By the time they enter school, low-income children substantially lag behind their peers in many domains. Research shows strong early math skills predict better outcomes in both math and reading in later elementary school (Duncan et al., 2007). In addition, children who maintain these math skills are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. However, preschool teachers place the lowest priority on teaching early math skills to children (Ginsburg et al., 2008).

To address these concerns, a large-scale randomized control trial in New York City is testing the effect of a math curriculum along with in-depth professional development for schools serving low-income preschoolers. A pilot year was conducted with 8 preschools. The full trial involves 69 schools, with half randomly assigned to receive the intervention for two years and half to conduct business as usual. The preschools are currently in their first year of implementation. This presentation will examine the importance of math skills in preschool and describe operational lessons learned about implementing math well in a wide variety of preschools, such as:

Lesson #1: Teachers are interested in, excited about, and capable of implementing math practices. Although not universal, many sites and teachers demonstrated interest in having more support around math instruction. The pilot year demonstrated that teachers are able to implement well-structured math activities. What’s more, by the end of the year many teachers were excited about delivering math instruction.

Lesson #2: In order to ensure that a program is implementable by teachers, it is important that a strong curriculum be paired with an ongoing professional development model.  The selection of a strong, evidence-based math curriculum (Building Blocks) was crucial to ensuring that the program could be scaled up effectively, with teachers relying on the scripting and prepared activities to help them implement. In addition, a comprehensive professional development model was created, with 7 days of training and weekly on-site coaching. This ongoing, consistent professional development supported teachers’ attempts at implementation in the classroom.

Lesson #3: It is important to monitor fidelity continuously in order to help overcome challenges to implementation in a timely fashion. A management information system (MIS), in which coaches report on implementation, is critical for this scale-up effort. The MIS allows for monitoring of dosage and quality against pre-specified benchmarks. In addition, the MIS provides coaches with an opportunity to raise barriers to implementation and receive immediate technical assistance.

Lesson #4: It requires some work in order for computer-based components to be implemented well. In this study, some centers lacked internet access or computers, which needed to be supplied. Technical support also needed to be provided, particularly at the beginning of the year, to ensure that classrooms were able to run the technology as planned. In addition, both teachers and children were sometimes uncomfortable with computer use and needed basic training.

This presentation highlights the important role of math in preschool and identifies some lessons about implementing a math curriculum and professional development model at scale in a large, complex city.