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Formal Formative Assessment or Informal Formative Assessment. What’s Right for Early Learning?

Oct 7, 2021 | Formative Assessment

Every month in the life of a child is crucial for early childhood development. The most significant brain development happens between birth and age 5. It’s said that 90% of brain growth takes place before kindergarten.

The first critical period of brain development does not end until the child reaches 7 years of age. This early period is extremely conducive to learning and has long lasting effects for the rest of the child’s life.

It’s a formative period, where most of the synapses between brain cells are formed. As it pertains to education, it’s a time for formative assessments.

Formative assessments monitor early learning to provide ongoing feedback, which educators use to adapt instruction and ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed. It identifies progress and learning gaps as they happen and informs how to best move forward to optimize learning for the young student.

Principal Jennifer McKay, former Senior Director of Early Childhood Education at Oklahoma State Department of Education says that “effective teachers make informed instructional decisions from formative assessment data.”

Commenting on the pandemic, she states that formative assessments help close learning gaps and “provide a window to understanding student’s social and emotional well being” after a prolonged period of absence from school.

Examples of Formative Assessments Include: Homework assignments, in-class activities and group work.

Formative assessment (assessment for learning) is different from a summative assessment (assessment of learning), which happens only after a certain instructional period, and only a certain number of times a year.

Examples of Summative Assessments Include: End of unit reports, final grades and end of unit projects.

Clearly, both formative and summative assessments are needed to support all young students. Performing well in formative assessments is often a strong indicator of doing well in any summative assessment. In a meta-analysis of 250 formative assessment studies, formative assessment was found to have a lasting, positive effect on the quality of teaching and the achievement of students. The effects were much more pronounced for low-performing students, which is a testament to its effect in identifying and addressing learning gaps.

Formal Formative Assessment and Informal Formative Assessment

Often, formative assessments are contrasted with formal assessments, implying that all formative assessments are informal. While it’s true that summative assessments and standardized tests are more formal than common formative assessments, there is still variation in the latter in the degree of formality.

Educators can assess students by taking notes. But there are also valid and reliable scales used by researchers to formatively assess young learners. For example, the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) looks at the development continuum from early infancy to kindergarten. It contains rating scales that are based on the acquisition of age-appropriate developmental milestones.

Similarly, National Institute of Early Education Research researchers have developed the Early Learning Scale and Kindergarten Early Learning Scale. These scales contain items that are easily measurable and critical to present and future learning.

At Sprig Learning, we too have developed our own scale for early learning that is developed by educators, based on best practices and tested for efficacy, accuracy and bias. Adopting such a formative assessment approach ensures that educators are able to make timely data-informed decisions at every step of the child’s learning journey.

Formative Assessment Cycle

Formative assessments are a planned classroom practice of acquiring evidence of student learning. They are often repetitive and occur throughout the school year. They are not a one-time event. Formative assessments take on the following cycle:

Examine Student Work > Inform Teacher Knowledge > Inform Instruction > Administer Tasks

There are data points that need to be collected in all four stages in order to facilitate this cycle.

Student work assigned should be examined for completion and accuracy.
There should be a feedback loop that connects this information back to the teachers.
They should record the actions taken to identify learning strengths and address any learning gaps.
New classroom activities and tasks should then be assigned to measure progress and repeat the cycle.

Formal formative assessments use some standard, rubric or well-defined grading system to assign a mark. But merely collecting data for this purpose makes formative assessments very rigid. It leaves no room for informal techniques of assessment such as observations, notes, and qualitative work samples that a number cannot evaluate.

Rori Hodges, an experienced pre-kindergarten teacher, says “my formative assessment strategies are very informal. That way I can get an honest, natural response from the child. Very young children learn most effectively through interaction and exploration, not by lecture and memorization.”

So it’s good to have a lot of data to enable formative assessments, but the execution of such assessments and the actual interactive teaching that happens in the classroom are extremely important in the development of the early learner. We can label such face-to-face or observatory assessments as informal assessments.

Next, we look at some of the ways to do informal formative assessments. It’s best if the implementation and results of such activities are securely stored in a repository for future evaluation, thereby uniting formal and informal formative assessments.

Examples of Informal Formative Assessments

Monitoring: The teacher monitors the class to see if everyone is engaged. Observing students as they practice a skill helps teachers understand who needs help with what.

Games: Tag or relay races. Alphabet naming. Interactive response sessions (including physical responses such as clapping and stomping). Play based learning is a great opportunity to observe progress, where young students let their guard down and reflect what they have learned.

Parent Communication: Sending teacher-recommended activities to parents. When it comes to assessing learning progression, it’s great if parents help out by reinforcing the teachings at home.

Journals: This is a more advanced form of formative assessments suitable for 1st graders. Journaling allows them to demonstrate their knowledge in words, numbers or pictures.

