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The Early Childhood Education Playbook

By: Kateri Thunder, John Taylor Almarode, Alisha Demchak, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey

Learn how the Visible Learning® research guides our planning and teaching as we partner with families and colleagues to have the greatest impact on the learning and development of young children.

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781071886526
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2022
Page Count: 368
Publication date: November 08, 2022

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Review copies may be requested by individuals planning to purchase 10 or more copies for a team or considering a book for adoption in a higher ed course. To request a review copy, contact sales@corwin.com.

Description

Your playbook for truly impactful early childhood education

Early childhood is a uniquely sensitive time when young learners are rapidly developing across multiple domains. Knowing which teaching strategies work best and when can have a significant impact on a child’s development and future success, both in school and beyond.

The Early Childhood Education Playbook examines how the Visible Learning® research can guide our decisions as we plan, teach, document, and partner with families and colleagues so that we can have the greatest possible impact on learning and development of children from birth to age 8. Each of the modules unpacks unique characteristics of early childhood environments as well as coherent practices that form a strong foundation for learning over time. Filled with tools and methods to support a team as they work toward a common goal, this playbook covers:

Teacher efficacy, credibility, and clarity
Partnerships with families
The importance of language
Formative assessment and feedback
How to ensure equity and inclusion

Using these strategies, teachers will discover how they can collaborate with young learners to encourage high expectations, implement developmentally appropriate practices at the right level of challenge, and focus on explicit success criteria. Get started with this playbook and watch your young learners thrive!

Author(s)

Kateri Thunder

Kateri Thunder, Ph.D., has the pleasure of collaborating with learners and educators from school divisions and early learning centers around the world to translate research into practice. She has served as an inclusive early childhood educator, an Upward Bound educator, a mathematics specialist, an assistant professor of mathematics education at James Madison University, and Site Director for the Central Virginia Writing Project. Her research, writing, and presentations focus on equity and access in early childhood and mathematics education, as well as the intersection of literacy and mathematics for teaching and learning. Kateri has collaborated with thousands of educators to catalyze change in their classrooms, centers, and schools. She is the chair of NCTM’s Research Committee and co-creator of The Math Diet. Additionally, she is a best-selling author for Corwin’s Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom Series, the Success Criteria Playbook, and Visible Learning in Early Childhood.

John Taylor Almarode

Dr. John Almarode is a bestselling author and an Associate Professor of Education at James Madison University. He was awarded the inaugural Sarah Miller Luck Endowed Professorship in 2015 and received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia in 2021. Before his academic career, John started as a mathematics and science teacher in Augusta County, Virginia. As an author, John has written multiple educational books focusing on science and mathematics, and he has co-created a new framework for developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities called PLC+. Dr. Almarode's work has been presented to the US Congress, the Virginia Senate, and the US Department of Education. One of his recent projects includes developing the Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continuing his collaborative work with colleagues on what works best in teaching and learning, How Tutoring Works, Visible Learning in Early Childhood, and How Learning Works, all with Corwin Press, were released in 2021.

Alisha Demchak

Alisha Demchak, M.Ed., is an early childhood educator and researcher whose passion for improving reading outcomes for all learners is visible across her work. Alisha has taught in early childhood classrooms and mixed-age settings, served as a reading specialist and interventionist, and coached early childhood educators, administrators, and literacy coordinators. Currently, she is researching evidenced-based instructional practices in early childhood reading and working to ensure those practices make it into classrooms by working with preservice and inservice teachers to build their skill set and confidence in reading instruction.

Douglas Fisher

Douglas Fisher is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is a credentialed teacher and leader in California. In 2022, he was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame by the Literacy Research Association. He has published widely on literacy, quality instruction, and assessment, as well as books such as Welcome to Teaching, PLC+, Teaching Students to Drive their Learning, and Student Assessment: Better Evidence, Better Decisions, Better Learning.

Nancy Frey

Nancy Frey is professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Nancy was a teacher, academic coach, and central office resource coordinator in Florida. She is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California. She is a member of the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Research Panel. She has published widely on literacy, quality instruction, and assessment, as well as books such as The Artificial Intelligences Playbook, How Scaffolding Works, How Teams Work, and The Vocabulary Playbook.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Who Before Do

Module 1 Becoming Expert Educators

Module 2 Partnerships with and for Learners

Module 3 Intentional Interactions for Equity and Inclusion

Module 4 Playful learning

Part 2: Communicating Clarity

Module 5 Standards and Integration

Module 6 Learning Progressions

Module 7 Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Module 8 The 4 Essentials of Communicating Clarity

Part 3: Tasks, Learning Strategies & Scaffolds

Module 9: High-Quality Tasks

Module 10: Intentionally Inclusive Tasks

Module 11: Phases of Learning

Part 4: Formative Evaluation and Feedback

Module 12: Formative Evaluation

Module 13: Effective Feedback

Module 14: Scaffolding Co-Evaluators

Module 15: Know Thy Impact

Module 16: By Design, Not By Chance

Reviews

The Early Childhood Education Playbook is the epitome of mindfulness! My special education teacher's heart was thrilled to see a focus on the development of learning intentions and success criteria. By setting clear expectations to delineate and verbalize the rationale of a learning target and reinforcing the vital need to develop measurable goals, this playbook helps teachers zero in on the essence of their teaching: Who is this for? What are we going to accomplish today? How will I know that we have reached our goal? More importantly, The Early Childhood Education Playbook can help any teacher rethink their role within the classroom. When teachers stop to listen to what their students are saying, they create an environment where students of all ages can take a more active role in their education. These learning moments are vital, and we need to absorb the information. If you are looking for support or want to revitalize your early education classroom, this book is a must-read! You will feel empowered to define or rethink your teaching mindset while cultivating your visible learners.

Anne Iverson Scott
Special Education Teacher and University Student Teacher Supervisor, University of Virginia

Just as “every child deserves a great teacher, not by chance, but by design” (Fisher, Frey, & Hattie 2016), so does every educator deserve the opportunity to become great. This playbook provides the scaffolds for teachers to build a practice of intentionality where children have agency in their learning and teachers understand the impact of decisions.

Hollins Mills
Early Childhood Educator, Albemarle County Public Schools, VA

"Educators often ask me, 'what does teacher clarity look like for our youngest students?' or “how can I teach early learners how to have agency?' The Early Childhood Education Playbook answers these questions. With ample opportunities for self-assessment, reflection, and practice, this playbook is the perfect professional learning guide for individuals or teams wanting to develop deep learning of our youngest students. Through its practical examples across content areas and levels, the authors illuminate the process for incorporating the strongest research-based levers for intentional, deliberate lesson design that promote equity and foster agency in our youngest visible learners. While many books rely solely on content transmission, this one functions as a coach and mentor by strategically inviting readers to dive in deep and plan alongside the authors in order to strengthen our educational practice and the students we teach."

Kierstan Barbee
Project manager, Assessment for Learning, Dallas, TX

Other Titles in: Content Standards | Early Childhood Education

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Related Professional Learning

Related Institutes

Early Childhood Education Institute

Related Webinars

Truly Impactful Early Childhood Education

Related Resources

Access to companion resources is available with the purchase of this book.
Introduction: The Early Childhood Education Playbook Introduction [Lessons and Strategies]
Making Learning Visible in Early Childhood Through Play [Blog]