Impact of a Mentoring Experience on College Students’ Beliefs about Early Childhood Development

With the increasing demands placed on working families and the push downward of academics from the K-12 system, there is a critical need to provide high-quality early childhood programming for our nation’s children, particularly those considered at risk for academic failure. This study attempts to (a) understand the beliefs of college students about early childhood development and developmentally appropriate practices, and (b) determine if these beliefs change after their yearlong involvement in Jumpstart, a national intensive mentoring program for academically at-risk preschoolers. Surveys from this national program investigated college students’ beliefs about early childhood development and developmentally appropriate practices. Results indicate that a yearlong mentoring program positively impacts college students’ beliefs. These beliefs become less skills-based more and child-centered and constructivist.     

The impact of a Caribbean home-visiting child development program on cognitive skills

This paper provides a short-term impact evaluation of a home-visiting Early Child Development (ECD) program in the Caribbean aimed at vulnerable children from birth to three years. The analysis is based on a quasi-experimental research design including approximately four hundred children in treatment and comparable control communities. The differences-in-differences methodology estimates intention-to-treat effects. One year after implementation, we find no significant effects on the cognitive development of the average child, but pronounced differences by birth cohort. The program has significantly improved Fine Motor Skills and Visual Reception scores, related to early reading and writing abilities, of the youngest children aged below 18 months at program start. There is no program impact on the older cohort, whose cognitive development appears to be more strongly correlated with center-based ECD services. Language development has not improved for either cohort. The findings suggest that an early window of opportunities may exist for home-based programs.     

The ADAPT Program: A Developmental Approach for Serving Profoundly Disturbed Children

The need to provide educational and therapeutic services for profoundly emotionally handicapped children has been well documented in the professional literature. The purpose of this article is to describe a local program for this population of children. The program, known as ADAPT, is operated by the Hillsborough County School System in Tampa, Florida.     

"英语浸入式"教学模式对儿童的意义

本文研究探索“英语浸入式教学实验研究”对儿童的意义。通过对儿童浸入英语的实践与观察，发现“英语浸入式”教学对儿童的身心和语言发展有多方面的意义。英语浸入式教学对孩子英语的学习与掌握以及身心的发展都起着积极的推动作用。     

美国“提前开端计划”的特征、经验及对我国学前教育的启示

“提前开端计划”是美国联邦政府投入最大、历史最悠久的早期儿童教育项目。该项目的基本特征包括：针对“处境不利儿童”,提供基于“全儿童”理念的综合服务;针对儿童和家长的两代人干预,植根社区且赋权穷人。从创办之初,提前开端计划一直在挑战中发展：回应政府提高儿童认知成就的期待、平衡“赋权社区”与“儿童发展”的张力、加强对项目质量的监管和问责、完善与公办学校系统的衔接。“提前开端计划”的经验为中国学前教育的发展提供了以下的启示：为弱势儿童提供综合性质的早期教育项目、将促进家长投入纳入学前教育的范畴、理性看待学前教育的功效、加强对早期儿童教育项目的实证研究。     

美国乡村流动儿童的教育及其经验借鉴

在美国,由于一些从事农林渔业生产的家庭的流动性,伴生了农村流动儿童的教育及健康问题。为解决农村流动儿童的健康和教育问题,美国联邦政府长期实施一种被称作“流动学生教育计划”的项目,在解决美国流动中小学学生的学习和健康问题方面积累了经验。该计划在出台的背景、运作方式和服务的内容等方面,可为我国解决农村流动儿童教育问题提供可资借鉴的经验。     

The impact of a vocational education program for childcare providers on children's well-being

The early childhood community-based program Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar serves 800,000 low-income children under the age of 5 in Colombia. Earlier studies have identified care providers (madres comunitarias) as having, on average, low education levels and not being appropriately trained for the provision of childcare services. In 2007, a vocational education program was introduced which offers a degree in child development and care for childcare providers. In this paper we assess the effects of this program on the quality of care provided in the relevant nurseries and on the nutritional and health status, as well as cognitive and socio-emotional development of beneficiary children in Bogotá. This evaluation takes advantage of the gradual geographic expansion of the program in order to estimate treatment effects. Results indicate that the quality of care has significantly increased in these family-based nurseries and that the program has thus had a positive and significant effect on the health, cognitive and socio-emotional development of beneficiary children, especially those younger than 3 years of age.     

