The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will convene an ad hoc committee to conduct a study on pre-k curriculum quality for children ages three through five, with special attention to the needs of Black and Latinx children, dual language learners, children with special needs, and children experiencing poverty. The study will support equitable curriculum development, state and center-level pre-k curriculum selection, and local curriculum implementation. The committee will review research on early childhood development, including research on access to contemporary early learning opportunities, and consider the lived experience of diverse young children, their families, and early childhood educators.
The committee will make recommendations aimed at creating a new vision for high quality pre-k curriculum, including:
• The fundamental assumptions, principles, and definitions that should guide the content, development and use of high-quality, equitably-driven curriculum for prekindergarten children.
• The components, criteria, and/or features of high-quality pre-k curriculum that support equity and learning and development of all children. Special considerations that may be needed for Black and Latinx children, culturally and linguistically diverse learners, children with special needs, and children experiencing poverty.
• How the components, criteria, and/or features of high-quality, equitable curriculum should be used by state and local preschool program directors to make curricular decisions for diverse learners and guidance needed to facilitate selection of curricula.
• Curricular supports and professional development opportunities needed by diverse early childhood educators in diverse pre-k settings to enable the effective and equitable implementation of high-quality pre-k curriculum.
• Funding mechanisms, state and federal policies, and new innovations that can support the selection and use of effective and equitable pre-k curriculum.
• Research that is needed to address current gaps in understanding of components, criteria, and/or features of high-quality pre-k curricula.