Description:

Throughout the evolution of early childhood education, curriculum has been entangled, and often confused, with important and related issues (i.e., beliefs, learning theories/pedagogies, and skills/standards). Curriculum is different from, but reflects, guiding principles or beliefs about children and their learning. In discussions of quality, curriculum &em; or the content of what is taught to children &em; has not been the focal point until recently.

The search for effective curricula persists, with the federal government in the United States currently funding randomized clinical trials to compare various curriculum models to determine whether one or more curricula produce educationally meaningful effects for children's language skills, pre-reading and pre-math abilities, cognition, general knowledge, and social competence at the end of preschool and through the end of first grade.

While data have not yet deemed any particular curricular model to be more effective than others, this document briefly describes indicators of effectiveness that entwine curriculum and pedagogy as recommended by scholars and major national organizations in the field.