PreK-3rd

Many factors can drive the creation, expansion and improvement of early childhood educational opportunities; higher funding, legislative reform efforts and technical expertise are chief among them. But perhaps the biggest impetus for reform is strong and competent leadership.

On May 11, 2012, Lisa Guernsey gave a talk at Harvard University's PreK-3rd Institute on the federal government's role so far in reforming early education to enable better alignment across the pre-K, kindergarten, first, second and third grades (PreK-3rd). The presentation examines the Obama Administration's top-level education agenda and its early learning policies and describes how new and existing federal programs and funding streams are influencing the work of states and school districts in creating better early education systems for young children.

On May 17, 2012, Lisa Guernsey gave a talk at the Education Writers Association annual meeting in Philadelphia on new trends in watching and measuring good teaching that was based in part on the New America paper, Watching Teachers Work: Using Observation Tools to Promote Effective Teaching in the Early Years and Early Grades.

On April 15, 2012, Lisa Guernsey was part of an invited symposium at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Vancouver, Canada.

A little over two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education announced its draft proposal for a new Race to the Top competition that allows school districts, not states as was the case in the original Race to the Top program, to compete for 2012 grants. Today is the last day to submit recommendations for making changes to the proposed guidelines, which have both opportunities and challenges for early educators to consider. 

A little over two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education announced its draft proposal for a new Race to the Top competition that invites school districts to compete for 2012 grants.

If school districts want to win between $15 million and $25 million in the next Race to the Top competition, they will have to focus on personalized learning, according to draft guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Education today. They will also need to come up with a way to link student performance to the evaluation of teachers and school leaders, such as principals.

Two years ago, the federal government began distributing $3 billion in stimulus funds to some of the nation's lowest performing schools through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. With SIG funds, states are expected to rapidly transform schools according to program guidelines put out by the Department of Education.

Two years ago, the federal government began distributing $3 billion in stimulus funds to some of the nation's lowest performing schools through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. With SIG funds, states are expected to rapidly transform schools according to program guidelines put out by the Department of Education.

This month’s issue of Educational Leadership magazine, published by ASCD, features an article I wrote, “Preparing Teachers for the Early Grades.” In it I share findings and recommendations from my policy paper, “Getting in Sync: Revamping Licensing and Preparation for Teachers in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and the Early Grades.”