, kids with narcissistic traits were most likely to react to shame with aggression.  This is interesting to think about from the perspective of educators who want to support learning through optimizing a collaborative atmosphere as opposed to promoting a highly competitive environment.

References:

The Cracked Mirror: Features of Narcissistic Personality Disorder in Children. 2009.

Related Reading:

Of Rats and Men: How Stress Affects the Brain

Adolescence: What’s the Brain Got to do with it?

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Categories: Family Focus, Reading & Learning

Tags: behavior, emotions in learning, health and well being, learning environment, self-esteem, teacher impact

10 Big Benefits of Using iPads in Schools

• September 27, 2011 by Corey Fitzgerald

Got an iPad yet?  School leaders say it’s not just a cool toy, but rather a powerful, versatile tool that is virtually changing the face of education.  With more than 15,000 “educational apps” available through Apple’s app store, teachers and students alike are having no trouble finding content and material for all areas of learning. 

From kindergarten through college, iPads offer educators more diverse methods for delivering instruction and engaging students for learning in the 21^st century.  Here are 10 big benefits of using iPads in schools:

1. Tablets fit students’ lifestyles – The appeal of using iPads in school is obvious and students find them easier to use than traditional computers.  This novelty leads to learning and when schools don’t implement what has now become “everyday technology”, we’re doing students a disservice. Besides, who wants to carry a backpack full of books?
2. Classrooms are ready for the iPad – Tablets are fully compatible with online teaching and learning platforms which can be easily integrated into the everyday classroom.  Some of the most innovative instructional software is being developed specifically for tablets, and teachers and students alike are more comfortable using them.
3. Students can run the helpdesk – Not only are kids eager to embrace new technology but many can troubleshoot and resolve computer issues faster than adults.  With many districts experiencing cutbacks in IT staffing, it’s a natural fit for students to handle many of the basic questions to assist in routine triage and problem solving.  And, there’s an app for that.  Check out the SchoolObject:helpdesk by Eduphoria in the App store!
4. Collaborative content creation – Never before has it been easier to create and share content with others.  The touch interface of iPad revolutionizes the way we interact with computers, making it easier to leverage database and social networking technology, like wikis, to promote collaboration and communication for enhanced learning.
5. Mobile data collection – From the science classroom to the gymnasium, students are now recording observations in the lab and on the court.  Today’s teachers can more easily integrate instruction in cross-curricular lessons, for example, when students studying physiology measure their heart and breathing rates during exercise and apply it to their cellular respiration lab.
6. Tablets integrate with IT trends – With tablets and cloud-based computing systems, students can work from anywhere on campus with greater portability and connectivity.  Schools also don’t have to pay for computing power that they no longer need.
7. iPads make mobile computing labs easier (and lighter) – Many schools utilize carts of laptops to bring technology into the classroom.  When you compare the cost, size and mobility factor, tablets win.
8. Paperless innovation - School districts have found creative ways to use iPads to save money.  From homework and tests to digital textbooks, the iPad offers numerous ways to eliminate paper, saving dollars and the environment.
9. No more missing the bus - Even if a child doesn’t ride a bus to school, chances are they’ll take one for a field trip.  When bus drivers are equipped with an iPad they can easily monitor when children enter and leave the bus, noting time and location, and ensuring everyone is safely accounted for.
10. Virtual tour guide – iPads offer students an exciting way to experience field trip destinations.  From the aquarium to the zoo, children receive enrichment through interactive maps and exhibit-specific content.  And don’t forget to order your souvenirs--they’ll be ready for pickup on your way out.

Related Reading: 

Teaching Creativity in the Classroom

Building Unstructured Play into the Structure of Each Day

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Categories: Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: blended learning, creativity, digital natives, elementary school learning, how children learn, learning environment, motivating students, technology in education

Connecting the Dots Between Infant Temperament and Future Success

• August 18, 2011 by Martha Burns, Ph.D

What factors will ultimately determine a child’s ability to succeed in life? While measures like socioeconomic status might allow a child to start off on the right foot, current research is delving into the nature of temperament and how that affects a person’s ability to successfully navigate life’s many challenges.   If temperament is pre-determined, there’s not much a parent can do, but if nurture plays a role, then how can parents help their child have the best quality of life?

While temperament has long been thought of as something innate, recent research has demonstrated that only some aspects are genetic, while others are environmental.

On the genetic side, as any parent will agree, much of an individual’s personality manifests very early on in the infant’s life. Parents with more than one child often note that one of their children seems easygoing from day one, but another child is demanding. One child may be outgoing and social, while their sibling may be more shy or withdrawn.

As we consider how these seemingly innate traits develop, we cannot ignore the fact that the environment – from parental attention to nutrition – exerts a strong influence on a child’s personality development. Current research tells us that a pregnant mother’s iron levels can affect the disposition of her child. Emerging data gleaned from animal research indicates that the quality of maternal parenting styles, such as the way a mother nurses her infants or the amount of maternal grooming, affects the temperament of her offspring.

An interesting question arises: How do these early manifestations play out as the child matures? For example, will an infant who is able to self-calm herself in stressful situations by turning away from aversive stimuli or sucking her thumb, for example, continue to exhibit self-regulatory behaviors as she gets older?

