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PreK On My Way Case Study Report
“The vocabulary cards; the kids really respond to those... . Then there is an activity, an interactive kind of activity, yesterday for example, let’s stand up, let’s pretend we are the seed, let’s pretend we are the ste m or the trunk, let’s pretend we are the leaves with our bodies, so the kids really enjoyed the movement or action component with the vocabulary. That’s been very successful since the beginning. The small-group cards; those activities have been successful because they are really hands on.” – PreK Teacher
Implementation Challenges
Respondents also reported some early challenges during implementation of the curriculum. Most respondents ( n = 5) described the challenge of fitting the curriculum into a typical school day, given the other programs they also had to implement. Teachers struggled to implement all components of the curriculum, given the other programs that they also had to implement. One district staff member described how implementing the three whole-group times and small-group instruction was particularly challenging during half-day PreK programs.
“[ A challenge was] trying to fit all three lessons followed by all three small groups in the schedule of my day. On top of the other specials. I have 3 different programs in my classroom. My daycare kids come from 8 – 4. My UPK comes from 8:30 – 2:30. Students with IEPs come from 9 – 2:30. Trying to fit all the lessons in so all students would
feel included, that’s where I struggled .” - PreK Teacher
Respondents also mentioned three other main challenges during implementation. Three district staff members mentioned that teachers in their district initially felt overwhelmed learning the curriculum, given different components. The center director shared that learning the curriculum was even difficult for bilingual Spanish-speaking teachers who did not have a dual-language teaching certification. They explained that speaking Spanish and teaching Spanish were two different types of skills. In District A, two district staff members described the difficulty of differentiating the PKOMW curriculum to the needs of children with varying needs in different classroom types, including general education, special education, half-day and full-day, and inclusion classrooms.
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