Poverty

One of the key contributors in the development of the approach was David Weikart. David Weikart was born on August 26, 1931, in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1931. He graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in psychology and a minor in zoology. He received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1966. In 1957, he began working for the Ypsilanti Public Schools in Ypsilanti, Michigan. David Weikart had the initiative and took the time and the care to build the High/Scope program, a bridge to the future of early childhood education. He believed that if we could engage people in things, they would both learn more and be more enthusiastic. That was the educational philosophy he brought to the Perry Preschool Project. His belief was, education should be engaging, hands-on, and fun. His wanted to help children become enthusiastic about learning, not just proficient with facts and information. David believed education as a process not as an end result. He collaborated with a committee of elementary education leaders to create the High Scope Perry Preschool Study in 1962. The project is now viewed as having played a large role in the development and creation of Head Start and other early childhood education programs. It was designed to address the academic underperformance of student's in the poorest neighborhoods of Ypsilanti, Michigan. He created the internationally known early childhood model known as the High Scope Research Foundation Curriculum, based on Piaget's theories of child psychology and cognitive development. The High Scope Curriculum is based on the concepts of active learning or learning by doing. Active learning means students have direct, hands-on experiences with people, objects, events, and ideas. The High Scope Research Foundation was formed to meet those demands and help strengthen and promote the development of children and early childhood education programs. The High Scope Curriculum is now widely used throughout this country as well as