Survey: Sometimes, it’s best to ask students directly if they have understood a particular lesson. They can indicate this by using fun methods like the Hand Thermometer (hands raised high if they understood and hands held low if they didn’t quite get it) and displaying coloured cards (each colour signifies a particular response).

Partner Quizzes: Assessments can be turned into a group activity as well where young students quiz each other on what they have learned, and this activity is observed by a teacher.

4 Types of Formative Assessment Practices

Regardless of whether formal or informal formative assessments are used, it’s important that they follow best practices. NWEA, formerly known as Northwest Evaluation Association, lists four formative assessment practices that can be used to continuously gather evidence of learning to adapt teaching accordingly.

For each best practice we have created a scale that shows the influence of formal and informal formative assessments.

Clarify what the students are to learn. Explain what they should know or be able to do.

Largely Formal

It’s imperative students understand what it is that they are learning and what their expectations are in class. As such there is more scope for one-on-one or group teaching.

Get evidence of where students are in their learning.

Largely Formal

Collecting evidence requires hard data. Such assessments can be done on a tablet or by building a learner’s profile by looking at all completed activities thus far. Different standards of progress can be created using a rubric.

Provide feedback to students on what to work on.

Equally Informal and Formal

High degree of interaction with students is required to provide feedback, but the feedback also relates back to a formal assessment of their latest activities.

Activate early learners by getting them to own their learning.

Equally Informal and Formal

All improvements should be reflected in a report. Teachers and parents may share such reports with young students to incentivize further learning growth. Using a rubric sets clear expectations on what is to be achieved.

Why Formative Assessment is a Good Fit for Early Learning

Early education innovator and researcher Dr. Shannon Riley Ayers writes that formative assessment is “a critical piece of a balanced, comprehensive system of assessment for young children.”

It is systematic, but individualized.

It is all encompassing in considering every aspect of a child’s learning and development.

It is not the collection of data, but the use of data.

It is a strengths-based approach.

It is suited for differentiated instruction.

In this article, we highlighted the importance of formative assessments, and how it precedes most other forms of assessments such as summative assessments and standardized assessments.

So, what’s best for early learning? Our research shows that the right way to approach formative assessments is to take a balanced approach, which utilizes both formal and informal methods of assessment. At the end of the day, assessments should be useful to the educator and fun for early learners.

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How Differentiated Learning Supports All Forms of Early Learning

Oct 5, 2021 | Differentiated Instruction

Carol Ann Tomlinson, an author and educator, is credited with pioneering differentiated instruction. Since its inception, differentiated instruction has gained massive popularity. In many ways, it is connected to all forms of modern early learning approaches. Differentiated learning is often used interchangeably with differentiated instruction. They are one and the same.

In a survey of 601 teachers, 98% said they differentiate their instruction weekly. Of that 98%, 86% say that differentiation is extremely effective.

In this article, we will define the term differentiated instruction, clarify what it means for early learners, highlight differentiated instruction strategies, and make the connection to other learning approaches for young students. We will conclude with a word on the future of differentiated instruction.

Differentiated Instruction. The Clearest Definition.

Differentiated instruction is described in many ways. We’ve chosen the following definition:

Differentiated instruction is a planned teaching approach that recognizes the differences and similarities among students and adapts accordingly.

In other words, it acknowledges the diversity of learning needs, styles, and backgrounds of the student, and accordingly modifies instruction for each student.

Differentiated instruction is ready to help every early learner by knowing as much about them through assessments. It is also willing to modify instruction based on student responses at the onset of the school year, or at any other time during the school year.

From the student’s perspective, it’s called personalized learning, but from the teacher’s perspective it is differentiated instruction.

What Exactly Is Differentiated?

Having understood what differentiated instruction is, the best way to delve deeper into its nature is to highlight what exactly educators can differentiate to adopt such a teaching approach.

There are four things that can be differentiated to provide a unique learning experience.

Content

Content refers to the knowledge, understanding and skills that young students have to learn.

A school curriculum defines content for young learners. Curriculum mapping is the process by which teachers plan their instruction throughout the school year. This ensures the goals, objectives, learning materials and course assessments all align to what is being taught to the students.

Example of differentiated content: Leveled readers, optional mini-lessons, text materials that are digitized through audio or video.

Process

Process refers to the activities or practices by which students understand content.

By internalizing, practicing and by associating with the teacher and other students, the students figure out what they have learned and its applications beyond the classroom.

Example of differentiated process: Different pace of instruction, different support, customized groups of students.

Product

Product refers to the outcome of the process and content. When a process is applied to certain content, learning occurs. The students then get to demonstrate this learning via assessments or other means.

Example of differentiated product: Different check-in points, formative assessments and holistic assessments, different criteria for success.

Environment

Environment refers to the set and setting where content, process and product happens. It accounts for the student’s feelings on what they were able to learn as a result of following a process on particular content.

Example of differentiated environment: Outdoor learning, individual instruction, centre-based learning.

