Below are resources for early childhood professionals and those serving the early childhood community.
Attendance: The Urban Institute released two research reports looking at the issue of attendance in the early grades: “Improving Prekindergarten Attendance: School-Level Strategies for Messaging, Engaging Parents, and Responding to Absences in Four DC Public Schools” and “Does Attendance in Early Education Predict Attendance in Elementary School? An Analysis of DCPS’s Early Education Program.”
Career Pathways: The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services released “Early Learning Career Pathways Initiative: Credentialing in the Early Care and Education Field,” that provides a national landscape of states’ requirements, introduces a framework, and highlights five states. Going along with this new report is the Administration for Children and Families new policy statement on career pathways.
Poll Indicates Overwhelming Support for Access to Quality ECE. First Five Years Fund’s (FFYF) annual national poll shows that there is overwhelming support-with little opposition-for a federal plan that helps states and local communities provide better access to quality early childhood education. Nearly three quarters of the electorate support this plan: 73 percent favor and only 24 percent oppose. 54 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of Independents, 91 percent of Democrats voice support. A majority of key swing voter groups also favor investing more in early childhood education from birth to age five. Read more about the poll’s findings at www.ffyf.org/2016-poll.
The Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) State Capacity Building Center released a new, expanded version of its “Early Childhood Systems Building Guide.” “The Road to High-Quality Early Learning: Lessons from the States” by the Learning Policy Institute profiles efforts in Michigan, West Virginia, Washington and North Carolina in building high-quality early education systems.
Early Childhood Education Gets Push From $1 Billion Federal Investment. A federally sponsored program in 20 states has been effective at giving those states a way to assess and quantify early-childhood education options and make that information available to parents, educators and legislators, according to a study the U.S. Education Department plans to release Monday. (Washington Post, August 1).
Watch Kate Gallagher’s “Transformative Early Childhood Programs.” This FPG scientist’s TED Talks have captivated tens of thousands of viewers, and now you can watch her latest presentation.
Kindergarten Readiness: The Case Western Reserve University’s Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development released “Leveraging Integrated Data Systems to Examine the Effect of Housing and Neighborhood Conditions on Kindergarten Readiness.” Read more in The Atlantic.
Parents: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released “Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8” that reviews research and presents effective parenting practices.
Head Start and Early Head Start: The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) published new state fact sheets using Program Information Report (PIR) to highlight data on participating children, families, and staff for the 2014 school year.
Classroom Instructional Context Influences Child-Teacher Relationships. New research suggests that high-quality early education can and should develop children’s academic skills in a context deeply rooted in supportive interactions.
Emotional and Organizational Quality in Pre-K Classrooms Affects Social Skills and Behavior at 1st Grade. Findings show that children benefit especially from higher levels of two aspects of classroom quality.
“Handbook of Early Childhood Special Education” Is Available Now. This much anticipated resource examines effective interventions and provides guidance on emerging scientific techniques to support implementation and advancement in the field.
