Video: A Message from the First Graders of Red Bank, NJ

This month, in elementary school auditoriums around the country, parents are lapping up adorable performances by their gradeschoolers. Early childhood specialists might be prone to criticize the use of these on-stage showcases, especially when they require kids to spend hours memorizing songs instead of being involved in deeper learning. But you cannot argue with their power to spotlight the diversity and potential of the next generation. Here’s one that goes above and beyond:

The video shows first graders from Red Bank Primary School in the borough of Red Bank, NJ, a district that has caught the attention of early childhood educators and education reformers around the country. Despite challenging demographics — a population of children from low-income families who speak a language other than English at home — the students in the Red Bank Borough have achieved remarkable academic success over the past five years. The vast majority of students are meeting or surpassing state averages on math standardized tests and coming close on reading tests. Most recent scores show that 95 percent of first and second graders in the school district are considered proficient on local assessments that predict how well those students will do on statewide tests a few years later.

The district uses the Tools of the Mind curriculum in both its pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms. It also employs a consistent language arts and literacy program in grades K-3, emphasizing balanced literacy, learning centers and guided reading.  Leaders have suggested that the Tools approach, which focuses on purposeful play and rich language development, as well as the district’s emphasis on a seamless delivery of literacy instruction from grade to grade, are among the reasons for the children’s high performance.

Laura Morana, the superintendent of the district, gave the closing address yesterday at the annual meeting of the professional development institute for the National Association for the Education of Young Children. This video was embedded in her remarks, and we thank her for allowing us to share it here. You can read more about Red Bank in our 2009 paper, written by Sara Mead, “Education Reform Starts Early: Lessons from New Jersey’s PreK-3rd Efforts.” (See the sidebar on pages 25-26 for detailed description of Morana’s approach.) Additional information is also available in slides from a panel at the Education Trust conference last November.