Teachers and artificial intelligence. The Logo connection

This article describes a three-phase program for training special education teachers to teach Logo and artificial intelligence. Logo is derived from the LISP computer language and is relatively simple to learn and use, and it is argued that these factors make it an ideal tool for classroom experimentation in basic artificial intelligence concepts. The program trains teachers to develop simple demonstrations of artificial intelligence using Logo. The material that the teachers learn to teach is suitable as an advanced level topic for intermediate- through secondary-level students enrolled in computer competency or similar courses. The material emphasizes problem-solving and thinking skills using a nonverbal expressive medium (Logo), thus it is deemed especially appropriate for hearing-impaired children. It is also sufficiently challenging for academically talented children, whether hearing or deaf. Although the notion of teachers as programmers is controversial, Logo is relatively easy to learn, has direct implications for education, and has been found to be an excellent tool for empowerment-for both teachers and children.     

The home instruction program for preschool youngsters: An alternative for early intervention

The Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is a home-based program in which paraprofessionals from the community teach parents how to use structured educational materials to enrich the education of their four- and five-year-old children. HIPPY was developed in 1969 by Dr. Avima Lombard of the National Council of Jewish Women Research Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It has since become a national program in Israel for disadvantaged families and their preschool children.Arlene Brett is Associate Professor in the School of Education, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL     

“小留学”制的探索与实践

雅戈尔小学提出“小留学”制,即以学生双方的家庭作为实践活动的基地,安排各种实践活动,改变独生子女的教养方式,帮助孩子形成健康的人格和良好的心理品德。“小留学”制,作为一种新的德育模式,具有制度化、生活化、社会化等特点。学校要重点在家长、学生方面采取有效措施,促进“小留学”制的形成及巩固。五年实践表明,“小留学”制取得了较好的成效。     

美国“父母即教师”项目(PAT)的发展及效果评估

20世纪以来,美国社会的急剧变化使家庭系统面临巨大的压力并引发一系列社会问题,致使美国开始开展增加家庭教育的知识与技能、预防和减少家庭危机的系列研究与实践。以美国密苏里州为代表的"父母即教师"项目(ParentsAsTeachersProgram,PAT),关注孩子在校园的表现与家长参与的互动关系,通过丰富的项目研究实践来提高家长的教育水平,有力地促进了家长有效参与到孩子的发展中去。美国各州普遍实践的"父母即教师"项目的评估表明,参加该项目的父母在育儿技巧、参与的程度与质量方面有显著提升;孩子在认知与入学适应能力等方面也有明显提高。该项目尤其是对贫穷家庭的孩子和非白人家庭的孩子影响更大。     

The Development of Fifth-Grade Children's Problem-Posing Abilities

This one-year study involved designing and implementing a problem-posing program for fifth-grade children. A framework developed for the study encompassed three main components: (a) children's recognition and utilisation of problem structures, (b) their perceptions of, and preferences for, different problem types, and (c) their development of diverse mathematical thinking. One of the aims of the study was to investigate the extent to which children's number sense and novel problem-solving skills govern their problem-posing abilities in routine and nonroutine situations. To this end, children who displayed different patterns of achievement in these two domains were selected to participate in the 10-week activity program. Problem-posing interviews with each child were conducted prior to, and after the program, with the progress of individual children tracked during the course of the program. Overall, the children who participated in the program appeared to show substantial developments in each of the program components, in contrast to those who did not participate.     

The global expansion of children’s television: a case study of the adaptation of Sesame Street in Spain

The landscape of children’s programming is changing because of the increased exportation of children’s television programs created in the USA. Networks have been aggressively marketing programs to an international audience through individual program sales and satellite network expansion. Some see problems as a result of the potential shift in cultural norms and values in areas where these programs are broadcast. An important alternative to this exportation is the co‐production process pioneered by Sesame Workshop. The results of a case study into the localization process of Sesame Street in Spain indicate that the production of Barrio Sésamo/Barri Sésam can be looked to as an example of not only the co‐production process, but also as exemplifying a process of ‘glocalization’ whereby a Spanish program has been influenced by both global and local realities imbedded in the program. The negotiation of what it means to be Spanish is constantly pushed against a global template, even in a program for preschool‐age children.     

The Role of Metacognition in Reading Instruction

A new approach to improve children's cognitive activities is to increase their awareness and regulation of the skills to be trained through thinking aloud. This study deals with how to utilize metacognition in teaching children to read for meaning (comprehension) and learning from texts (studying). First, the general theoretical issues and practical implications of the concept of metacognition are discussed. This is followed by a presentation of a cognitive training program, together with the effects of the program on sixth‐graders’ reading skill. According to the findings of the present study, the training program used has the potential of improving instruction in comprehension and learning.     

