Creative Curriculum: Voices from the Field by Lacey Peters

What do children need in a curriculum?

2024-05-21 21:48:44 UTC

Differentiation for 3K/PreK

2024-05-21 21:51:00 UTC

Will the curriculum become differentiated for 3k/Pre-k students?

Cultural and linguistic responsiveness. To really see themselves in their classrooms, in the books that are read to them, etc.

2024-05-21 21:52:03 UTC

Walking alongside the learner

2024-05-21 21:54:09 UTC

One of the foundational principles of early childhood ed is to observe and document children's understandings, feelings, interests, questions and use that knowledge to shape learning experiences. Being required to follow a scripted curriculum goes against that principle.

Challenge and Advocate

2024-05-21 21:55:44 UTC

“You must be willing to go up against the status quo, to challenge and advocate for meaningful learning environments for yourself and the children.”

― Deb Curtis, Reflecting Children's Lives: A Handbook for Planning Your Child-Centered Curriculum

Excellent resources and research

mmavrides16 — 2024-05-21 21:57:31 UTC

One size fits all will NEVER work

2024-05-21 21:59:13 UTC

Trying to "rollout" one curriculum and assessment tool for every 3 and 4 year old in public preschool in NYC (which is THE most segregated school system in the nation) in one short year...has been bandaid after bandaid after broken promise again and again. The children and communities already most harmed by racialized poverty have been most harmed by this initiative. WE CAN DO BETTER.

How were the CC books selected ? What criteria was used?

mmavrides16 — 2024-05-21 21:59:16 UTC

2024-05-21 22:00:04 UTC

Pay equity, benefits and supports are crucial for CBO teachers. They have the same workload for less pay, often no benefits, and no prep time. This leads to rapid teacher turnover, disrupting the relationships that are essential for learning.

How is TSG data monitored? Shared? Stored? Issues of privacy?

mmavrides16 — 2024-05-21 22:00:34 UTC

kcole128_1 — 2024-05-21 22:02:53 UTC

My hope for the future is that someday we will trust and value the deep knowledge that teachers have about the young children they teach and learn with.

Technology in the EC Classroom

2024-05-21 22:03:26 UTC

As an IC in a teacher support role I work with programs who have prioritized minimal devices in the classrooms (iPads, phones, etc.) in favor of staying connected with children in the moment to moment of the day. With the TSG expectations and processes, minimal tech programs are faced with a choice between changing their philosophy, culture and approach in order to comply with the demands of the DECE or risking their status by remaining true to their values.

Funding

2024-05-21 22:03:38 UTC

How much is this costing taxpayers or what is being cut to pay for this?

Direct, Systematic Instruction

2024-05-21 22:03:53 UTC

If this is a program that is to aid in academic readiness, the intentional teaching experiences need to be more systematic and direct. The experiences in Creative Curriculum jump all over the place. Teachers have to work to make them work in order to meet learning progressions.

$ spent on programs that are discontinued due to political change

2024-05-21 22:04:25 UTC

Building Blocks, an early childhood math program, was heavily invested in and worked with the Units of Study. Teachers were trained and supported in using this approach for five years, using the games and activities to differentiate the learning for children through fun hands on activities. AND then, it was gone. This new change and curriculum was thrust upon teachers, not acknowledging how to continue to use the tools they had with math learning. Teachers are disrespected when these changes take place with no input or respect for what they may see as most helpful for their teaching practice and students.

2024-05-21 22:04:31 UTC

How much money is spent on the DOE's contract with TSG/Creative Curriculum every year?

About technology, TSG data input and teacher workload

2024-05-21 22:05:26 UTC

Teachers have to collect 972 pieces of documentation in a classroom of 18 children. Three times a year! This doesn’t include section for MLL which asks for additional data. And, CBO teachers (with 70% of 3K and PreK classrooms in the city) have no preps.

How are young multilingual learners being supported to learn in their first languages in this linguistically diverse city?

2024-05-21 22:08:26 UTC

Petition to Save Early Childhood Education in NYC

2024-05-21 22:09:15 UTC

Together, we can do it. Please sign our petition. There are 854 signatures and counting. (Signing anonymously is possible.) ~People's ECE NYC is a coalition of early childhood educators, families, leaders, researchers and policymakers fighting to save universal public 3K and PreK in NYC.

Feedback from the classroom?

2024-05-21 22:10:45 UTC

When will teachers be surveyed about their thoughts on Creative Curriculum? There is a lot of top-down directives with little curiosity about the impacts, whether intended or unintended, of corporate canned curriculum and top-down pacing. We have gone into debt to get the degrees and experience necessary to do this job. Our voices should be heard.

