Pre-School Teacher Education

SMU’s Pre-School Teacher Education program offers contract training in pre-school education to schools and child-care centers interested in improving their language-skills curriculum for young children. SMU’s Teacher Education program uses the Language Enrichment Activities Program (LEAP) curriculum, which was designed specifically to address the particular educational needs of pre-school children. It was developed by SMU’s Learning Therapy program in response to a request from the Texas Instruments Foundation (TIF) in 1993 to create a language-rich pre-reading program for children at the Margaret Cone Head Start Center in Dallas, Texas.

Young children living in poverty, such as those served by Head Start Centers, are often unable to identify primary colors, recognize most or all letters of the alphabet, count to 20, pretend to read or tell a story when presented with a book, or write their names. These skills and this knowledge are precursors to developing reading and writing skills, critical elements of success in school for all children, whether from families of poverty or wealth. More to the point, the ability to read and write has become increasingly important to the long-term academic, personal, and professional success of individuals of all ages and walks of life.

Relying on extensive research, classroom experience, and fieldwork, a pre-school specialist from SMU’s Learning Therapy program developed LEAP, a unique multisensory, enriched language curriculum comprised of pre-K lessons that teachers can use throughout the school day. It includes teacher-training, model teaching by volunteers, take-home ideas for parents, and expandable lesson plans. The core of the program is to read aloud from books and include language in a variety of activities every day. Other components of LEAP include games and pictures for building vocabulary and expressive language skills, phonological awareness, knowledge of the letters of the alphabet, concept development, ideas for math and science, and fine-motor pre-writing skills. Teachers are encouraged to talk to the children as often as possible during the day, modeling correct grammar and a rich vocabulary. Teachers also incorporate counting and word games, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and creative play in learning centers throughout the day. Engaging children in activities with environmental print, literature, writing, and language-experience charts encourages print awareness. All children, regardless of their financial and cultural circumstances, learn written-language skills most effectively (with respect to long-term application) when presented with an interactive, sequential, phonological approach such as LEAP.

LEAP Goals

The goal of LEAP is to prepare children to enter kindergarten functioning close to an emotionally, socially, and academically age-appropriate level of development. Emphasizing the areas of receptive and expressive language, phonological awareness, knowledge of the letters of the alphabet, basic concepts, numeracy, and prewriting fine motor skills, LEAP increases a child's chance for success in kindergarten. Pre- and post-assessments document the gains made by the children who participate in the program. The median standard scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-R (PPVT-R) for students in Head Start Centers who have been exposed to LEAP have increased significantly. The children from the Margaret Cone Head Start Center who have been exposed to the curriculum have gone on to complete kindergarten scoring above their peers (according to ITBS scores from the local elementary school) and continue to maintain an academic level equal to their peers in the Dallas I.S.D. By entering kindergarten prepared to learn, most of these children are completing the year performing above the national norm, thereby greatly increasing their chances of succeeding in school. Over the past several years, the LEAP curriculum has been integrated into existing programs and child-care centers across Texas and the southwest.

SMU PreSchool Teacher Education "In The News" (click to link)

Teacher Training: Contract Basis

SMU’s Pre-K Teacher Training program teaches the LEAP curriculum to educators, schools, and child-care centers on a consultation basis. The comprehensive curriculum can be taught in a three-credit-hour college course (45 contact hours), or it can be taught in abbreviated form in a 3-day noncredit workshop (20 contact hours). The minimum class size for either noncredit or credit instruction is 10 participants. The total cost of training includes a per-participant cost for noncredit or credit tuition/fees, a cost for classroom sets of non-consumable curricular materials, and travel and expenses for the instructor(s) if incurred.

Calendar Year 2005 Prices

The credit tuition & fees cost per course (3 credit hours) per participant is $999.

Noncredit participant costs vary depending on the size of the class. For a class of 20, the course fee per participant is $300. A class of more than 25 students may require more than one instructor.  Individual training programs may be designed to fit specific needs.

Whether the LEAP curriculum is taught for college credit in a traditional three-credit-hour course or for noncredit in an informal workshop, the contracting school or child-care center must purchase one set of curricular materials for each classroom represented by the participants. In other words, if a school purchases training for 10 lead teachers and their 10 teaching assistants—20 participants total—the school will need to purchase 10 classroom sets of curricular materials. These non-consumable classroom sets will “go to” the school on completion of the training class. These materials can be purchased directly from the publishers and/or teacher-supply stores. The cost of one classroom set of non-consumable curricular materials is approximately $1000.

Sample Pricing (costs provided below do not include travel and related expenses for the instructor)

College-Credit Course Prices

For a three-credit-hour course (45 contact hours) for 20 participants comprising 10 lead teachers and their 10 teaching assistants:

• 10 non-consumable classroom sets of curricular materials -- Approximate cost: $10,000
• Tuition, which includes a fee for consumable supplies & a language handbook, at $900 per student: $18,000.

TOTAL CREDIT COURSE COST FOR A CLASS OF 20: $28,000 (excluding instructor’s travel & expenses)

Noncredit Course Prices

For a 3-day noncredit course (approximately 20 contact hours) for 20 participants, comprising 10 lead teachers and their 10 teaching assistants:

• 10 non-consumable classroom sets of curricular materials -- approximate cost: $10,000.
• Noncredit tuition, which includes a fee for consumable supplies & a language handbook, at $300 per student: $6,000.

TOTAL NONCREDIT COURSE COST FOR A CLASS OF 20: $16,000 (excluding instructor’s travel & expenses)

For More Information

SMU Pre-School Teacher Training
6404 N. Ownby Dr.
PO Box 750384
Dallas, TX 75275-0384
phone: 214-SMU-ABCD (214-768-2223)
fax: 214-768-4990
E-mail: leap@smu.edu