The effect of reading recovery® on special education referrals and placements

This study examined the effect of Reading Recovery®, an early intervention program for first‐grade children, on the rates of referral and placement in special education in New York City. Study participants consisted of students who had a complete Reading Recovery (RR) program (RR‐discontinued and RR‐recommended) and a comparison group composed of children with literacy difficulties, who were initially performing at a slightly higher level than the Reading Recovery children. The results showed that children who received the Reading Recovery program were referred for testing and placed in special education at a statistically significant lower rate. Reading Recovery is associated with a 5% reduction in estimated referral rate and a 3% decrease in placement rate. Additionally, an examination of the classification labels of children placed in special education revealed that RR‐discontinued children were less likely to be classified as learning disabled than those in both the comparison group and the RR‐recommended group. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 39: 635–646, 2002.     

The Role of Family Childcare Providers in Early Intervention

In family childcare, the program of services is situated within in the providers' own homes. The purpose of this inquiry is to review the literature from special education in light of current practices in family childcare. In addition, key characteristics unique to the provider's care giving program will be examined in relation to the needs of children with disabilities and their families. Finally, recommendations for establishing coordinated efforts among professional support systems and providers on behalf of such children will be defended.     

The relationship of visual attention to children's comprehension of television.

The study experimentally tested the relationship between visual attention and comprehension of a TV program. 72 5-year-old children watched a 40-min version of the TV program "Sesame Street." Half the children viewed the program in the presence of a variety of toys and half viewed without toys. The children were then tested for their comprehension of the program. Although visual attention to the TV in the no-toys group was nearly twice that in the toys group, there was no difference between the groups in comprehension. There were, nevertheless, significant within-group correlations between visual attention and comprehension even for questions concerning only auditorily presented material. The results were interpreted as indicating that in a normal TV viewing setting, variations in the comprehensibility of the TV program may determine variations in children's attention to the TV.     

Building Preschool Children's Emotional Competence: A Parenting Program

Poor emotional competence has been identified as a precursor to later social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in children. Aspects of parenting, including modeling, reactions to and coaching of children's emotions, have been associated with the development of emotional competence in children. In this paper, a parenting program with this theoretical basis is outlined and a pilot study of the program is presented. The six-session parenting program was delivered in preschool centers to 47 parents with a four or five year old child, and data were collected about parenting and children's functioning twice prior to program commencement, following program completion, and at three month follow-up. Pre and post program teacher assessments were also collected. Following the program parents reported that they were more encouraging of their children's emotional expression, used emotion-focused approaches more frequently in interactions with their children, and were less critical and dismissive of their children's emotional expression. Their children showed less emotional negativity and had significant reductions in difficult behaviors, especially those who had behavior problems prior to their parents' participation in the program. This program offers a promising approach to fostering the development of children's emotional competence and consequently enhancing social and behavioral functioning.     

The development of a K-3 science program in the context of the National Science Statement and Profile

This paper highlights the challenges and problems in developing an innovative K-3 science program to support teachers in the implementation of the national Statement and Profile in science. The program has been developed by the authors in association with the Curriculum Corporation. The paper outlines the assumptions made about teachers of young children, the role of research in the construction of the program, and the extent to which the Statement and Profile have influenced the process. The resolution of a number of key problems in this curriculum development is discussed: responding to teachers' needs for a base of science discipline knowledge, developing strategies for working scientifically with very young children, and helping teachers develop an extended understanding of the nature of science. Specializations: early childhood science and technology education. Specializations: primary science education, teacher education in science, adult experiences of science and technology, and curriculum development.     

The impact of bilingual preschool education on the language development of Spanish-speaking children

This study addressed the question of what effect bilingual preschool education has on the Spanish and English language development of Spanish speaking children. This question was addressed by measuring the language proficiency of children enrolled in a bilingual preschool program and children who stay at home during the day. Three dimensions of language proficiency were examined: language reception, production, and verbal complexity. Using a repeated measures design, it was found that children enrolled in preschool gained proficiency in English at a faster rate while maintaining a similar level of Spanish proficiency as those children who stay at home during the day. Results of this study are discussed in terms of current issues in the early childhood education of non-English-speaking children.