Differentiated Instruction Strategies

The four modifiable differentiation components offer many opportunities to tailor an educational pathway that is personalized for the young learner.

It’s best to have learning strategies available that reflect all four components. Here are key examples:

Project-based Learning

Project based allows teachers to differentiate by teams. It’s a great way to cluster students according to their reading level, or other strengths, interests, or social skills such as collaboration and empathy.

Formative Assessments

Formative assessments are used to monitor learning and provide ongoing feedback. They are distinct from summative assessments in that they are conducted throughout the school year, and not only at certain times of the year.

They allow educators to take corrective action quickly when they see skills are not progressing as they should. Formative assessments were specifically designed as a tool for differentiated instruction in the classroom.

Learning Stations

Customizing learning stations is an effective teaching strategy. Stations are set up with different content and purpose in terms of the student in each group. Teachers can also rotate students between stations so everybody has a chance to learn from each experience.

Learning Profiles

A learning profile looks at a student’s interest and readiness in various subject matters to accurately capture and support their learning strengths, needs and challenges.

It allows teachers to focus on any learning gaps and optimize teaching based on what the students have a natural inclination towards.

Differentiated Instruction’s Relationship to Early Learning Approaches

There are other very popular approaches to early learning. We explore the connection between differentiated instruction and these other learning approaches.

Play-based Learning

Also known as active learning or experiential learning, play-based learning is when young children learn through interactions with people, objects and the environment that they are in.

By engaging with what is around them, they exercise their impulse to play and understand the world. It is self-chosen and usually led by the child.

Relationship to Differentiated Learning: Play-based learning is a powerful way to differentiate the process of learning.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

SEL teaches young students how to develop self-awareness, social-awareness and interpersonal skills.

It leads to better academic performance, positive behavior and healthier life choices that influence the quality of life in future years. By better understanding their emotions, children are able to better manage themselves and make responsible decisions.

Relationship to Differentiated Learning: SEL is all about the interaction with others and giving space to feelings. As such, it’s an extremely useful method to support those learners who are more social or affective.

Inclusive Learning

Inclusive learning recognizes that all children have the right to a learning experience that respects their unique situation or circumstance. It enables all students to participate by removing all barriers to learning for anyone with a different background.

Relationship to Differentiated Learning: Differentiated learning is inclusive by nature. It ensures that no one is kept from reaching their potential simply because the content, process, product or environment was not right for them.

Personalized Learning

Personalized learning is an educational approach that modifies the lesson plan based on each student’s unique skills, abilities, needs and interests. The focus is on one student and it is from the student’s perspective. From the teacher’s perspective, it is called individualized instruction.

Relationship to Differentiated Learning: Individualized instruction deals with one student at a time. Rather than assigning the same group of students to an activity or assignment, each student is shuffled according to their pace of development and learning needs. It can be part of an overall differentiated instruction strategy, which deals with groups of students.

Is Differentiated Instruction the New Normal?

Research conducted on differentiated instruction demonstrates its effectiveness as a teaching strategy for students with varied needs. In a three year study, researchers found that differentiated instruction yielded positive results for several groups in mixed ability K-12 classrooms in Alberta.

To demonstrate its sway on the culture, there are now courses that offer early childhood development with differentiated instruction.

But as differentiated instruction can be resource intensive and time consuming, it has not become the norm just yet. The industry, the government and academia are working together to introduce new solutions that make it easier to apply differentiated instruction across classrooms in North America.

When differentiated instruction is added to a program, early learners often show significant gains in oral language vocabulary, print knowledge, phonological awareness, and math. The ubiquitous nature of technology has definitely helped to propel the advancement of differentiated instruction.

Vince Hill, former principal at Grasslands School Division, states how over half of teachers surveyed say that technology helps them individualize their classroom instruction. Collaborating with Sprig Learning has helped him to apply differentiated instruction at his school, which has a mix of students from varied socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. He stresses the importance of collecting data in a safe and secure way to account for the learning needs of all and to measure the progress of such a diversity of students.

Holistic Learning–The Epitome of Differentiated Instruction

One of the best ways to create a strong foundation for early learners is through holistic learning. It makes use of holistic assessments that support differentiated instruction by not only looking at the student, but also their parents and the community they live in.

Similarly to differentiated instruction, holistic learning has links to all other types of learning. It considers play, sociability, emotions, inclusiveness and personalization.

Furthermore, holistic learning compliments Indigenous learning perspective where equal emphasis is given to the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual areas of development. This opens up many doors to learning such as visual learning, auditory learning, kinesthetic learning and of course reading and writing..

But to get to the level where early learners can build the foundational literacy and numeracy skills, early development such as oral language and problem solving is crucial! Holistic learning is thus key, where more than one mode of learning is available to the young student.

