By Charlotte Meaden, Faye Humby, Kerry Hayward,

Sarah Baker and Toni-Marie McCarrick

 High/Scope
• High/Scope is an approach that was initially
developed by Dr David Weikart in 1962, to serve
children at risk of school failure in Michigan, USA.
• “Staff encourage children to become decision-
makers and problem-solvers, helping them to
develop skills and traits that enable them to become
successful students.” (Pound, 2005, p. 56)
• The curriculum model is now used in more than 20
countries including UK, Ireland and Mexico.

Pound, L (2005) How children learn, Leamington Spa: Step forward publishing.
• Research was carried out called the “High/Scope Perry
Pre-school project.” This was to evaluate if early
intervention was the solution, from the research it was
concluded that this was. From here the High/Scope
approach was implemented into nurseries.
• The Perry pre-school project ran for 5 years and was a
longitudinal study, following up the lives of the children
who went to the nurseries. One group of children were
enrolled on a pre-school course whilst the other group
had no education before they went to school.

“The original project was one of the early attempts to

translate Piaget’s theory into practice with each aspect of
the work theoretically grounded and thoroughly evaluated.”
(Bredekamp, 1998, p. 27)
 High/Scope Perry Preschool
study findings at age 27

80
60 Nursery
40
No
20 Nursery
0 5+ arrests $2000+ Own home Graduate

Hohmann, M and Weikart, D (1995) Educating young children, Michigan: High/Scope press .
 Key dates
• 1962-1967: High/Scope Perry pre-school project
began with the first group of 123 children.

• 1984: Publication of Changed lives: the effects of the

Perry Pre-school program on youth through age 19.

• 1990: High/Scope UK, the first institute outside the US.

• 2004: Publication of Lifetime effects: The High/Scope

Perry Pre-school study through age 40.

Pound, L (2005) How children learn, Leamington Spa: Step forward publishing.
 Every child is unique and their self-
confidence needs to be enhanced by
building on what they can do already The power to learn
resides in the child

View of childhood Children learn through

Independence their own actions and
is promoted interactions

Children and adults

Children need to take think differently
care of their own needs

Hohmann, M and Weikart, D (1995) Educating young children, Michigan: High/Scope press.
http://www.high-scope.org.uk/hs_code/about_us/approach.asp (Accessed on 13/11/07)
 The Daily Routine
Planning time (10–15 minutes)
Work time (45–60 minutes; includes cleanup time at the end)
Recall time (10–15 minutes)
Small-group time
(15–20 minutes)
Large-group time
(10–15 minutes)
Outside time (30–40 minutes)
Transition times
(including arrival and departure) (variable)
Eating and rest times (variable)
Adult team planning time
(20–40 minutes)

http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=182 (Accessed 16/11/2007)

 Key Activity Concept
•High/Scope activities are focused around active learning
using the senses and imagination as well as adult
interaction.
•Children are also encouraged to choose their own
activities to do and use them however they would wish to.
It is important therefore, that the equipment to be age
appropriate and for the supervising adults to observe for
the children's wellbeing.
 Problem Solving
Play dough using puzzles Mixing Paint

Adding food
colouring to
water
Role play

Material
Activities
work
Wood work
(sawing and Blowing
drilling holes bubbles
with adult Printing and
supervision) Making paper
creating
chains
masks on the
computer

“Children learn best through active experiences with

people, materials, events and ideas” (Jackman, 2004,
p. 27)
 “Children should be agents in their own
Classroom Plan learning, therefore the organisation of space,
materials and people must support
independent learning.” (Brown, 1990, p. 11)

Labelled play
equipment
Cooking
corner

Mat

Play
Sand and dough
Water activities

Writing Role Play

and
drawing
 “One of the hallmarks of
“The eight key experiences relate
programs based on active
directly to Piaget’s areas of
learning is the many
cognition.” (MacNaughton, 2003,
opportunities they provide
p. 96)
for children to make
choices” (Hohmann et al,
1995, p. 25)

