Early Years

Integrating proven early-childhood-education practices into the rest of the elementary school curriculum can improve the entire culture of a school, a report from the National Association of State Boards of Education says.

The report, "Early Childhood Champions," focuses on six public school administrators who encouraged the use of methods that are more common in preschool and kindergarten classrooms, such as "child initiated" learning, small work groups, and multiple assessment methods.

For example, Marilyn Butcher, the principal of Travis Heights Elementary School in Austin, Texas, established multiage classrooms and made cooperative learning and hands-on instruction a regular part of the curriculum. Health and social services were also made available to...