EdReports to Expand Free, Educator-Led Reviews to Pre-Kindergarten Instructional Materials

The new reports draw upon EdReports’ decade-long K–12 curriculum review expertise to illuminate the early childhood materials market, empowering educators for success with our youngest students.

/EIN News/ -- Durham, North Carolina, July 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EdReports, a nonprofit organization that provides free reviews of instructional materials, proudly announces its intention to extend its efforts to include pre-kindergarten (pre-K) instructional materials. This expansion aims to support educators and families in gaining a deeper understanding of quality educational resources, empowering decision-makers to select materials that effectively prepare students for success in school and life.

More than $250M is spent annually on pre-K curriculum, assessment, and professional development. With approximately 1.6 million children enrolled in state-funded pre-K programs nationwide, ensuring that all pre-K teachers have the strong materials they need to support our youngest learners is essential. 

"Every student deserves access to an engaging, high-quality curriculum that prepares them for success in both school and life, and this principle extends to our youngest learners as they embark on their educational journey," said Courtney Allison, chief academic officer for EdReports. "EdReports has helped set the standard for what high-quality instructional materials look like in K–12 education, and we're eager to apply our expertise to inform the development of quality resources for early childhood education."

To address this challenge and improve the quality of available resources, EdReports aims to provide a trusted source of free information about pre-K products, mirroring its successful model in the K–12 market.

A robust preschool education plays a pivotal role in fostering critical development and learning, setting the stage for success in school and beyond. Preschool curricula must advance learning in key areas such as math, early literacy, and science, particularly for multilingual learners and children from marginalized backgrounds.

"There is substantial evidence demonstrating the lasting positive impact of high-quality preschool programs. However, the critical role of curriculum—specifically, what and how children learn—in fostering an engaging and effective learning experience for all students has not received adequate attention," said Shana Weldon, director of pre-K at EdReports. "EdReports' early childhood reviews will seek to empower educators to choose materials that address the needs of their communities and support all students to thrive."

Currently, there is no single set of national early learning standards. However, individual states develop early learning standards that encompass all areas of child growth and development, addressing multiple domains that promote school readiness such as: approaches to learning and executive function; social and emotional skills; language and early literacy; cognition and general knowledge; and physical well-being and motor development. 

Anthony Burns, director of the Instructional Materials Bureau at the New Mexico Public Education Department, expressed support for this initiative, stating: “New Mexico supports rigorous instructional material reviews to identify high-quality instructional materials. EdReports has been at the forefront of reviewing K–12 instructional materials, and their expansion to include pre-K reviews will provide value for educators across the country in this critically important area.”

EdReports will focus on essential early learning domains, drawing upon research-based evidence highlighted by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) through their report, A New Vision for High-Quality Preschool Curriculum, which provides a common definition of quality in early childhood education. The report articulates a vision for high-quality preschool curricula for all children, grounded in equity and justice-oriented principles from inception to implementation and evaluation.

EdReports will begin its Listening and Learning Tour to establish review criteria, select materials for review, and recruit and train early childhood educators to form review teams starting this summer. Inaugural reviews are slated for release in late 2025.

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EdReports is at the forefront of the curriculum reform movement. By increasing the capacity of educators to identify and demand the highest quality curriculum, EdReports is both disrupting a multibillion-dollar market and transforming the way students are taught and ultimately perform. With the firm belief that what is taught matters and that all students deserve standards-aligned, research-based materials tailored to diverse needs, including multilingual learners, EdReports publishes free, online, evidence-rich reviews of instructional materials. Since its launch in 2015, EdReports has trained nearly 900 educators to conduct rigorous reviews of instructional materials and has released over 1,100 reviews of math, ELA, and science curricula. The organization's work has been instrumental in helping educators across the country make informed decisions about the materials they use in their classrooms.

For more information about EdReports, visit the organization's website at www.edreports.org.

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• EdReports to Expand Free, Educator-Led Reviews to Pre-Kindergarten Instructional Materials

Janna Chan
                    EdReports
                    206-321-0339
                    jchan@edreports.org