Cog-X
Cog-X is a rigorous, pre-k curriculum for 3- and 4-year-olds that provides students with tools in math, literacy, and self regulation. The curriculum includes components for both children and their parents, and focuses on both academic and socio-emotional learning, enabling students to grow as intellectuals, friends, and community members. This curriculum was initially developed as part of a study run by TMW Center Co-Director John List.
Motivated by the research that points to the powerful role that parents and caregivers play in enhancing children’s early learning development, List and colleagues designed Cog-X with a strong emphasis on parental engagement. In addition to a half-day program for children that incorporates whole-group, small group, and one-on-one instruction, the Cog-X curriculum includes biweekly Parent Empowerment workshops that overlay and reinforce the socio-emotional and academic learning occurring in the classroom.
Randomized Control Trials have found Cog-X to be effective, with test scores of participating children showing improvement in cognitive test scores. Children in the program also demonstrated small but statistically insignificant gains in non-cognitive skills. The research team that developed the curriculum continues to to track graduates’ progress in order to assess the long-term effects of Cog-X and to gain greater insight into the ways it works, and for whom it works.