Addressing the needs of Latino children: A national survey of state administrators of early childhood programs

This study consisted of a national survey of 117 state administrators of early childhood programs to examine specific challenges, strategies, and beliefs around serving Latino children and families. Four types of early childhood programs were represented: child care, Head Start, Part B-Section 619 preschool special education programs, and Part C infant-toddler programs for children with developmental disabilities. The survey consisted of 48 Likert scale items across six subscales to gather information about challenges and strategies for serving young Latino children and their families, as well as administrators’ beliefs about issues related to language development and early literacy learning, child assessment, approaches to support equity and diversity, and parental involvement. Administrators generally agreed on the importance of preserving a child's home language and the need to assess young children in either their home language or their home language and English. All four groups held similar views about strategies. The study found less agreement among groups on issues related to challenges, approaches to promoting diversity, and strategies for promoting parental involvement.     

Early childhood education in India: History,trends, issues,and achievements

The changes in the social and economic structure of India have intensified the need for universal early childhood education. The formidable challenges before the Indian Government are: to provide high quality early childhood education programs; to preserve indigenous practices such as multilinguality, family/community involvement, participation of older children as caretakers of their younger siblings; and to provide early childhood education to all children despite serious financial constraints. This article presents a brief overview of the traditional childrearing practices in India, chronicles government initiatives in early childhood education, describes the range of programs available in India, and identifies goals that will shape the future of early childhood programs in India. Portions of this article will appear in Isenberg, J.P., & Jalongo, M.R. (Eds.). (1997, in press).Trends and issues in early childhood: Challenges, controversies, and insights. New York: Teachers College Press.     

Mainstreaming during the early childhood years.

Issues surrounding the implementation of the integration imperative during infancy and early childhood present formidable challenges to education and community providers. Key among these issues is how professionals provide high-quality services to young children with disabilities in mainstream environments. This article explores current issues related to integration and reexamines the concept of "best practices" as it applies to mainstreaming during the early childhood years. The author recommends an integrated set of indicators for high-quality programs and describes an outcomes-based process for making administrative and pedagogical decisions.     

Searching for the Norm in a System of Absolutes: A Case Study of Standards-Based Accountability Reform in Pre-Kindergarten

Research Findings: The emergence of standards-based accountability reforms in early childhood education has created new challenges for the field. This article presents findings from a case study that explored how stakeholders in a large urban pre-kindergarten program struggled to implement an assessment tool that aligned the normative academic achievement expectations found among their teachers and administrators with the absolute measures of this construct found in their state policymakers' high-stakes standards-based accountability reforms. Analyzing the tension that emerged in this process of alignment highlights the challenges early educators face as they fold their child-centered programs into these larger high-stakes standards-based kindergarten through grade 12 education systems. Practice and Policy: The findings from this study illuminate the need for early childhood education programs to understand how high-stakes standards-based accountability reforms define student achievement. Furthermore, as early childhood programs and personnel address these reforms, their responses need to be explicit about how their assessment measures are connected to their normative conceptualizations of student achievement and what this means for the education of children in their programs.     

Towards a framework for the validation of early childhood assessment systems

American early childhood education is in the midst of drastic change. In recent years, states have begun the process of overhauling early childhood education systems in response to federal grant competitions, bringing an increased focus on assessment and accountability for early learning programs. The assessment of young children is fraught with challenges; psychometricians and educational researchers must work together with the early childhood community to develop these instruments. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for the validation of such instrumentation and examine its implications for early childhood educators. We formulate a validity argument for early childhood assessments providing a pivotal link between validity theory and early education practice. Recommendations for the assessment field are also considered.     

Meeting the challenge of HIV and AIDS in the classroom

Contemporary early childhood teachers are facing new challenges as children who test HIV positive or who have AIDS enter the classroom. Providing appropriate health care and educational programs for these children is a major concern of teachers. This article presents a brief discussion of guidelines and issues that might be addressed in an in-service for teachers in general education to prepare them for a student with HIV or AIDS in their classrooms.     

Preparing the workforce: early childhood teacher preparation at 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education

While the importance of quality education for individuals working with young children (ages 0–4) is widely accepted in the field of Early Childhood Education, little is known about the context, content, and needs of the programs that are providing this education. This paper presents data from a nationally representative survey (n = 438) of chairs/directors of early childhood teacher preparation programs at 2- and 4-year Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). Findings presented include faculty characteristics, course and practica requirements, comparisons between early childhood programs and the institutions as wholes, and challenges facing programs. Where appropriate, comparisons are made between 2- and 4-year schools. Results are discussed in terms of policy implications.     