Differentiated Instruction as a Way of Thinking

Certain events can force you to think about differentiation. For example, alternate modes of learning such as e-learning, could have been seen as a differentiation tactic in the past, but the pandemic forced all schools to think about it regardless.

Approximately four of ten school districts reported last year that they do not have the ability to provide e-learning for students, even for a single day. So when thinking about differentiated learning, it helps to be prepared so you will be able to serve different students based on their situation at the time.

But even beyond contingency plans, it is important to see differentiated instruction as a concept, and not as a tool or tactic.

We hope this article sparks your interest in differentiated instruction. When you understand the fundamental concept of differentiated instruction, you can’t help but notice it in teaching methods and strategies already used in the classroom. If you ever need to brainstorm ideas, here is a list of 50 strategies to differentiate learning. But as educator and teacher advice columnist Larry Ferlazzo says “Differentiating instruction is really a way of thinking, not a preplanned list of strategies”.

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13 Amazing Indigenous Learning Initiatives from 13 Provinces & Territories of Canada

Sep 30, 2021 | Equity in Education

Indigenous Peoples of Canada have always inhabited every corner of the nation. This Orange Shirt Day, we take the time to remember those lives that have been lost or affected. As we remember, we also turn a hopeful gaze towards the future.

Part of truth and reconciliation is education that is developed by and for Indigenous people. We illustrate 13 such Indigenous learning initiatives from all across Canada. In each case, it’s an initiative developed in collaboration with or by Indigenous educators, Elders and/or community leaders.

Indigenous Learning Initiatives Across Canada

One for Each Province and Territory.

Indigenous Community: Cowichan Tribes

Province: BC

The Cowichan Valley School District has a page dedicated to Hul’qumi’num language resources such as videos, flash cards, stories and a dictionary. Such resources were developed in partnership with the Hul’q’umi’num’ speaking community..

In their learning strategic plan 2020-2024, the school district stresses Indigenous ways of knowing that include “working together with one heart, one mind and one thought”. They emphasize the need for recognizing Indigenous content in their students’ learning journey.

Indigenous Community: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation

Province: AB

The Athabasca Tribal Council (ATC) has worked with the Elders in its 5 First Nation member communities to develop a Cree App to promote the language. The app is available on the App Store and Google Play and has a growing list of more than 400 words.

The ATC Dene language app is available on both platforms as well and can be used for self-study or to help in conversation. Its latest version includes word categories such as medicines, directions, calendar, food etc.

Indigenous Community: The Métis

Province: SK

Often students need that extra encouragement to develop a deeper interest in a subject. While public universities and non-Indigenous organizations offer scholarships, since 2018 the Métis Nation has offered its own scholarship program, to better harness learning interest in its community in Saskatchewan through the Saskatchewan Post-Secondary Education Program.

As president of the Metis Nation Saskatchewan, Glen McCallum says “Education is key to self-determination, what we accomplish today will be for them to build on tomorrow.”

Indigenous Community: Shamattawa First Nation

Province: MB

The Kisemattawa Kiskinwahamakew Kamik School serves the Shamattawa First Nation. It’s situated in the very beautiful and remote fly-in community of Shamattawa. Despite being so isolated, it has all the amenities of a modern school, such as a library, cafeteria, computer lab gymnasium and science lab.

There are talks of introducing land-based education into the curriculum, which focuses on an Indigenous and environmental-friendly approach to education to develop the child.

Indigenous Community: The Anishinaabe

Province: ON

From the early 2000s, Kwayaciiwin Education Resource Centre (KERC) has collaborated with the First Nations in the Sioux Lookout Area to revive the Anishinaabe language.

The work helps distill a strong sense of identity in the Anishinaabe people, supporting success for students in schools and in their communities. High-quality educational resources, such as Treaty lesson plans, flashcards and syllabic charts are available at the KERC store.

Indigenous Community: Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke

Province: QC

Early learning and higher secondary education were featured earlier as learning initiatives in this article. To further promote the Indigenous idea of lifelong learning, there is the The First Nations Regional Education Center in Kahnawake, Quebec.

The center offers “individualized training methods” to help adult students complete a ministry accredited education path such as a school diploma, or vocational training.

Indigenous Community: The Innu

Province: NL

The Mamu Tshishkutamashutau Innu Education Board Office has collaborated with other organizations to create an “Innu-aimun” (language resources) page.The Innu Conversation app is available on iTunes. It has 21 topics of conversation ranging from family, to greetings, to the weather. It features speakers from the community.

The Innu Dictionary and the Innu Medical Glossary are available on both the App Store and Google Play. The dictionary features sample sentences, and the Medical Glossary contains over 1,200 terms and 4,000 audio files.

Indigenous Community: Tobique First Nation

Province: NB

Until recently, the majority of Tobique First Nation parents had chosen to send their children to off-reserve school in the town of Perth Andover. The last five years have witnessed an incredible example of First Nations control of First Nations education as local education leaders brought in new literacy programs, improved school lunches and a focus on language training.

