Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is among several school districts across the United States featured in a new book describing successful approaches to early childhood education. Building Blocks: Making Children Successful in the Early Years of School describes the critical role of the primary grades as the foundation for later success. The author, Gene Maeroff, is director of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York.

The book highlights the strategic approach embodied in the MCPS Early Success Performance Plan and the data that show that MCPS is closing the achievement gap by race, ethnicity, and poverty by improving literacy skills at the very beginning of a child’s education.

Mr. Maeroff illustrates successful practices with vignettes from visits to a number of MCPS schools. At a meeting of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers at Broad Acres Elementary School, he observes teachers finding creative ways to build students’ vocabulary and comprehension in a school where 80 percent of students live in homes where their parents do not speak English. He writes about kindergartners at Ronald McNair Elementary School learning to write letters to their parents, and parents being drawn into the education process at programs serving families at special Judy Centers located at Summit Hall and Rosemont elementary schools.

The author will speak about his book on Tuesday, September 19, beginning at 4:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 12089 Rockville Pike in Rockville.