Playing at School: An Inquiry Approach to Using an Experiential Play Lab in an Early Childhood Teacher Education Course

Play is considered an important activity of the early childhood years. Research supports the contribution of play to children’s development, learning, and well-being. In spite of this, time for play is being pushed out in many early childhood programs by greater time allotted to formal instruction in narrow academic skills to be tested eventually by standardized tests. As a result, current preservice teachers are likely to see fewer examples of appropriate time and support for play in their field placements in early childhood settings. The purpose of this study was to document and analyze what happens when an experiential play lab is implemented in an early childhood teacher education program. This qualitative study includes multiple forms of data collection, including two forms of reflective writings and group discussions. After the workshop, preservice teachers made a greater number of references to play in their defense of developmentally appropriate practice, and the nature of their references to play increased in their focus on play process and on teacher roles in children’s play, as compared to prior to the lab. The results of this study of an experiential play intervention support its potential as a means of probing, documenting, and enriching students’ understanding of the importance of providing for and supporting play in classrooms for young children.     

Consultation as a Framework for Productive Collaboration in Early Intervention

Drawing on the perspectives of itinerant early childhood special education (ECSE) consultants reported in previous research, this article identifies issues and challenges specific to early intervention and education that must be considered for itinerant ECSE consultants to engage in productive consultation with personnel in child care or other center-based programs. The article concludes with recommendations for professional development and standards in consultation practice for early intervention and education personnel. The authors also suggest future directions for consultation research.     

Globalisation,global English: ‘futures trading’ in early childhood education

This paper explores my thinking about the issues which surround globalisation and Global English and their connections with the literacy practices, literacy events and futures for young children in home and out‐of‐home communities or institutions such as kindergartens, childcare or the early years of school. Exemplars from Australia and Singapore are provided to highlight these issues and the possible risks or benefits for children and families that seem to flow from globalisation processes. Central to the purpose of the paper are provocations for the field of early childhood education in order to further the discussions on how we respond to the challenges of connecting between the local and the global in our role as policy‐makers, parents, teacher educators or early childhood teachers.     

Reforming Preschool to Ready Children for Academic Achievement: A Case Study of the Impact of Pre-K Reform on the Issue of School Readiness

Research Findings: Policymakers preschool reforms that are to prepare young children for school success have sparked important conversations within the field of early childhood education over how these programs are to ready young children for school. This article presents findings from a case study that examined this issue of school readiness across a collection of pre-k programs. Doing so illustrates how preschool reforms can impact early childhood stakeholders' understanding of school readiness, what it is they do with their students in their programs, and why. Practice or Policy: These findings demonstrate how policymakers' pre-k reforms can tighten the link between preschool and elementary school in a way that prioritizes the goals of K-12 education systems. They also suggest that for those who want to expand the construct of school readiness they should do so in a way that addresses and recognizes the challenges pre-k stakeholders in local contexts face on a day-to-day basis. For policymakers, there appears to be an opportunity and willingness within the ECE community for preschool reform. They should take advantage of this willingness for change by considering policy solutions that value the complexity of the child and of the field of early education itself.     

A case study of how a sample of preservice teachers made sense of incorporating iPads into their instruction with children

The increased use of and demand for technology in early childhood education classrooms and programs creates new challenges for practicing and preservice early educators being asked to employ such technology within their teaching. Early childhood teacher education programs have struggled to meet these demands for teaching their students how to integrate such technology into their instruction with young children. Preservice teachers who do receive such training often fail to develop the skills and/or beliefs required to implement technology effectively into their own classrooms. The study reported on in this article addresses this issue by providing insight into how a sample of early childhood preservice teachers who used iPads and their apps in their coursework and high-stakes early learning field placements made sense of using these devices as teachers. Such findings illuminate instructional opportunities for teacher educators to consider as they seek to assist their students in making sense about how to implement as well as adopt appropriate and effective instructional strategies into their own classrooms.     

Diversity Competencies within Early Childhood Teacher Preparation: Innovative Practices and Future Directions

With classrooms becoming increasingly diverse due to children’s various cultural backgrounds and varying abilities, early childhood teacher education programs face the challenge of how best to prepare the workforce. Various initiatives have been implemented in teacher preparation programs to prepare early childhood educators to become competent in relating to all children and families. Infusing components of diversity into all courses and field experiences and engaging in community–university partnerships, as well as unifying early childhood education (ECE) and early childhood special education (ECSE) program components, are promising practices for the field. An examination and evaluation of these initiatives are discussed in this article, as well as future directions for research and practice.     

