About High/Scope®
General Information | Infant/Toddler Programs | Preschool Programs
General Information
- Who uses High/Scope?
- How does High/Scope help children learn how resolve conflicts?
- How can families use High/Scope at home?
- How does High/Scope evaluate programs?
- What is the High/Scope Curriculum?
- What are High/Scope's goals for young children?
- What is the evidence that the High/Scope approach works?
- What does the High/Scope name mean?
- What is the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation?
- How can I learn more about High/Scope?
- Who uses High/Scope?
The High/Scope approach serves the full range of children and families from all social, financial, and ethnic backgrounds. The approach is used in public and private agencies, half- and full-day preschools, Head Start programs, public school prekindergarten programs, child care centres, home-based child care programs, and programs for children with special needs. In addition to the programs throughout the United States using High/Scope, there are High/Scope Institutes in Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico, The Netherlands, South Africa, Singapore, Korea and Indonesia.
- How does High/Scope help children learn how to resolve conflicts?
Conflict is inevitable during the course of children's play, whenever they become frustrated or angry. This does not mean children are bad, selfish, or mean. They simply have not yet learned how to interpret social cues, understand other viewpoints, or match their behavior to the situation.To help children learn how to work out their disagreements together, High/Scope teachers are trained to use a six-step process to solve problems and resolve conflicts:
- Approach calmly, stopping any hurtful actions or language
- Acknowledge feelings
- Gather information
- Restate the problem
- Ask for ideas for solutions and choose one together
- Give follow-up support as needed
- How can families use High/Scope at home?
Many of the activities that High/Scope teachers offer in their programs can also be done by families at home. For example, parents can provide many different learning materials, often using everyday objects that cost little or nothing. Parents can encourage children to make plans, carry them out, and talk about what they have learned from their experiences. They can try to be more predictable in their routines so children know what to expect. And they can use the steps of conflict resolution to help children resolve disputes with siblings and friends.
High/Scope classrooms welcome visits from parents and encourage them to participate in field trips and other special events. We are especially eager for parents to share things about their families and culture so they can be incorporated into the program's daily routine. High/Scope regards parents and teachers as partners in promoting children's learning.
- How does High/Scope evaluate programs?
A proven model can only benefit children if it is implemented with high levels of fidelity. To guarantee that programs claiming to do High/Scope are indeed using our educational approach, we evaluate programs and teachers with the second edition of the Preschool program Quality Assessment (PQA). Evaluators observe in the classroom and interview program staff to record objective notes and complete ratings on 72 items in seven areas:
* learning environment
* daily routine
* adult-child interaction
* curriculum planning and assessment
* parent involvement and family services
* staff qualifications and staff development
* program management
The PQA is also an excellent tool for staff development, because detailed examples of "ideal" implementation are built into the scoring system.
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What is the High/Scope Curriculum?
High/Scope's educational approach emphasizes "active participatory learning". Active learning means children have direct, hands-on experiences with people, objects, events, and ideas. Children's interests and choices are at the heart of High/Scope programs. They construct their own knowledge through interactions with the world and the people around them. Children take the first step in the learning process by making choices and following through on their plans and decisions. Teachers, caregivers, and parents offer physical, emotional, and intellectual support. In active learning settings, adults expand children's thinking with diverse materials and nurturing interactions.
- What are High/Scope's goals for young children?
High/Scope is a comprehensive educational approach that strives to help children develop in all areas. Our goals for young children are:
- To learn through active involvement with people, materials, events and ideas
- To become independent, responsible, and confident – ready for school and ready for life
- To learn to plan many of their own activities, carry them out, and talk with others about what they have done and what they have learned
- To gain knowledge and skills in important academic, social, and physical area
High/Scope provides children with carefully planned experiences in reading, mathematics, and science. For example, the High/Scope Early Childhood Reading Institute ensures that early learning and staff development in the area of literacy are compatible with the latest findings from research and practice. Our key development indicators in mathematics are aligned with the early childhood standards of the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics.
Social development is another important learning area in High/Scope programs. Studies continually demonstrate that children in High/Scope classrooms show high levels of initiative. Teachers further support social development by helping children learn how to resolve interpersonal conflicts. The National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (USA) stresses that all these areas of academic and socioemotional growth are essential for school readiness.
- What is the evidence that the High/Scope approach works?
Almost 40 years of research shows that High/Scope programs advance the development of children and improve their chance of living a better life through adulthood. National research with children from different backgrounds has shown that those who attend High/Scope programs score higher on measures of development than similar children enrolled in other preschool and child care programs.
The Foundation is perhaps best known for the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project study, which compared low-income children who attended our program with those who did not. As adults, preschool participants had higher high school graduation rates, higher monthly earnings, less use of welfare, and fewer arrests than those without the program. In addition to benefiting the individuals who attended preschool, these results show that preschool leads to savings for taxpayers: for every dollar invested in high-quality early childhood education, society saves $13 in the cost of special education, public assistance, unemployment benefits and crime.
Research also shows that High/Scope training with teachers and caregivers is highly effective. In a national study, teachers with High/Scope training had higher quality programs than did similar teachers without such training. Higher quality programs were in turn linked to better developmental outcomes for children.
- How did High/Scope get its name and what does it mean?
The late David Weikart, High/Scope's founder, related how High/Scope got its name in his memoir How High/Scope Grew. High/Scope was originally established as a camp program for talented adolescents. Weikart relates that the name was chosen by the camp's founders "at the end of a long evening of heady and serious discussion about the [the program's] purpose and goals." They chose "high" to signify their aspiration level and "scope" to describe the breadth of vision they hoped to achieve.
- What is the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation?
The High/Scope Educational Research Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization, established in 1970, with headquarters in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Foundation promotes the development of children and youth worldwide and supports educators and parents as they help children learn. The Foundation's mission is to lift lives through education. High/Scope engages in the following activities:
* Develops curricula (instructional programs, professional development programs, and assessment instruments)
* Trains teachers, caregivers, and youth workers
* Conducts research in education and interprets and publishes what it discover
* Publicly supports programs and policies that benefit children and youth
* Publishes educational books, videotapes, and other materials
- How can I learn more about High/Scope?
See the High/Scope website for more information on the High/Scope curriculum and the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.
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