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Press Release: Maryland State Department of Education Updates State-Recommended Curricula for Early Childhood Programs

Project Designed To Support Preschool Children

For Immediate Release                        Contact: William Reinhard, 410-767-0486

Baltimore, MD (June 4, 2014)

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), responsible for early care and education programs throughout the state, has updated its state-recommended list of early childhood curricula for child care centers, Head Start programs, and nursery schools.

In 2007 and 2010, MSDE had posted recommended lists online and provided monetary support for early childhood programs to purchase the curricula. The Department this year embarked on another round of reviews to recommend preschool curricula that demonstrate the best alignment with the new State’s pre-kindergarten and kindergarten curricular frameworks, which constitutes the foundation of the Maryland College and Career Ready Standards.

The project is designed to support preschool age children before they start their school careers. MSDE’s Division of Early Childhood Development has created policies and procedures for getting the resources to the providers.

“Quality early childhood programs have always worked with curricular resources and often, early childhood providers from the non-public sector ask the Department which curricula to use with three- and four-year-olds,” said Dr. Lillian M. Lowery, State Superintendent of Schools. “We are very excited about this effort to provide guidance to child care and other early childhood programs about the selected early childhood curricula.”

The selected programs now include:

  • Robert-Leslie - InvestiGator Club (ages 3,4, & 5)
  • Frog Street Inc. - Frog Street Preschool (age 4)
  • MacMillan/McGraw Hill - Little Treasures (age 4)
  • McGraw-Hill Wright Group - DLM Early Childhood Express (ages3 & 4)
  • Success for All - Kinder Corner (age 5) and Curiosity Corner (age 4)
  • Teaching Strategies - Creative Curriculum for Preschool (ages 3 & 4) and Family Child Care (ages 3,4, & 5)

The initiative also ensures that the teaching of these resources aligns with the guidelines of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. Representatives from the early care and education community, higher education, and public and non-public schools reviewed the submitted curricula for three- to five-year-olds.

“We have established a very rigorous review process to determine the soundness of the curricular resources with regard to the state’s expectations of what young children should know and be able to do,” said Dr. Rolf Grafwallner, Assistant State Superintendent for the Division of Early Childhood Development. “The challenge remains of getting these resources to as many child care, Head Start, and nursery programs as possible.”

More information about the Early Childhood Curriculum Project and the Curriculum Fund is available online at http://marylandpublicschools.org//MSDE/divisions/child_care/preschool_curriculum


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