La Petite Uses Assessment Tool to Answer Whether Kids Are Learning

La Petite Academy, which touts itself as the second largest child care company in the U.S., has done something I hope more daycare providers will consider in the future. They have attempted to answer parents' nagging question of, "Is my child learning anything in daycare?" through research and assessment. The center used a third-party company, Assessment Technology, Inc., to gather information about children's learning and whether they are acquiring important cognitive skills. The positive result show that La Petite Academy's focus on age-appropriate curriculum (it launched a Journey curriculum a year ago) is working. A big reason to give the center's assessment a thumbs up is that it does provide teachers with performance data as well as validate concerns and questions of parents and provide measurable results. As more and more attention continues to be placed on academic readiness for kindergarten and beyond, expect more daycare centers to follow suit.