The American Institutes for Research (AIR), a widely respected, nonpartisan research organization, has partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) to conduct a rigorous, multi-domain evaluation of Every Child Ready, an evidence-based comprehensive curriculum for preschool and Pre-K.
While the review was commissioned by Massachusetts, the AIR review is a valuable resource for early childhood leaders nationwide who are dedicated to ensuring kindergarten readiness through high-quality, developmentally appropriate instruction.
Why the AIR Review Is an Exceptional Resource for Early Childhood Education Decision Makers
Selecting curriculum is one of the most important, high-stakes decisions that educators make. Across the country, curriculum review models vary, and educators frequently face challenges in getting the information they need to make well-informed decisions.
Even in states where the department of education is vetting instructional materials, many reviewing bodies simply announce whether a curriculum is “approved” or not and do not make public the specifics of their evaluations. And finally, many states have no mandatory curriculum review process for early childhood programs.
For all of these reasons, the rigorous, detailed, and transparent nature of AIR’s review enables early childhood educators to clearly evaluate the Every Child Ready curriculum through carefully observed, domain-specific criteria.
[T]he rigorous, detailed, and transparent nature of AIR’s review enables early childhood educators to clearly evaluate the Every Child Ready curriculum through carefully observed, domain-specific criteria.
Highlights from the Comprehensive Review of Every Child Ready
AIR’s Final Pre-K Curriculum Review Report on Every Child Ready evaluated the curriculum in its entirety and awarded strong marks across all categories:
- Developmentally Appropriate and Intellectually Challenging (3.7 out of 4.0)
- Learning Goals and Assessment (4.0 out of 4.0)
- Implementation Supports (4.0 out of 4.0)
- Inclusiveness and Individualization (3.0 out of 4.0)
Notably, the curriculum received the highest possible scores of 4.0—with indicators “substantially met”—for both Learning Goals and Assessment as well as Implementation Supports.
Report: Every Child Ready.
Key Strengths Noted in the Comprehensive Review
In the comprehensive Final Pre-K Curriculum Review Report, AIR reviewers highlighted key strengths of Every Child Ready in each of the four categories:
- Developmentally Appropriate and Intellectually Challenging:
- “The curriculum contains multiple engaging themes and topics that align with children’s interests. Learning experiences are carefully designed to build knowledge and skills throughout the curriculum, with novel activities to practice and sustain learned knowledge and skills. Activities include high-quality texts and open-ended materials that support children’s development of language and learning and ability to explore through hands-on explorations.”
- Learning Goals and Assessment:
- “The curriculum contains clear learning goals for each activity and across multiple content areas. Activities are also aligned to standards, including the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework and MA Early Learning standards. The curriculum is grounded in evidence-based practices, which are explicitly cited in curriculum resources. Assessment tools for assessing and documenting children’s progress are extensive and include guidance on how to conduct formal and informal assessments and assess and report findings”
- Implementation Supports:
- “The curriculum is accessible to educators through its user-friendly, organized layout and detailed guidance. Teachers receive guidance about the unit overviews, activities, strategies for implementation, child development, and more. Extensive and thorough in-depth guides, trainings, checklists, and additional resources are available for teachers and school leaders to help implement the curriculum in classrooms with fidelity.”
- Inclusiveness and Individualization:
- “The curriculum includes materials that frequently represent diverse cultures, perspectives, and identities, as represented by the curriculum books and guidance on incorporating children’s backgrounds into the classroom. Materials and strategies support differentiated learning for diverse learners as well, particularly in small groups. Many materials are available to foster relationships with families through family letters, suggestions for home learning, and additional resources that support parenting.”
AIR’s Domain-Specific Reviews of Every Child Ready
In addition to conducting a comprehensive review report of the overall curriculum, AIR evaluated Every Child Ready in the domains of Mathematics, Language and Literacy, and Social-Emotional Learning, producing individual review reports for each.
Highlights from the Mathematics Domain Review
In the Mathematics domain, the Every Child Ready curriculum earned three “Strong” and two “Sufficient” ratings from AIR reviewers, demonstrating a solid foundation with specific areas of excellence. The following bullets summarize the findings of this review:
Areas of Excellence (Rated “Strong”):
- Learning Goals Aligned with Standards: The curriculum features learning activities, particularly within Flexible Small Groups and Centers, that include standards and goals specifically aligned with the Massachusetts Early Learning Guidelines for Mathematics.
- Curriculum Design: Educators are provided with extensive implementation supports, including detailed teacher scripts, planning guides, and a robust assessment system that tracks progress through baseline, midyear, and end-of-year versions. The curriculum also utilizes a Universal Design Learning approach, providing multiple ways for children to represent and express their understanding.
