High Scope - Origin

Origin

As director of special services in the Ypsilanti (Michigan) public school district, David Weikart became increasingly interested in the academic performance of a number of at-risk children from poor neighborhoods. These students did poorly on district-wide, standardized tests and also received low scores in IQ assessments.

Weikart brought together, and collaborated with, a committee of elementary education leaders that included Perry School's Charles Eugene Beatty, Michigan's first African-American principal. Known as the Perry Preschool Project (1962), members discussed possible changes to teaching methods and curriculum choices. Even though they did not expect to radically change Ypsilanti's teaching core (which mostly worked), they explored why it seemingly failed a certain population of students.

While searching for better teaching methods and programs, Weikart (now also part of a special services committee tackling the same issue) zeroed in on programs for three- and four-year-olds. Outside the normal organization of the school district, Weikart hired four teachers and began operation of a preschool at Perry Elementary School.

Weikart and Perry School's teachers and staff chose to differ from traditional nursery school settings by designing a program that focused on a child's intellectual maturation rather than a child's social and emotional advances. They wanted a program that

1. Possessed a firm, legitimate bed of theory for teaching/learning, ungirding its structure;
2. Supported the child's talents through an active process of learning; and
3. Relied on teachers, administrators, and families to support the success of the program.