A New Vision for High-Quality Preschool Curriculum

A high-quality preschool education can foster critical development and learning that promotes joyful, affirming, and enriching learning opportunities that prepare children for success in school and life.

While preschool programs generally provide emotionally supportive environments, their curricula often fall short in advancing learning in math, early literacy, and science, and lack the necessary support for multilingual learners emerging bilingualism.

Additionally, access to high-quality, effective early learning experiences may be limited and inadequate based on factors such as a childs race, location, gender, language, identified disability, and socioeconomic status. A New Vision for High-Quality Preschool Curriculum examines preschool curriculum quality for children from ages three to five, with special attention to the needs of Black and Latine children, multilingual learners, children with disabilities and children experiencing poverty in the United States.

The report articulates a vision for high-quality preschool curricula for all children, grounded in an equity and justice-oriented principles from inception to implementation and evaluation. Table of ContentsFront MatterSummary1 Introduction2 Evidence on the Effectiveness of Preschool Curricula3 The Science of Early Learning and Brain Development4 Developing High-Quality, Equitable Preschool Curricula5 Optimizing the Learning Environment for Effective and EquitableCurriculum Delivery6 Specialized and Targeted Curricula and Practices for SupportingChildren with Disabilities7 High-Quality Early Childhood Curriculum for Multilingual Learners8 State- and Program-Level Curriculum Decision Making and Selection9 Examining Variation in Curriculum Effects10 Conclusions, Recommendations, and Research NeedsAppendix A: Existing Curricula Identified By the Committee'sCommissioned Literature ReviewAppendix B: Committee Member and Staff BiosketchesAppendix C: Disclosure of Unavoidable Conflict of Interest