The North Carolina Pre K Program Requirements - 1471 Words

The North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten Program, formerly known as More at Four, is geared towards bettering the lives for At-Risk 4-year-old children. Exposing children to an early learning experience that will promote a positive learning environment to ensure Kindergarten readiness is what drives the program. Upon arrival, each child is screened using the Brigance 4-year-old tool to assess and determine the child’s developmental skills and abilities. According to the text, â€Å"Classroom tests and assessments play a central role in the evaluation of student learning. They provide relevant measures of many important learning outcomes and indirect evidence concerning others† (Miller, Linn, Gronlund, pg. 139). While many educators and families†¦show more content†¦Benchmarks include comprehensive Early Learning Standards; staff meet education/licensure requirements, professional development; 1:9 staff/child ratio; developmental screens and referral; evidence-ba sed curriculum and formative assessments; monitoring and nutritional requirements† (http://ncchildcare.dhhs.state.nc.us/general/mb_ncprek.asp). Problem Statement and Research Question As an educator in the early childhood education field, I have had the opportunity to become aware, experienced, and exposed to At-risk children in the NC Pre-Kindergarten classroom. My goal with this action research paper is to adhere to the benefits and everlasting impact on children whom attend and children who did not attend the NC Pre-Kindergarten program. How does NC Pre-K program ready children for Kindergarten? How does a child that did not attend an NC Pre-K classroom differ from those children that did? What are the goals and standards that are addressed in the NC Pre-K classroom? What, if any, curriculum is used in the classroom? Lastly, what assessments and screening tools are used to measure growth from the beginning of Pre-K to the end of the school year? These are the questio ns that will give my research guidance and direction to better educate the reader. Review of the Literature Who Benefits? In the article entitled Why All Children Benefit from Pre-K the question brought forth, â€Å"Should publicly supported, high-quality pre-kindergarten be available to