2024-05-21 22:11:52 UTC

My question is: As a teacher, how can I influence the decisions that are made for us and the children I teach?

The Power of those in power...

2024-05-21 22:12:11 UTC

What I have learned this year is that those in power have the ability to undo, to dismantle, to undermine, at a pretty rapid pace. But they also underestimate the power from below,,,

That teachers will have a seat at the policy making table

mmavrides16 — 2024-05-21 22:12:32 UTC

The DOE ECE Division is corrupt and full of bureaucrat liarbots. The handful of good people that have worked there over the years get pushed out or leave because they refuse to be complicit. The DOE is an illegitimate institution. Teachers are smarter than the pre-packaged BS word salads they are constantly throwing at us.

2024-05-21 22:13:09 UTC

Links from People's Early Childhood Ed in NYC

2024-05-21 22:14:26 UTC

From Spring 2023. The fight for all our children continues.

2024-05-21 22:15:08 UTC

At my center, I am happy and proud to say that we have embraced the creative curriculum. We are having fun. But it was a lot of work and training.

If you are using TSG and Creative Curriculum, was it introduced to you as a tool or as something you needed to do to fidelity?

2024-05-21 22:16:24 UTC

Where did early childhood dual language go???

2024-05-21 22:16:34 UTC

what has happened to the dual language 3k/4k programs in one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world?

Trust educators, not curriculum (or dichotomies)

2024-05-21 22:17:23 UTC

We need to move away from the Creative Curriculum/ Units of Study dichotomy. The brilliance of educators and the needs of children can be guided by a plethora of emergent approaches which was always an option in the past.

What could have been...

citgmscarolyn — 2024-05-21 22:17:39 UTC

Instead of doing away with the Units of Study, this poorly rolled out CC was purchased. TSG/CC was purchased, Leadership Coaches were hired. Still have staff needing access, there was no walkthrough with the cc with ICs or LCs. I and my teachers needed hands on instruction on the computer but instead we had ICs and LCs coming in and rearranging and telling us we needed to add more, using this "fidelity tool". If the DOE had just first focused on the whole child, children with IEPs, etc they could have instead of LCs hired district Special Ed teachers to work with the social worker and ICs to assist programs. We use our budget to hire additional staff to be in the room so that those children who need extra supports (and CPSE has no providers) we are trying our best to give our children the best experience of school, child-led, play-based focusing on social emotional learning and initial executive functioning skills. That's what our children need going into PreK and K.

2024-05-21 22:18:23 UTC

Why are programs not allowed to use other research based curriculum? There are programs who have spent years developing expertise in other curricula. And why is there no process to request a waiver? Under Josh's leadership, programs were encouraged to use the previous PK Units /3K Explorations but could request a waiver for another research-based curriculum.

Fostering warmth and nurture through early childhood and beyond

2024-05-21 22:23:14 UTC

Young children are being pushed into being big children from the time they enter educational spaces. Let's slow down and let the humanity and the love for children take precedence. It takes one loving adult to change the trajectory of a child's future. Love is a word that can be used in our work.

4410 teaching teams

2024-05-21 22:24:06 UTC

In what way can TSG system support the tracking of data points related to IEP goals?

How can the TSG system help in generating new IEP goals when an IEP has lapsed and annual report or KIP reports are pending?

Assessments

2024-05-21 22:25:47 UTC

Teachers don't have time to use the data they are collecting for change and support of individual children and their needs. Let's stop and allow teachers to connect and see the whole child and create community where every child feels like they have a place and respect. It can go such a long way...

citgmscarolyn — 2024-05-21 22:25:51 UTC

We have asked the LCs and ICs WHO is looking at the data? WHO? With no clear answer.

Some admins are “supplementing” CC with Heggerty, Fundations, math programs, and other rigidly scripted shared reading! Play is slowly disappearing form ECE classrooms! It is a tragedy!

2024-05-21 22:25:52 UTC

Hope that teachers and leaders can CHOOSE the approach that serves their young children and communities

2024-05-21 22:26:31 UTC

I left a year ago after spending 15 years in early ed. The NYC DECE was a HUGE reason why. I am not surprised even a little bit that this rollout was a disaster.

2024-05-21 22:28:45 UTC

Diandra's point about ECE teachers' mental health and the need to recenter on our humanity was EVERYTHING.

kcole128_1 — 2024-05-21 22:28:47 UTC

What can we do? Lots of great ideas.

2024-05-21 22:29:03 UTC

If it quacks it's a duck. If "you just have to do it," it is a mandate.

2024-05-21 22:31:00 UTC

The people in charge of DECE - Kara Ahmed, Peggy Diercks and Wilhelmine Herard-James - keep saying over and over again that "this is a tool not a mandate." But when those in power tell us (whether district schools or programs contracted with the DOE) that we can either opt into cohort one or cohort two of Creative Curriculum, that Creative Curriculum and TSG are what’s happening. ISN'T THAT A MANDATE?

