Tennessee Succeeds: The Importance of Early Learning

- We are really proud

of really elevating up
high quality instruction,

and we're really working
towards improving quality

consistently across the state for all

of our, uh, young learners.

And so we have a real
opportunity this year

because we adopted three state
approved pre-K curricula.

And so we're really targeting,
um, professional development

around those so that we can ensure

that we're seeing high quality

and instruction in each classroom.

- So we're doing a number of things.

Um, we really recognize the importance

of the early years in a child's education,

and we have been working very
strategically over the past

couple of years to improve
the quality of instruction

and pre-K programming across the state.

We have explicitly aligned our standards

with our K 12 standards to
make that transition from pre-K

to K, uh, a strong one.

We have recently revised the
list of approved curricula

that may be used in our
pre-K classrooms to ensure

that our teachers are focused on

providing deep learning
opportunities for students,

building their conceptual
knowledge simultaneously

to building their skills.

- So, so far we've um,

actually been engaged in
having some professional

development, um, trainings going on

across, um, the districts.

And it's been really exciting

to hear teacher testimonies
already this early into

implementation where they're
saying it's changing the way

they're thinking about teaching.

And while they were always
doing good teaching,

but they're being more intentional,

like even in the vocabulary they're using

and connecting, learning
across, um, standards as well

as really thinking about how
to make it more meaningful

for the, for the children

and connecting it to their
lives and families. We

- Are very, we're a group
of very strong teachers

who very much believe in,
um, preparing them as much

as we can for kindergarten
because it's very important.

It's essential. It's a, it's a
grade that is often forgotten

because they think we're just playing

and we're not, we're really
doing important work down here.

It looks like play. Um,

but that's, that's what makes us unique is

because we make it beneficial play.

We're really valuable to
every school as we're starting

that foundation that then
gets built from kindergarten

to first to second,
all the way to college.

At this point, we've been
here long enough for our kids

to be in second grade
that started this school,

and we get compliments all the time.

We can tell the kids
that have been in pre-K

to the kids who haven't.

So we, we are seeing
long-term benefits for sure.

- Well, it, um, the beginning of,

of children's educational
path is always, um,

the most important piece

because it's where strong
foundations are laid

and we really wanna start
them on the right trajectory

for learning and success.

And, and you know, we know
from research that most

of brain development happens
in the early years, so we want

to maximize those opportunities

and we know that that will
not only affect third grade

reading scores, but also all
the way through high school

and their career and life beyond.

So we have the most important
work that's exciting.