RE: Universal Preschool

The Working Group definitely agrees with Irene's point.  The foundation of a child's experiences with learning is crucial.  But the integration of those experiences with the next stage of learning (which currently involves more didactic approaches) is also important.  We want to build upon early success experiences and knowledge of each child's learning style so that there is a better match between how a child learns and how we teach each child.  Moreover, in our array of assessments that monitor students progress, we should include curriculum based approaches.  After all, if we don't test what has been taught--what in the world are we testing for?  It seems a little unfair to test children on content they've never been exposed to.