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School Readiness vs. Student Readiness | #HatchExperts Sneak Peek

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I remember the first time I met Dr. Sid Gilford. It was during NAEYC 2013 in Washington DC and when he stopped by our booth I thought to myself, “Where have I seen this guy before…” and then I realized it was because I had his brand new book, Learning from Head Start, A Teacher’s Guide to School Readiness waiting for me on my desk! We struck up a conversation and from that point on I knew I wanted to have him on a #HatchExperts webinar to speak with everyone. Dr. Sid knows the Head Start system inside and out and I can’t imagine a better way to conclude our Fall 2014 season than by hearing his presentation on “School Readiness: Why the ‘Buzz’ and How to Effectively Implement It“, Thursday, November 13 from 2-3:30 PM ET. If you ever had any questions about the history of Head Start, wondered where it’s headed next, or wanted to see if your classroom practices aligned to best practice, he’s your man.

I was able to chat with Dr. Sid for a little bit in anticipation of his upcoming webinar. It was an enlightening talk and now I can’t wait until Thursday!

1)   You’ve had a long history with Head Start—what have been some of the most significant changes you’ve seen within the program over the years?

Head Start is one of, if not the nation’s longest running temporary programs. It started the summer of 1965 as an eight-week summer demonstration project staffed mostly by volunteers that was part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. There was such a large, unexpected enrollment response more volunteers had to be recruited to meet the need. Since its inception Head Start has grown to a full‑day year‑round program with a variety of delivery models (known as program options). Each year a million children from birth to age five and their families are provided child development, health, and other comprehensive services at 1,700 agencies across the U.S. and in every territory.

One significant change was the addition of Early Head Start in 1995 with services to pregnant women and children birth to three and their families. Early Head Start serves approximately150,000 children and 6,000 pregnant women annually. Prior to 1995 families with children up to three years of age had been served by Head Start programs through demonstration projects including Parent Child Centers, Comprehensive Child Development Centers, and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs.

Brain research, especially related to earliest years of life, has had a significant impact not only on Head Start but early education throughout the world. It has not only made us aware how pliable and important children’s early learning years and experiences are, it has influenced what we teach and how we teach it.

Other significant changes were included in the 1990 Head Start Reauthorization Act when the program’s mission shifted from establishing social competence to achieving school readiness, plus expansion to full‑day full‑year services, a focus on child outcome performance measures, school transition requirements, and an emphasis on literacy.

 

2)   You’ve written several books for educators, what made you decide to write your first book? Do you have plans for another?

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My first book, Learning from Head Start, A Teacher’s Guide to School Readiness (Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2013) is a subject-by-subject training and resource book for all early childhood teachers, managers, and practitioners. It combines current early childhood education research-based best practices with relevant applications and is designed to be a college text, workshop training book, or a “grab off the shelf “resource.

I started with Head Start as an assistant teacher. Later, my other positions included responsibility for training and technical assistance for a program’s 550 staff, teaching college courses, and being an Early Head Start director at a program I turned around and that was selected as a national showcase model. As the 2013 Head Start teacher bachelor degree requirements were approaching I kept wondering about what book would be used for teaching classroom staff who were pursuing their early childhood degrees. There are good books on different topics and some that combine summaries on various early childhood subjects. I thought there should be one book that included everything, which of course does not exclude going to other resources for more in-depth information on a particular topic. I reached out to my network, received a wonderful response, and identified experts who wrote chapters on their areas of expertise. Most of the authors are university professors whom I asked to write chapters with scenarios, research, and practical applications and that were clear and easily understood by those who may be new to the field.

My other publications include Substitute Teaching, Everything You Need for Success (Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2014) and an article, “School Readiness: What It Is and How To Do It,” (Exchange, The Early Childhood Leaders’ Magazine, May/June 2014). Currently, I have been working on a piece about the purpose of schools and education in United States.

 

3)   What is one of the more interesting or surprising things you learned about school readiness while researching your book, Learning from Head Start?

School readiness is such a “hot” topic now but early childhood people have been preparing young children to be successful in school for ages, maybe not using the term school readiness. On the other hand, in my view, I would like more people in general to think of schooling as part of life readiness not just preparing students for the next grade.

 

4)   Is the focus on school readiness (or a similar initiative) something one would see globally or is it primarily focused in the United States?

There is a strong focus on school readiness in the United States. Of course, we are very ethnocentric, which is indicative in the question. I would refer your webcast listeners and readers to UNICEF’s School Readiness: a Conceptual Framework (United Nations Children’s Fund, New York, updated in April 2012).

 

5)   What can folks expect to take away from your webinar?

My overall goal is the same as my workshops on this topic, that the term School Readiness have meaning and the audience be aware of some practical applications and next steps.

The web cast will include a brief history of school readiness in the U.S., a definition, Core Learning Areas, foundations for developing School Readiness Goals, recommended action steps, what happens going forward, and the concluding “think about this” question: Is School Readiness actually Student Readiness?

 

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I hope you found our chat as fascinating as I did. Don’t forget to join us, Thursday, November 13th from 2-3:30 PM ET for School Readiness: Why the ‘Buzz’ and How to Effectively Implement It“. It’s going to be a treat!

The post School Readiness vs. Student Readiness | #HatchExperts Sneak Peek appeared first on Hatch.


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