Access Curriculum Framework
The ACCESS Curriculum Framework is a framework for instructional decision-making that supports intentional teaching, integrated curriculum and inquiry. Co-authored by University of Dayton early childhood faculty Dr. Shauna Adams, Dr. Joni Baldwin, Ms. Joy Comingore, and science educator, Dr. Mary Kay Kelly, the curriculum works with children ages birth through age 8 and has even been effective in middle school classrooms. The framework has been developed and field tested in a wide variety of settings including child care, Head Start, preschool special education, and public and Catholic kindergarten and primary grades. With a focus on integrated curriculum, ACCESS can be particularly useful in Catholic schools that wish to maximize instructional time and embed Catholic identity throughout the entire curriculum. Learn more >>
ACCESS Overview
Intentional teaching that inspires teachers and children to create and connect curriculum around important science topics
ACCESS is not a curriculum but rather a framework for decision-making that has been developed and implemented at the University of Dayton's demonstration school, the Bombeck Family Learning Center (Bombeck Center). The work reflects years of partnerships with teachers who work with children and families in poverty as well as with teachers of children and children with special learning needs.
The Bombeck Center teachers and administrators have worked with the university's early childhood faculty to develop and implement a framework that
- Uses assessment data to support instructional decision making.
- Encourages high quality teacher-child interactions.
- Is child-centered and play-based.
- Benefits from an emergent negotiated curriculum component that incorporates integrated project-based learning.
- Provides children with opportunities to acquire both developmental skills and early learning content.
- Supports teacher development of in-depth content knowledge to support child outcomes.