Today, the state-of-the art Mah-Sos School currently offers K4 to Grade 5 culturally based programming that incorporates Wolastoq/Maliseet culture, history and language.

Indigenous Community: Abegweit First Nation

Province: PE

When building an education program, staff and resources are a good starting point, but the community needs to be supported with quality programs where students can hone their desire to learn and advance. Abegweit First Nation realizes the need to support the community and covers K-12 education in the community. Homework clubs and after-school tutoring programs are some examples of the services they provide.

Early learning is a strong focus as well. Their infant and toddler programs are for ages 0-2 and 2-3 respectively, and facilitates the growth in language, math, science, cognitive skills, social skills, and gross motor skills.

Indigenous Community: The Mi’kmaq

Province: NS

Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey (MK), along with the province and Millbrook First Nation have introduced the teaching of Treaty education to all children in Nova Scotia, after renewing a memorandum of understanding.

MK collaborates with Sprig Learning to develop and produce resources that talk about Miꞌkmaq identity, the importance of treaties, present state of treaty relationship, and how to best promote reconciliation. Resources such as interactive assessment apps, where animal characters teach young learners about the traditions and cultures of the Mi’kmaq people.

Indigenous Community: The Kaska

Territory: YT

The Yukon Native Language center, in collaboration with respective Yukon First Nations, came up with posters and pictures of “encouragement phrases”. These were made to promote language revitalization and restoration, and are in each of the 8 different Yukon Indigneous languages.

For the Kaska language particularly, audio lessons and storybooks are also available. All of these resources are available to download.

Indigenous Communities: Gwich’in and Inuvialuit

Territory: NWT

Gwichin’in and Inuvialuit songs and alphabet games are used as a teaching tool in schools in NWT. An effort is made to promote language visibility. Teachers are encouraged to hang different posters on bulletin boards in accordance with the seasons.

More localized research needs to be done where teachers immerse themselves in the local culture and try to understand the Inuvialuit perspective.

Indigenous Community: The Inuit

Territory: NT

A memorandum of understanding was signed earlier this year to strengthen the Inuktitut language across Nunavut. The federal government pledged $42 million over 5 years to support the agreement. The approach includes: increasing access to Inuktut language instruction; increasing the number of proficient Inuktut-speaking Inuit educators; and promoting the revitalization of Inuktut language and education rights.

Aluki Kotierk, President of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated said “This is great news for Inuit students. Increasing the number of Inuktut-speaking teachers will realize our expectation of Inuktut language of instruction in our schools.”

Parting Words

It’s often difficult to discuss the path forward given Canada’s history and the significance of Orange Shirt Day. However, these 13 successes give all of us hope that reconciliation is possible. More needs to be done to bring awareness, understanding and truth around the importance of Indigenous education, language and culture. Indigenous language and cultural revitalization is a vital first step towards Indigenous sovereignty and educational equity across Canada.

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Early Learning Funding Sources That You Must Follow in the US

Sep 28, 2021 | Holistic Learning

Every preschool, pre-kindergarten and similar early learning institutions such as child care or daycare centers aspire to provide a top-notch learning experience to young learners and their families. But it can be a costly ambition.

There are logistics costs that include furnishings, equipment, technology, utility bills, food and beverages, transportation, etc.
Costs for learning materials, which include classroom resources for teachers and school supplies for students.
Payroll accounts for the majority of costs. Salaries for teachers, early childhood educators, teaching assistants, and substitute teachers (as needed).

After accounting for all these costs, there are often limited funds remaining to invest in new early learning program resources and tools. This is where grants are best used. Often, school and program directors look to apply for these funds so they can improve early learning experience for their young students.

The United Nations declares that education is a basic human right in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. With the increasing demand for early childhood education, there is pressure to create high-quality programs that are also affordable. In fact, the UN states in the same declaration that “Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.”

Meeting demand and ensuring that every child gets a quality education is challenging enough, but with the pressure of making it affordable, and even free, the need for government funding is truly palpable.

In the planning stages, it helps to know what funding options are available to develop and implement high-quality preschool programs that are inclusive and accessible. This article focuses on the US. We will cover the same topic, but for Canada in a future follow-up article.

Early Learning Funding Is Complex

Funding is a complex subject, and it’s easy to get lost in the weeds about who the funding is meant to support. Especially when discussing early childhood education. There are so many stakeholders involved, and each has its own separate funding stream.

This article covers funding intended for high-quality preschool and kindergarten programs that accelerate the developmental learning of those kids who need it most.

Only 54% of 3 and 4-year-olds in the US participate in any preschool at all, and only 35% of eligible children enroll in Head Start- the nation’s go-to program for public early childhood education.

While there are many reasons for low participation, the lack of perceived quality and the difficulty of implementation are two very valid reasons. This article discusses the major nationwide funding sources that can be used to strengthen early learning programs by increasing both quality and accessibility.