“Through exploration,
children answer their own
questions and satisfy their
curiosity” (Hohmann et al,
Quotes
1995, p. 25)

“The active learning

process involves all the
senses” (Hohmann et
al, 1995, p. 25)
High/Scope philosophies Other theorists

Plan do review Piaget’s active learning

Communicating perceptions Gardner’s multiple

through creativity intelligences.
Adults support and play with
Vygotsky ZPD
children
Children should have control Smilansky’s roles of
over their own learning planning

Learning through talk Bruner’s scaffolding

• “Through active learning-having direct
and immediate experiences and deriving
meaning from them through reflection-
young children make sense of their
world.” (Pound, 2005, p. 57)
• Scaffolding is the “process of giving
support to learners at the appropriate
time and at the appropriate level of
sophistication to meet the needs of the
individual.” (Pritchard, 2005, p. 31)
 High/Scopes’ view of Play
Play vigorously and Children should
quietly interact with peers
and adults

Experiences

Various activities
Repetitive and new
challenges
 In the Classroom
• Adults organise play into specific areas

Sand and Water Play Role Play Drawing and Painting

Wide variety of materials

Easily accessible
 Supporting Play
• Play in a supportive climate in involves all
the ingredients of active learning.

• Materials
• Choice
• Language
• Awareness of others
 Plan-do-review

• plan activity, carry out and reflect

• set process in motion
• review experiences
• small group time
• large group time
“To capture and build on children’s natural
enthusiasms, adults put themselves in
children’s hands as often as possible.
They follow children’s directions; willingly
assume the pretend roles assigned to
them by children (“Your leg is broken, but
I’m a doctor so I’ll fix it”) and play games
according to the child’s rules.” (Hohmann
et al, 1995, p. 53)
Planning leads to involvement and concentration
on play

Planning and
Play

Planning supports the development of complex

play
 SIMPLE PLAY COMPLEX PLAY

Familiar routine, repetitive, Creative, imaginative and

unproductive productive

Cognitively unsophisticated Cognitively complex

Performed with no planning or Structured and working towards a

purposefulness goal

Without structure and with out a Learning a new skill, or trying to

goal improve an old one

Conducted with little mental effort Conducted with care and mental
and little care effort

Hohmann, M and Weikart, D (1995) Educating young children, Michigan: High/Scope

press, p. 177.
 Assessment

• gather accurate information about children

• observing
• daily planning sessions
Encouraging Independence
• Space and time
• Children’s intentions
• Children’s thinking
‘Active learning depends on positive adult
child interactions’ (Hohmann et al, 1995, p.
6)
• Conduct home visits
 Does the High/Scope approach
really work?
The “Overall conclusion from research is that
children across cultural and socio-economic
backgrounds and of varying abilities benefit from
the High/Scope Approach. This should be seen as
an investment in a child's future life chances and
as an investment in the future well-being of
Society”
http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentI
=291 (Accessed on 13/11/2007)
 Bibliography
• Bredekamp, S (1998) “The contribution of High/Scope to early childhood education in
the United states” Early years 18 (2) pp. 27-31
• Brown, M (1990) The High/Scope approach to the National Curriculum – An
introduction, London: High/Scope Institute.
• Hohmann, M and Weikart, D (1995) Educating young children, Michigan: High/Scope
press.
• Jackman, H (2004) Early Curriculum: A Childs Connection to the World, USA:
Thomson Delmar learning.
• MacNaughton, G (2003) Shaping Early Childhood, Bershire, McGraw-Hill
• Pound, L (2005) How children learn, Leamington Spa: Step forward publishing.
• Pritchard, A (2005) Ways of learning, Oxon: David Fulton publishers

• Head start and High/scope, http://www.angelfire.com/stars3/education/headstart.html

(Accessed on 13/11/07)
• The High/scope approach, http://www.high-
scope.org.uk/hs_code/about_us/approach.asp (Accessed on 13/11/07)
• http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentI=291 (Accessed on 13/11/2007)
• Daily Routine, http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=182
(Accessed 16/11/2007)