Overview Of Framework Elements

School districts and communities around the country are striving to establish and sustain P-3 approaches that align early learning programs (birth-to-5) with K-12 systems. Meaningful and comprehensive alignment efforts can lead to improved child outcomes and narrowed achievement gaps. Light-touch and sporadic alignment efforts just make adults busier but do not improve the learning opportunities or intentional, coherent instruction provided to young students.

The Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating PreK-3rd Grade Approaches (Kauerz & Coffman, 2013) is a concise document that provides guidance on questions such as:

  • What does a comprehensive P-3 approach include?
  • The word “alignment” is used often, but what needs to be aligned?
  • What kinds of changes need to take hold in adults’ behaviors before we can expect to see improvements in child outcomes?
  • What responsibilities need to be shared among 0-5 programs, grades K-3, families, and communities?
  • How can evaluation not be an afterthought, but be incorporated into the planning and design of P-3 approaches?

The Framework can be accessed here through the National P3 Center.