Essential Child Experiences Instructional Toolkit

Instructional Toolkit Workgroup Participation

Participation in the Instructional Toolkit workgroup consists of two phases. During the first phase, toolkit workgroup members participated in four virtual workshops that met in January and February 2022. The purpose of the workshops was to deepen workgroup members’ learning about the six Essential Child Experiences before engaging in the second phase. The second phase includes monthly community of practice meetings. The community of practice meetings began in March 2022 and will end in December 2022. During the meetings, toolkit workgroup members have the opportunity to discuss, create, and try out “tools” to include in the toolkit. Toolkit workgroup members are eligible for a total of $1,000 compensation for participation in 2022. The work of the community of practice is emergent; however, data from the completed workshop phase is presented below.

Institute staff provided opportunities for educators to develop understanding and capacity for intellectually rigorous, developmentally appropriate, and culturally responsive teaching and learning birth through Grade 3, including: • Designed and facilitated Essential Child Experiences foundational workshops (participants included 15 educators and 15 school/child care leaders) • Facilitated monthly engagement of an intensive learning cohort with the Instructional

Toolkit Workgroup (15 educators and 15 school/child care leaders)

Instructional Toolkit Workgroup Survey

Toolkit workgroup members were asked to complete a survey before and after attending the four workshops to assess (1) their comfort level implementing the six Essential Child Experiences in their classrooms and (2) their understanding of each Essential Child Experience.

Findings Comfort Level

Toolkit workgroup members were asked to rate their comfort level in implementing each of the six Essential Child Experiences in the classroom on a scale of 1 to 5. The average comfort across the six Essential Child Experiences was 3.97 before the workshops and 3.93 after the workshops. Survey results show that toolkit members indicated high comfort ratings for Cultural, Linguistic, and Personal Relevance, Cognitive Challenge, and Child-Initiated Exploration and Innovation after participating in the workgroups. However, the opposite was true for the other three Essential Child Experiences. Toolkit workgroup members indicated slightly lower comfort ratings for Language-Rich Communication, Collaboration Among Peers, and Child DecisionMaking and Planning after participating in the workgroups. Although not major, the

slight changes in comfort scores could be primarily driven by toolkit workgroup members’ shifts in understanding of the six Essential Child Experiences after participating in the workshops.

Understanding

Toolkit workgroup members were asked to describe their understanding of each of the six essential experiences in their own words before and after the workshops. To analyze responses, predetermined elements of each Essential Child Experience definition (as presented in the workshops) were identified and a qualitative approach was utilized to evaluate survey responses for use of the predetermined definition elements. Survey responses suggested a slight shift in how members thought about the six Essential Child Experiences. For example, toolkit workgroup members defined Cultural, Linguistic, and Personal Relevance as something related to language and identity prior to attending workshops; however, after the workshops, members provided a more in-depth definition by including additional terms, such as background information, in their definition. When asked to define Cognitive Challenge, most members defined it in terms of rigor before participating in the workshops. After the workshops, members expanded the definition to include the development of knowledge and thinking. The most noticeable shift was how toolkit workgroup members defined Language-Rich Communication. After the workshops, members included terms such as interaction, speaking, literacy, and discourse as part of the definition of Language-Rich Communication. These terms were not as prevalent in definitions before participating in the workshops.

Results of these surveys indicate that workshops had the most meaningful impact on how workgroup members defined the six Essential Child Experiences. While workgroup members indicated minimal change in their comfort levels implementing the essential experiences in their classroom, learning was evident in the expanded definitions of these terms following the workshops. Future assessments will continue to evaluate learning and documentation of the Essential Child Experiences Toolkit.

SUMMARY OF INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE EFFORTS

During the 2021–2022 transitional year, the Institute’s instructional staff supported the development of teaching and learning by stepping in to substitute in classrooms for educators and paraprofessionals; serving on lunch duty and other school-related tasks; and providing one-on-one attention to children to guide positive behavior and target academic needs. They continued to provide coaching, consultation, and modeling upon educator and principal request to build educators’ capacity to utilize effective instructional and classroom management strategies through evidence-based practices and data-informed decision-making.