Considering the interplay between innate versus cultivated aspects of temperament, what actions can a parent take to affect the development of a child’s personality to give that child the best chance at personal satisfaction, academic achievement and successful relationships later in life? As the above research – and our own parental gut instincts – suggest, we can set them up by providing:

• Excellent nutrition
• Logical, predictable rules for living with others
• Optimal environments and schedules for sleep
• Lots of interactive play with family and friends
• Less screen time
• Lots and lots of parental love and affection

 

With parents providing these positive factors for their children, every child – from shy to outgoing, from tense to easygoing – will have the best chance at developing a balanced temperament as they mature.

For further study, read: Child Temperament and Parenting, by Samuel Putnam (University of Oregon), Ann Sanson (University of Melbourne), Mary Rothbart (University of Oregon). 

References:

Feder, A; Nestler, EJ; Charney, DS.  Psychobiology and molecular genetics of resilience.  Nature Reviews  Neuroscience 10 (2009) 446 – 457

Related Reading:

Building a Foundation for School Readiness for Low Income Children

The Magical Combination of Love and Limits: Tips for Teaching Positive Behavior

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Categories: Family Focus, Reading & Learning

Tags: academic success, behavior, brain development, cognitive skills, decision making, early learning, how children learn, infant brain, Innate abilities, learning environment, learning through play, play

Building a Foundation for School Readiness for Low Income Children

• August 16, 2011 by Bill Jenkins, Ph.D.

As educators with experience in child development, we understand the essential nature of being responsive to a child. Children who do not receive enough attention do not develop in the same way as those who receive consistent nurturing and feedback. Research has demonstrated how, at a physiological level – their brains simply wire themselves differently as they develop. This deficit in early childhood experiences often manifests itself as developmental delays across a wide spectrum of behaviors. These behavioral delays appear in parallel with delays in brain development.

Imagine a child growing up in a home where sensitive, responsive caregiving is rare. Maybe mom and/or dad work more hours and are simply not available. Maybe they come home too tired to read or play or simply snuggle with the child. Or, this is an environment where sensitive, responsive nurturing is not valued very highly. While it is not the case in every situation like this, at its extreme, the parent or parents may be truly neglecting the child’s needs at this early stage. Even moderate differences in these important parent-child interactions have important longer-term consequences for development.

Research has shown that in these situations a child’s brain development quickly gets derailed. Children who do not receive enough of what is known as “sensitive-response caregiving” and cognitive stimulation do not develop executive function skills as readily as their counterparts in more caring, stimulating environments. (Lengua et al., 2007; Li-Grining, 2007) In other words, children may not be encouraged to be aware of and interact with the world around them (cognitive stimulation). They also may not be encouraged to engage or develop planning, decision-making or troubleshooting skills (executive function).

Executive functions, also known as “domain-general” functions, are those called upon in various types of learning opportunities; these include such functions as working memory, regulation of emotions and attentional control. On the other hand, a “domain-specific” cognitive process is one that represents a specific skill or skill area, such as reading or counting.

But what are the implications as children grow and enter school? Recently, a team of researchers led by Janet Welsh at Penn State studied readiness for school in a group of Head Start children and how certain cognitive processes were associated with the development of certain skills. Specifically, they studied the relationship between domain-general and domain-specific cognitive processes in these low-income pre-kindergartners, and tracked them through kindergarten.

Welsh‘s study showed that skills scaffolded consistently from one level to the next, and these skill levels represented good indicators of how well the child would develop the next set of skills. In other words, good working memory and attention control predicted the development of early literacy and numeracy skills, and these skills were predictors of later math and reading achievement.

Whether through experience in the home, great work in the pre-kindergarten classroom and/or support from computer-based learning exercises, it is clearly essential that we support the early development of domain-general cognitive skills as early and as strongly as possible.

While this may seem obvious, Welsh’s research underscores the essential nature of laying a foundation in those executive functions, those domain-general cognitive abilities, for each and every student – but especially for those at an economic disadvantage if we are to close the gaps and truly offer the same opportunities to every student.

Read the full study: The Development of Cognitive Skills and Gains in Academic School Readiness for Children From Low-Income Families, Janet A. Welsh, Robert L. Nix, Clancy Blair, Karen L. Bierman, and Keith E. Nelson. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2010, Volume 102, Number 1, p. 43-53.

For further reading:    

Family Involvement in School and Low-Income Children's Literacy Performance, Eric Dearing, Holly Kreider, Sandra Simpkins, and Heather Weiss. Harvard Family Research Project. January 2007.

Early Care and Education for Children in Low-Income Families Patterns of Use, Quality, and Potential Policy Implications, Gina Adams, Kathryn Tout, and Martha Zaslow. Prepared for the Urban Institute and Child Trends. January 2006, revised May 2007.

The impact of poverty on educational outcomes for children, HB Ferguson, S Bovaird, and MP Mueller. Paediatr Child Health. October 2007. 12(8): 701–706.

Related Reading:

Building Unstructured Play Into the Structure of Each Day

Lifelong Learning and the Plastic Brain

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Categories: Brain Research, Education Trends, Reading & Learning

Tags: achievement gap, attention, brain development, cognitive skills, early learning, emotions in learning, executive function, how children learn, learning environment, literacy, math, memory, play, processing, technology in education, toddler