Lack of Results in International Early Education Programs

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Early education is a growing concern to many countries around the world. Much of this concern has been centered in Europe, where governments provide care and schooling for children as young as 1. Billions of dollars are spent on these programs, which are designed to give children a head start in their education and socialization. But is there documentable evidence that early education has made a difference in the academic progress of these children?

This question can be answered by a recent study that compared the academic scores of children from many of the industrialized nations of the world. In 2000, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was conducted, which tested children from 32 nations in the areas of reading literacy, mathematics, and science.5 The results showed that children who have to start school at a very young age did not consistently do better than those who can start later. A similar assessment, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), revealed comparable results.6

The country of Finland was a standout in both of these international assessments, ranking near or at the top in all tested subjects. These impressive results were achieved despite the fact that school attendance in Finland is not compulsory until age 7, later than almost any other European country.7

Japan, Korea, and Singapore also had some of the highest scoring students in the PISA and TIMSS assessments, but none of these countries have fully developed early education programs. Japan’s early education is probably the most comprehensive out of the three, and even there, substantial numbers of children do not attend any school before 1st grade. Singapore does not have any publicly funded early education.8

Some of the lower scoring countries in PISA were Sweden and Greece, which both emphasize early education. Sweden has some of the most comprehensive childcare in Europe, with the vast majority of children ages 1-12 having a place in a publicly funded child-care center. Even with this emphasis, however, Sweden ranked among the average countries in the PISA test, and Greece was among the five worst nations in all three subject areas.9

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Building knowledge for better early childhood learning

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Additional funding of nearly $2 million will see three new early childhood education Centres of Innovation next year, Education Minister Trevor Mallard announced today. “These new centres, in addition to the six begun last year, will strengthen quality in early childhood teaching and share knowledge of what works best for New Zealand children,” Trevor Mallard said.

“This government is committed to lifting participation in early childhood education and to improving children’s learning and development in these critical years which set the foundation for future learning.” “By being better informed about quality teaching practices we can provide our children with the best possible learning opportunities.”

Trevor Mallard said the Centres of Innovation are supported for three years through assistance and funding to research and develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Centres of Innovation support continuous improvement in early childhood education, encourage provider collaboration, facilitate networks of learning support, build research capability, share information, develop leadership and strengthen quality teaching and learning.

“Centres of Innovation are a significant way of improving quality in early childhood education, one of the key goals in Pathways to the Future: Huarahi Arataki, the early childhood education strategic plan, launched in 2002. “The ECE Centres of Innovation programme has shown how vibrant and innovative the early childhood education sector is and reflects its commitment to developing the best teaching practice to support effective learning for children.

The first six centres focused on innovations in the use of ICT, improved links between services, and quality practices in M=E4ori and Pasifika bilingual and immersion services. The Ministry of Education is currently analysing the focus for the next three centres and the selection process would get underway later in the year.

 

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Bipartisan Education Reform

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Bipartisan Education Reform – President Bush submitted his framework for education reform, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), three days after taking office and secured overwhelming bipartisan support less than a year later. NCLB represents the most significant overhaul of Federal education policy since 1965, when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed. NCLB creates strong standards in each state for what every child should know and learn in reading and math in grades 3-8 and holds schools accountable for closing the achievement gap between students of different socio-economic backgrounds.

High Standards and Accountability – Since President Bush signed NCLB into law, all states have developed a plan to ensure that every student becomes proficient at reading and math and that achievement gaps are closed between students of different socio-economic backgrounds. States, districts, and schools are using their unique accountability plans to measure the progress of student achievement, report student and school progress to parents, identify for improvement those schools not making adequate yearly progress, provide support for the improvement of schools and districts, and provide options – including public school choice and tutoring – for children in underperforming schools.

Historic Levels of Funding – President Bush’s overall Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 budget represents a 49% increase for elementary and secondary education since FY 2001. It includes an additional:

  a.. $1 billion in Title I funding for disadvantaged students, for a total that represents a 52% increase since FY 2001.
  b.. $139 million for reading programs totaling four times the amount spent in FY 2001.
  c.. $1 billion for special education programs, for a 75% increase since FY 2001.
Reading First and Early Reading First – President Bush proposed and signed into law the Reading First and Early Reading First initiatives as part of his unequivocal commitment to ensuring that every child can read by the third grade. These programs enable more children to receive scientifically-based reading instruction programs in the early grades. Over $1.8 billion in Reading First funds have been distributed to the 50 states and the District of Columbia to provide training and instructional materials to tens of thousands of teachers. In addition, since the passage of NCLB, states have received almost $200 million in funds for early childhood reading efforts through such initiatives as Early Reading First and the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development program.