What Isn’t Covered by Early Learning Funds

Grants and programs mentioned in this article are not for:

any specific regions, or cities
educational television/internet programming or other entertainment options
after-school activities
parents or caregivers
tax breaks or credits

When researching grants, It’s easy to get into streams of funding that are overly specific and:

do not focus on the overall improvement of an early learning program
are non-school related
are meant to indirectly help early learning through parents.

Main Sources of Early Learning Funding in the US

Below are the major nationwide sources of funding for early childhood education that every education leader must have on their radar.

Keep in mind these are not acts. These are grants. Acts inform policy that changes the availability, scope and promise of the grants. Acts may come up during the course of this article, but we will be taking a grant-driven approach to explore early learning funding in the US.

Preschool Development Grants

The Office of Innovation and Early Learning offers the Preschool Development Grants. It is jointly administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Education.

What It Allows You to Do: The Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) is a $275 million federal grant that allows states to coordinate early learning programs and services that already exist in the state.

It is meant to “enable the delivery of high-quality preschool services to children” and “expand high-quality preschool programs in targeted communities” that would serve as models for future expansion.

It was established in 2015 through the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA gives states more power to use PDG B-5 funds and to use high-quality early learning strategies to promote school improvement. K-12 is included as well, to cover school children from 5 to 8 years of age, which are also crucial developmental years.

Race to the Top — Early Childhood Challenge

The Office of Early Childhood Development, under the US Department of Education, offers the Race to the Top — Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC)

What It Allows You to Do: RTT-ELC is focused on improving the quality of early learning and development, and bridging the achievement gap for low-income or disadvantaged children.

Its objective is to enact reform in many areas, but particularly developing better assessments to measure child outcomes, helping failing schools with resources, and developing better methods for tracking the progress of young students.

There are 20 states that have participated in the program as of last year, with funding totaling over $1 billion dollars.

Title 1 Part A Program

The Office of State Support, under the US Department of Education, offers the Title I Part A Program.

What It Allows You to Do: The Title 1 Program is also known as Education for the Disadvantaged, Grants to Local Educational Agencies, and Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantages.

This program is for preschools with a high percentage of children from low-income families. The fund supports additional instruction in reading and mathematics and other services that would help children meet academic standards.

The Biden Administration has proposed doubling the funds for the Title I program from $16.5 billion to 36.5 billion.

The Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program

The Office of Academic Improvement, under the US Department of Education, offers The Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program (SRCL).

What It Allows You to Do: A striving reader refers to a student who only has rudimentary reading skills. The SRCL program’s focus is to “create a comprehensive literacy program to advance literacy skills.” It mentions the inclusion of pre-literacy skills, reading and writing.

In developing early learning programs, the effect of pre-literacy skills cannot be overstated. It’s important to recognize the importance of oral language in the path to advanced literacy.

Some of the SRCL funds are earmarked for geographically remote schools or schools operated by Indigenous communities.

Latest funding figurbut the program is definitely still intact, with Ohio and Michigan receiving $35 million and $16 million respectively in the last year.

Demonstration Grants for Indian Children

The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, under the US Department of Education, offers the Demonstration Grants for Indian Children (DEMO).

What It Allows You to Do: DEMO is focused on improving the education and achievement of Indigenous school children, which includes preschool.

There are various types of projects within the program. For 2020, the main priority was to select Indigenous partners to develop learning programs that would best suit the educational needs of that particular partner. Indigenous people have long inhabited their communities and express the desire for their customs, culture and language to be reflected in the school curriculum.

Last year, $15 million was made available in the form of 20 awards, averaging about $1 million.

Head Start Programs

The Office of Head Start, under the Administration for Children & Families offers Head Start Programs.

What It Allows You to Do: Head Start focuses on school readiness for the 3 to 5 age bracket, whereas Early Head Start focuses on those below 3 years of age. There is also the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Head Start Program that is designed for the Indigenous communities of the US. The Migrant and Seasonal Head Start that is meant for the children of families engaged in agricultural labor.

Head Start Programs are often what first comes to mind when thinking about early childhood development. Apart from shining a light on health and family well-being, it is the early learning component of the Programs that Head Start has become famous for. These programs seek to foster a positive environment for the child where they can learn language and math skills, as well as other concepts such as social skills and emotional well-being.

The American Rescue Plan pledges $1 billion for Head Start Programs. In light of the pandemic, the Head Start Programs received another $1 billion in funding previously, bringing the total to $2 billion. The Office of Head Start has called on early learning institutions to prioritize recruitment, enrollment and extension of Head Start Programming with this fund.

Only two-thirds of kids are now participating in Head Start Programs. Restoring accessibility to high-quality early education is a top priority.

More Sources of Early Learning Funding in the US

In an attempt to cover nationwide programs that best address the improvement of pre-school education, there are many regional or city-specific grants that were not included in this article. However, such grants can be gems if they align to a particular area of need.