Spanish "translation"

alejandravicco — 2024-05-21 22:32:14 UTC

Is just that, it's a translation which does not reflect authentic language practices. It's like speaking English in Spanish, I know it sounds weird but that's what it feels like.

2024-05-21 22:33:39 UTC

Why is there no more live in-person or live virtual PL? Why are IC's and SW's no longer providing PL tailored to their programs?

Authentic Assessment

2024-05-21 22:34:17 UTC

Having one authentic assessment system has illuminated the flaws and inequity in the system. There are public school educators who have chosen to work in Pre-K and 3K classrooms to escape the Danielson Teaching Evaluation Instrument. Among that set are teachers who chose to interpret the requirement to teach a research-based curriculum and complete an authentic assessment as "suggested". The educators in our CBOs are working hard on implementing the new curriculum and complete the authentic assessment checkpoints while working longer hours, receiving less compensation and often without health benefits.

The TSG analysis and creative curriculum is quite linear because there are different units that are not really leaning from the interests of the children. There are also programs that have to coexist with the creative curriculum and that's what needs to be looked at for the future. In our school, we have a Montessori curriculum and a DOE/Pre-K classroom, and teachers have to look into how to combine these two curriculums.

cfajardo23 — 2024-05-21 22:35:12 UTC

2024-05-21 22:36:53 UTC

How can parents help advocate for more teacher autonomy in choosing literacy curriculum?

mmavrides16 — 2024-05-21 22:37:22 UTC

What will come next?

2024-05-21 22:37:46 UTC

Glossary - please add

2024-05-21 22:38:20 UTC

CBO - community based organization

NYCEEC - NYC early education center

IC - Instructional Coordinator (used to be a coach, now does more compliance oriented tasks)

LC - Leadership Coach (formerly Education Administrators and Mental Health and Wellness Administrators - about half of 60+ citywide are brand-new this year)

Units of Study - researched-based culturally and linguistically relevant units designed by NYC educators inside the DECE that have been discarded by the current administration

TSG - Teaching Strategies Gold authentic assessment system that requires multiple forms and points of data uploaded for every single child 3 times each year (owned by Teaching Strategies)

Creative Curriculum - boxed and digital curricular units now owned by Teaching Strategies and send to every program in the city

Teaching Strategies - now owned by KKR, one of the largest private equities firms in the U.S. (in the world?)

How can you say this list was a labor of love and missing all those things? We need to stop praising powerful people fwhen they give us crumbs.

2024-05-21 22:39:21 UTC

can we get a link to the report Dr. Madison read from?

kcole128_1 — 2024-05-21 22:39:50 UTC

2024-05-21 22:42:08 UTC

For far too long, standards have been 'pushed down' upon our youngest students. While perhaps well-intentioned, these mandates and standards actively harm young children. Too many Kindergartens have removed choice time and limited or removed play, and PreK is now expected to "prepare" students for kindergarten through rote learning and "academic instruction". These decisions create childhood stress, higher cortisol levels, negative impacts on executive functioning, language development, and emotional regulation. We NEED the professionals -Early Childhood Educators -to be at the table when curricular decisions are made. We need to consider the WHOLE child and place the child in the context of all the research on how children learn when we make curricular decisions. We need to consider the communities the curriculum is intended to serve and analyze the intent and impact there as well.

2024-05-21 22:42:15 UTC

Can share in the Link the report that Dr. Madison was reading from

CC Books

2024-05-21 22:44:52 UTC

Many of the books, including the ones in Spanish, are not mirrors or culturally responsive to children nor windows. *Often books in Spanish are not connected with the theme of the unit in is included in. Some books have a lexile levels (for example, a grade 1-3 level Gathering the Sun / Cosecha de sol) that are too high and narrative structure that is too abstract (for example, the protagonist is a tree named Steve but children are not interested in it).

How does this curriculum address the needs of children with disabilities?

mmavrides16 — 2024-05-21 22:45:10 UTC

Child-centered curriculum planning

2024-05-21 22:46:08 UTC

I hope for teaching professionals to be given the freedom to plan curriculum based on the needs of the children in their classrooms.

2024-05-21 22:48:44 UTC

Listening to Milana's brilliant and heartbreaking words and blown away by the inequity of implementation of this curriculum and of the support teachers are receiving. Depending on your leader/administrator/IC/LC you may be encouraged to replace books that don't connect with other books that you feel will be better for your children, to replace uninteresting learning experiences with those that reflect children's interests while staying loosely connected to the current CC study . . . .and then others who are required to follow the curriculum to the letter. Not OK!

