Great Preschools: High Expectations for All Students

When researching your local preschools, you want to look for things that indicate that the school has high expectations for all students, one of our seven Great Preschool Quality Factors. The preschool that you choose for your child should show these two indicators:

• The school has high but age-appropriate developmental goals for all children in the four core developmental areas (at a minimum). In a Great Preschool, teachers fully believe that all children can meet these goals, and they make great effort to ensure that it happens.
• The preschool also sets higher, individualized next-step goals for children who are ready to excel beyond their age peers. No matter how bright the average child in a preschool and how high typical goals are set, every preschool has children who are ready to learn more. In Great Preschools, these children are provided with the toys, other materials and support/instruction to continue making progress.

Examples include:

• Materials and activities available to children in the classroom promote development in four core areas, including materials and toys for use when a teacher is not leading the instruction.
• If you ask teachers what they do for children who lag developmentally, you should hear that they take specific action, not that "some kids are less advantaged and so won't learn as much."
• You see teachers spending time coaching children who are having trouble using a toy or doing an activity (cognitive and physical), working through a social conflict (social), or regulating their behavior (emotional).
• The classrooms have advanced materials in them - materials your child would find challenging and engaging.
• If you ask what the preschool does for children who are advanced cognitively, you should hear that every teacher has advanced materials available and that all teachers use them, not that "these children take care of themselves," "we're not too worried about those kids," "all our kids are equally advanced," or "we stick to age norms."
• Teachers (or materials they use) raise goals for children who are ahead, but never lower what is expected of children below age-appropriate goals; instead teachers seek new ways to help children develop.

High Expectations for All Students and Your Preschool Search