At the time this article was written, Grantwatch.com lists 965 grants for preschools and other early childhood programs like childcare and daycare programs. You can sort by the type of funding source, such as: federal government, foundations & corporations, local government and state government. Each featured grant includes a deadline ,which is helpful.

Grants and Funds from the Private Sector

It helps to be on the lookout for funds made available in the private sector as well. These funds tend to be for specific purposes however, such as buying books, creating playgrounds, or funding classroom projects. It doesn’t have the same systematic intention of improving multiple preschool programs at once.

Nevertheless,there are sometimes particular areas that require improvement for the overall quality and accessibility of early learning programs.

The Early Childhood Funders Collaborative publishes some amazing maps that list over a thousand private funders of pre-k education in the US. You can filter by state and support strategy. For example, you can see if the funding is for professional development, family engagement, or program support.

In its research, it has found that from 2006 to now, private foundations in the US have funded over $6 billion dollars towards the improvement of early childhood care and education. So it’s definitely a wise move to diversify your funding portfolio with a mix of public and private donors.

The Importance of Early Learning — Keeping Track

In the US, early childhood education is said to contribute to 1.1 % of GDP, while costing .75% of the GDP. In monetary terms, it has a surplus effect of $23 billion after a cost-benefit analysis. There is a greater push than ever before to better support early learning nationwide.

In order for public agencies to coordinate the delivery of pre-school programs, they need the cooperation of numerous community programs for families and children, including both private and public schools. There is the desire for greater funding, but it’s up to early learning program leaders to keep track of what is being done in their state.

Our team at Sprig Learning hopes you found this content useful in understanding the importance of early learning and the availability of funds to improve the quality and accessibility of schools catering to pre-k to grade three. In the near future, we will be publishing a complementary article on the funding available in Canada.

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15 Characteristics of Holistic Learning

Sep 23, 2021 | Holistic Learning

Holistic Learning in Early Childhood Education

UNESCO defines holistic learning as a learning approach that activates the learner’s intellect, emotions, imagination and body for more effective and comprehensive learning.

When a holistic approach is applied to early childhood learning, those same components are applied to the whole child’s development: intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically.

It’s said that the first 5 years of a child’s life are the most formative years, which shape the trajectory for the rest of their lives. There are many cognitive and physical milestones to be achieved during the course of these first 5 years, such as naming colors, hopping on one foot and singing a song.

Holistic learning aims to support all of the pivotal early years milestones, while supporting the environment in which the child is learning. In an OECD report, the quality and duration of pre-school, mother’s education, and home learning environment were identified as the most effective factors in determining a child’s literacy proficiency at age 5.

Characteristics and Examples of Holistic Learning

Sprig Learning works with Indigenous communities in the development of unique learning programs. Inspired by the holistic approach that First Nations have used for generations, Sprig developed a program that couples this holistic method with artificial intelligence. This combination helps to reduce unconscious human bias when collecting data points from multiple sources for initially assessing an early learner.

There are multiple use cases for holistic learning, but what does it look like in early childhood education? Here are 15 characteristics, with an example for each, of holistic learning in the school, home and community.

1) Holistic Learning Is Experiential

Holistic learning involves an experience when absorbing information or being introduced to new concepts. Instead of learning through rote memorization or forced readings, the young learner comes to the solution by themselves.

Example: Sprig Language Activity: Let’s Collect. The act of seeking out and physically collecting items deepens the learning experience.

2) Holistic Learning Is Personalized

Learning in a large classroom constitutes a real challenge for some students. Children learn at different paces, have their own strengths, challenges and interests, and often use learning styles that reflect their unique personalities. Holistic learning supports personalized learning for every young student and, when properly supported by teachers, it can help students learn independently and work at their own pace.

Example: Sprig Library offers leveled readers to accommodate different reading abilities.

3) Holistic Learning Is Both Teacher-guided and Self-guided

Pre-kindergarten and elementary teachers have developed pedagogical approaches to best teach young learners over the years. Therefore, not all holistic learning is self-guided. However, self-directed or self-guided learning is encouraged, as it builds curiosity in the child to learn. It gives them self-confidence in their ability to do something on their own.

Example: Sprig Language Activity: It’s in the Clouds. Parents start out the activity by pointing at clouds, but the child may take lead as well as curiosity takes over.

4) Holistic Learning Considers the Community

Holistic learning is not constrained within the four walls of the classroom. It recognizes the important role that parents, caregivers, and community members have in providing a safe and nurturing environment for children to learn.

Example: Sprig Language Activity: “Talking About Antle’s Forest”. In this exercise, young learners are encouraged to think about the forest environment and all the animals that live there.