- Geometry and Patterns: This domain is a significant strength, utilizing hands-on materials like playdough, yarn, and pipe cleaners to support shape recognition and manipulation. Interactive activities such as “Shape Bingo” and identifying shapes within paintings or buildings reinforce these concepts.
Solid Performance (Rated “Sufficient”):
- Mathematics Integration and Environment: The program integrates math into daily routines, using “Question of the Day” prompts to help children describe the real world and extending concepts into “Investigation” centers.
- Numbers and Operations: Children benefit from consistent hands-on counting opportunities (using tools like cubes and counters) along with activities for recognizing and comparing numbers, such as using “measurement aliens” to explore length.
Highlights from the Language and Literacy Domain Review
The Language and Literacy review awarded “Strong” ratings to Every Child Ready across all six evaluation categories, showcasing a curriculum that is deeply rooted in evidence-based literacy practices. Here are the highlights from each category:
Areas of Excellence (Rated “Strong”):
- Alignment with Standards: Learning goals—including reading, speaking, and listening—are specifically identified and embedded across all 11 thematic units and daily activities, such as interactive read-alouds and vocabulary instruction.
- Curriculum Design: The program features a comprehensive scope and sequence supported by culturally responsive materials and clear guidance for teacher actions, including assessment and differentiation strategies for both large and small groups.
- Language Integration and Environment: Literacy is seamlessly woven into the entire daily schedule—from Morning Meeting to Learning Lab—utilizing interactive exchanges, daily play with language in songs and rhymes, and multiple communication methods like drawing and music.
- Explicit Instruction in Literacy Dimensions: Children benefit from daily direct instruction in phonics, phonological awareness, and vocabulary through dedicated “Super Sounds” activities and teacher-led small groups.
- Comprehension, Storytelling, and Conversation: The curriculum emphasizes deep engagement through interactive read-alouds, oral storytelling activities like “Narrative Construction,” and the use of diverse texts that provide children with both “mirrors” and “windows” into the world.
- Supports for Multilingual Learners: Multilingual learners are supported through targeted small-group lessons, Spanish vocabulary integration, and visual aids like bilingual schedules and picture cards that value and encourage their home languages. [The curriculum is fully transadapted into Spanish.]
Highlights from the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Domain Review
In the domain-specific review of Social-Emotional Learning, AIR reviewers awarded Every Child Ready “Strong” ratings across all five evaluation categories, emphasizing the curriculum’s comprehensive approach to fostering empathy, self-regulation, and positive relationships. Each of the 11 units is anchored by a specific SEL theme, such as “Finding My Calm” or “Problems Are OK.” Here are the highlights from each evaluated category:
Areas of Excellence (Rated “Strong”):
- Learning Goals Aligned with Standards: The curriculum features learning goals fully aligned with state standards, utilizing rich texts and visuals (like the “Feel Poster” and “Talk It Out” poster) to make complex emotional concepts accessible to all children.
- Curriculum Design: The program employs a gradual, focused instructional model that begins with children labeling their own emotions and progresses toward advanced skills like cooperative play and problem-solving. It is particularly strong in providing behavioral support through the Positive Behavior Rating Scale (PBRS), which allows teachers to track development and facilitate targeted small-group interventions.
- Integration of SEL Skills in Learning and Play: Social-emotional skills are woven into daily structures like Morning Circle and Choice Time. Teachers are provided with specific directions for setting up “Calming Corners” and using visual tools (such as Feeling Cards and Breathing Cards) to help children practice self-regulation in real-time.
- Instructions and Expectations: The curriculum excels at making routines accessible through visual schedules, annotated clocks, and transition supports like the “Clean Up Song.” Explicit behavioral expectations are clearly outlined for every activity, supported by resources like the “Say Show Check” guide.
- Direct Instruction in SEL Concepts and Strategies: Direct instruction focuses heavily on identity and agency through “About Me” activities and classroom jobs assigned based on individual strengths. Empathy is fostered through units about family and community, while characters’ feelings in read-alouds are used to help children identify and comprehend the emotions of others.
Read the AIR Review and Learn More
The AIR review of the Every Child Ready curriculum stands out as a highly informative and reputable tool for any early childhood leader who is considering this comprehensive prekindergarten program. The evaluation provides insights into Every Child Ready’s content across learning domains, instructional design, research-based practices, implementation supports, and family engagement resources.
Read the American Institutes for Research’s Review of Every Child Ready
Get full access to AIR’s comprehensive review of the Every Child Ready curriculum.
To read AIR’s domain-specific reviews of Every Child Ready for Mathematics, Language and Literacy, and Social-Emotional Learning, please contact your local Collaborative Classroom Manager of Educational Partnerships.
Related Resources
Learn about the Every Child Ready curriculum and download sample lessons.
Explore the evidence base for Every Child Ready
Compare all Early Childhood solutions from Collaborative Classroom.