Teacher professional development

2024-05-21 22:49:03 UTC

Yes to there being a better way to elevate our educational system by investing in teachers so that they have the tools to be the creative artists that teachers are required to be.

Is mandated curriculum an attempt to de-professionalize teaching and pave the way to privatization?

2024-05-21 22:49:20 UTC

well, yeah. That was rhetorical.

citgmscarolyn — 2024-05-21 22:50:51 UTC

As states discuss lessening the requirements for Teacher Certification, NYC has the ability to push that envelope in the opposite direction and make the dual masters required. So many 3K an PreK classes do not have teachers with special education background. With the lack of CPSE providers and the long wait for evaluations, this is a way to empower classrooms more in addition DOE needs more funding for additional assistant teachers. 18 PreK students with 3 or more IEPs NEED ADDITIONAL FUNDED SUPPORTS.

Supplies Required for CC Small and Large Group Work

2024-05-21 22:51:22 UTC

Teachers go above and beyond for their students each and every day. We wear many hats. We reached deep into our own pockets when we created and developed activities for our students before CC. Since following CC with fidelity this year, I've noticed that many activities require a lot more supplies. This is extremely costly for teachers. In one week, we made, Oobleck, Lemonade and Baggie Ice Cream. The ingredients for the Baggie Ice Cream included milk, sugar, small and large resealable bags, ice, and rock salt for 15-18 children. In this fiscal climate, this was very costly for teachers. Will the cost of supplies needed for CC activities be worked into school budgets?

I think we have to go back to doing some research about the right books or literature we could add into the classroom (knowing our own students abilities and current interests). We read a book from the units of Trees, and we noticed that the children were not as engaged with this book. It could be that the illustrations were not appropriate for their age. We got another book from the local library about Spring, and then the children responded well.

cfajardo23 — 2024-05-21 22:51:54 UTC

2024-05-21 22:52:50 UTC

Throughout the history of American public education there have been efforts to "teacher-proof the curriculum" to improve it for children. This has always been a failure. The way to develop responsive and supportive learning environments for children is to support the development of educators who understand how children learn and who can be responsive to individual understandings, strengths, and needs of children.

NYC Language Access

2024-05-21 22:53:45 UTC

LL30 requires that covered city agencies translate commonly distributed documents into the 10 designated citywide languages. The parent facing documents like the parent newsletter, songs, and finger plays provided by the Creative Curriculum are translated only into Spanish. Their highly touted parent portal also does not provide access to families who speak languages other than English and Spanish which are Chinese, Haitian Creole, Russian, Bangla, Korean, Arabic, Urdu, Polish, French, Yiddish, and Italian.

2024-05-21 22:53:55 UTC

In the last year of Josh's leadership, DECE began a collaborative project to look at the previous birth to 5 curricula and identify opportunities to revise for real inclusiveness. Sadly, this project was terminated when Adams and Banks took over, along with so much of the other transformative work of the previous administration.

"Remain open to critique and open to where we go"

2024-05-21 22:59:21 UTC

Thank you, Josh Wallack, for your vulnerability, insight and trust in teachers.

Communication

2024-05-21 23:00:20 UTC

1-It appears people were afraid to or did not know where to speak-up.

2-There is a disconnect with how LCs and ICs are being directed to discuss Creative Curriculum (CC) and the actual intent of CC which does provide autonomy to teachers as it is led by the students in the classroom.

3-What are some effective ways DECE leadership can learn

about these concerns to then make changes?

Leaders

2024-05-21 23:02:17 UTC

I hope that finding ways to support leaders is considered when new systems are rolled out. Teachers are critical, but we know that teachers need coaching and ongoing support in order to do their best work. Well-supported leaders should be there to do that. Without leaders facilitating the change process, quality will often be sacrificed.

Lack of Emergent curriculum

2024-05-21 23:06:10 UTC

One insight that has become clear is that when teachers are given the freedom to be creative and innovative in their lesson planning, they are more engaged and passionate about their work. This not only benefits the teachers themselves, but also has a positive impact on the students, who benefit from a more dynamic and personalized learning experience. Additionally, it is important to recognize the value of emergent curriculum, which allows for flexibility and responsiveness to the needs and interests of students.

2024-05-21 23:06:58 UTC

It's so important that DECE staff not refer to our children as "babies" unless they really are babies! Using that language in a system that prioritizes older children marginalizes our youngest learners.

So much gratitude for the panelists and organizers!!! 💜

kcole128_1 — 2024-05-21 23:11:37 UTC

CPSE

2024-05-21 23:12:01 UTC

Was DECE hoping that CC would do away with the need for early intervention?