5) Holistic Learning Includes Social-emotional Learning

Social and emotional growth are closely related in early childhood development. By interacting with others and navigating through their emotions, a child learns what is set out for them. As such, holistic learning understands that, beyond academic achievement, there is a need to support the social and emotional needs of all children.

Example: Meditation exercises can be useful in refocusing a child and making them more aware of the present moment.

6) Holistic Learning Strengthens Relationships

As important as curriculum and learning materials are, it’s the educator and the student who must work in partnership during the learning process. As such, a strong relationship and a sense of trust between teachers and students are critical. Similarly, the home learning environment is a big part of holistic learning. Caregivers, teachers and children all require strong bonds that support early learning in the school, home and community.

Example: Allowing students to participate in the development of classroom rules.

7) Holistic Learning Is Culturally Sensitive

Culture and language are very influential in any learning approach. Given that there is such a diverse population in North America consisting of so many different cultures, it’s important to be mindful, respectful and accommodating when teaching. It’s important that young children from different cultures see their language and customs in the material that is being used in the classroom.

Example: Incorporate a diverse curriculum that is reflective of the student body. Such as this exercise from Sprig Language “Tea Party with Nukumij”, which uses Indigenous characters to meet the learning outcome, “Listening and Speaking.”

8) Holistic Learning Is Interdisciplinary

Future learning success depends on a solid foundation of early literacy and numeracy skills. Math and literacy concepts are interwoven with all subject matters. Whether it be teaching through historical stories, counting by 2s while doing jumping jacks, or learning about fractions through cooking and baking – there are countless opportunities to customize learning to individual kids’ interests.

Example: Developing language skills while learning about various cultures through animated stories.

9) Holistic Learning Is Focused on Formative Assessments

As opposed to summative assessments, which happen only after the end of the school year, or a couple of times a year, formative assessments can happen every day. Assessment for learning provides ongoing feedback to the student that quickly addresses any challenges as they occur during the school year.

Example: Weekly quizzes that gamify learning and make assessments more routine.

10) Holistic Learning Is Strengths-Based

Holistic learning believes that there are no deficits in early learning, just differences. It strives to achieve equity by providing the best learning atmosphere, resources, and activities that are appropriate for that child to succeed in life.

Example: Sprig Language progress tree. Seeing how many activities are completed for Listening and Speaking versus Reading and Viewing outcomes for each student. Addresses the child’s learning challenges by focusing on their learning strengths and interests.

11) Holistic Learning Is Reverent of The World

Holistic learning emphasizes respect for all, which includes the land and other natural elements of life. Students learn essential language and math concepts and life skills, but also develop a sense of gratitude for everyone and everything around them.

Example: Sprig Language Activity: Gratitude Circle. Children engage in speaking about and listening to what makes them grateful.

12) Holistic Learning Includes Play-based Learning

Experiential learning is the first characteristic on this list. The act of playing is experiential as well. However, play-based learning has a special emphasis on motion. Holistic learning fully embraces the value of play-based learning where the young learner has to engage the mind and the body. It’s through play that young learners grasp motor skills and also develop their creative and imaginative capabilities.

Example: Sprig Math Activity: Running Games. Focusing on the breath while counting heartbeats engages both the mind and the body.

13) Holistic Learning Is Equal Parts Indoors and Outdoors

Holistic learning offers a healthy mix of indoor and outdoor activities and lessons to promote learning in the child. The change of scenery helps to negate boredom and keep young students receptive to learning new concepts.

Example: Control the size of the splash by using varying force. Indoors in the bath/sink or outdoors by jumping in puddles.

14) Holistic Learning is Safe

The world as we know it is very dynamic. Data privacy and security are important in any industry, especially education where minors are involved. To safeguard the interests of childhood learning, holistic learning relies on its community of teachers, parents and others in the community to protect young learners. While it’s important to keep up with the times, holistic learning discourages unsupervised use of technology.

Example: It takes a whole village to be as secure as possible. While there are many things done on the backend to ensure cybersecurity, here are some tips recommended to parents for protecting their child’s data.

15) Holistic Learning is Resource-Based Education

Just because holistic education emphasizes play, environmental elements, reliance on community and other forms of growth alongside intellectual growth, it is easy to dismiss it as not having a curricular structure. It’s by doing all of these other things that the young learner is best able to follow the curriculum that is set out in front of them. Holistic learning serves to enhance any learning outcome that is to be gained by a particular curriculum.

Example: Using leveled readers and benchmarks to match a child’s reading level to books and resources that are challenging enough for them to make progress.

Holistic Learning’s Evolution

Holistic learning has always existed, but only attracted more attention in recent times as alternative modes of education are explored. At Sprig, we hope these 15 characteristics provide you a better understanding of what holistic learning is all about.

At its core, holistic learning involves personalized and equitable instruction that considers all aspects of a child’s development. The values of holistic learning can be transferred into any education system to improve learning outcomes and experiences. Let us know if you are interested in a demo of holistic learning in action.

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