Community-based collaboration for early childhood teacher education: Partner experiences and perspectives as co–teacher educators

The relevance and effectiveness of traditional, course- and clinical-experience-based models of teacher preparation have been called into question, and institutions of teacher education must respond to the changing landscape of educational policy, which increasingly emphasizes that candidates must be prepared for challenges faced in complex, increasingly diverse classroom and community contexts through extended field experiences (Rust, 2010). In this article, we present a case for the development of mutually beneficial community partnerships as the foundation of all early childhood teacher education. First, key policies and research findings are presented that point to partnership as a key theme that must be addressed by preparation programs; next, a framework for the development of mutually beneficial partnerships between preparation programs and schools/community agencies is introduced; interview and focus group data are presented from the development and implementation of a field-based undergraduate early childhood teacher preparation program. These include examples of strategies that assist in leveraging resources toward mutual benefit, as well as vignettes illustrating field-based teacher education in action. Finally, partnership practices that address the shared goals of early childhood educators and those who prepare them are presented.     

Introduction to conference proceedings issue

Three teacher educators at two colleges in western New York have used content analysis to analyze prospective undergraduate and graduate students' applications to their early childhood education programs. Despite a number of apparent differences between both the applicants and the programs to which they were applying, there was a remarkable degree of similarity in applicant essays around the ways in which they constructed and communicated their understandings of the “good” early childhood teacher. These constructions raise questions about how this discourse is disseminated, understood, taken up, and perpetuated in teacher education programs. The implications of this analysis pose challenges and present possibilities for early childhood teacher educators working from nonmainstream perspectives.     

Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Inclusion: Factors Influencing Classroom Practice

Effective collaboration between early childhood teachers and social workers is now considered critical to providing children with adequate psycho-social supports and services in early childhood settings. In order for this interdisciplinary collaboration to be more effective, opportunities for each discipline to learn about each other's knowledge, skills, roles, and responsibilities need to occur well before these professionals enter early childhood settings. This pilot study engaged 2nd-year, preservice, graduate early childhood education and social work students in an interprofessional training and collaborative activity as part of their graduate coursework. Following this training and activity, the early childhood education graduate students and the social work graduate students were invited to participate in uni-professional focus groups as a way to explore their experiences. Findings suggest that although there is general agreement among graduate students that interdisciplinary training and learning activities during coursework provide an important foundation for collaboration, there are several challenges. These challenges include a lack of clarity around professional roles and responsibilities, differences in understandings of children's behavior, and a perception that there will be little opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration in early childhood settings. Implications are discussed for strengthening relationships between professional preparation programs as a way to improve collaborative teaming and increase early childhood teacher retention.     

Wirksamkeit schulrelevanter Förderung in Kindertagesstätten

The present paper summarizes international and national research findings on the general and differential effectiveness of pedagogical work in early childhood education and care settings, evaluations of pilot projects on compensatory preschool education as well programs to support individual learning abilities. Based on these findings, the following conclusions are drawn: First, attending early childhood education and care settings at an early age (after the age of three) has a positive influence on the development of academic competences. Second, the effectiveness of these settings depends on the instructional quality, which could be considerably improved in Germany. Third, pilot projects on programs to support individual learning abilities could show that compensatory effects for disadvantaged groups of children exist, especially when they are interlinked with stimulating conditions in the family and at school. Fourth, effective training programs exist that can be implemented in early childhood education and care. However, a number of challenges need to be met before they can be successfully implemented.     

Father/Male Involvement in Early Childhood Programs: Issues and Challenges

Currently there is tremendous support in the U.S. for increased parental involvement in early childhood settings. In addition, societal attitudes have changed recently, so that men are now expected to be much more involved in childrearing activities than in the past. Taken together, these two shifts in societal attitudes suggest the time is right to encourage greater father/male involvement in early childhood programs. However, such outreach efforts will face challenges. Based on the Men & Kids project in Urbana, Illinois, this paper identifies several specific challenges early childhood educators face as they explore ways to encourage greater levels of father/male involvement in their programs, along with preliminary suggestions for overcoming them.     

教育机构在幼教人才培养方面的调查研究——以南阳市幼儿园为例

新时期的社会发展对教育提出了更高的要求,幼儿教育改革和新纲要实施的深入,都对幼儿教师的教育提出了新的挑战,而幼儿教师的职前培养对教师的专业化发展和教育水平的提高发挥着重要的影响作用。因此,通过对在职教师教育现状进行调查和分析,总结在职幼儿教师在职业态度、专业能力、专业观念、专业知识、专业技能和研究能力等方面的情况,可以明确不同类型幼儿教师培养机构在对幼儿园所需人才教师培养方面的优势和不足,为各层次幼儿教师的培养提供一定的参考依据,在制定新的培养方案时更加有的放矢,更加具有针对性和实效性。     

Philosophical differences between early childhood education and special education: Issues for school psychologists

Increasingly, professional psychologists are extending their services from school-age children to young handicapped children. Psychological intervention and education issues regarding this group of children are complicated by the fact that the field of early childhood special education itself is in its infancy. This article presents the emerging field of early childhood special education, clarifies some major concerns in educating young handicapped children, and raises issues for school psychologists working in this area.