Options Available for Parents – Using tutoring money provided under NCLB, low-income parents of children in schools that have been identified as needing improvement can select from the over 1,600 supplemental service providers approved by the states. With this option, parents, for the first time, can find a program that is focused, rigorous, and directed at the specific needs of their child. Under NCLB, states and school districts publish report cards showing how well students in each socio-economic
sub-group are achieving so that communities and parents can know how well their schools are doing.

Providing Parents with School Choice – President Bush worked with Congress to include a school choice program in the FY 2004 Omnibus Appropriations bill for approximately 1,700 low-income children in the District of Columbia to attend the school of their choice. The President has also requested funding in his budgets for a Choice Incentive Fund, which would support efforts to provide parents, particularly low-income parents, of students who attend low-performing schools with opportunities to transfer their children to higher-performing public, charter, or private schools.

 

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Administration Seeks Funds to Improve Early Reading

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Washington, DC — Vice President Gore announced today that the Administration will seek an additional $128 million in the FY2000 budget to help children learn to read well.

     This proposal, including an increase of $26 million for the Reading Excellence Act and $50 million for a new initiative to identify and address reading problems in young children, will help schools and communities respond to the President’s challenge that every child should be able to read well and independently by the end of the third grade.

     ”In an economy increasingly powered by information and technology, reading and the ability to learn are strategic skills,” Vice President Gore said.  ”We must help all of our children master the basics and learn to read well in order to help them succeed in the 21st century.”

     According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 60 percent of 4th graders read at the basic level or higher.  Research shows that students who fail to read well by the 4th grade are at greater risk of educational failure and that good reading skills provide an important foundation for subsequent learning and success. In order to address this need, the Clinton Administration launched the “America Reads” challenge and worked with Congress to pass the Reading Excellence Act last year to help more than 500,000 children in pre-kindergarten through third grade learn to read through expanded teacher training, family literacy programs, tutoring and other efforts.

     To expand on these efforts, the Vice President announced today that the Administration will propose:

     A $26 million increase in the Reading Excellence Act to help an additional 50,000 children learn to read through expanded teacher training, family literacy programs, tutoring, and other efforts.

     An increase of $10 million for the Even Start Family Literacy Program to support family-centered education projects helping parents learn literacy and parenting skills while supporting early childhood education for young children.

     $50 million for a new school-based primary education intervention program to identify and address reading problems for children aged 5-9.  While research demonstrates the effectiveness of early interventions to address reading problems and learning disabilities, 60% of children eventually placed in special education are identified too late to receive the full benefit from such interventions.  This initiative will help schools develop and implement research-based strategies to identify and address reading problems in the early grades to reach children earlier and give them the extra help they need to become good readers.

     A $7 million increase for initiatives to improve writing and reading skills, including an expansion of the National Writing Project and the creation of a new competitive grant program to develop and evaluate models of effective writing instruction. Improved writing skills provide an essential foundation for literacy and reading, and this proposal would double the level of funding for these initiatives.

     $35 million for new research on early childhood and early elementary reading, professional development for reading instruction, English language acquisition for limited English proficient children, and improvements in literacy for older children.

     Moreover, President Clinton and Vice President Gore have recently announced other major increased investments to help students learn to read and do well academically.  They recently announced a proposed increase of $400 million for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program to provide after-school and summer school programs for more than a million students around the nation.  In awarding these funds, the Education Department will give priority to school districts that end social promotion by requiring that students meet academic standards in order to move to the next grade — but use these funds to give students extra help after-school and in the summer to help them succeed.

     The Vice President also recently announced a $320 million proposed increase for Title I — the largest federal elementary and secondary education program — to help disadvantaged students master the basics like reading and reach high academic standards.  $200 million of this increase would be used by states to identify and intervene in low-performing schools.

 

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University of Scranton

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The College of Health, Education, and Human Resources, of the University of Scranton, invites applications for the following full-time, academic year, tenure track, faculty positions.  The University of Scranton is a selective Catholic and Jesuit institution, located in northeastern Pennsylvania near the Pocono Mountains.

EDUCATION – This position will serve both the Early Childhood and Elementary Education programs.  Responsibilities include some combination of teaching foundations courses, supervision of student teaching, and our early childhood methods courses. Qualifications include earned doctorate in appropriate area, an articulated research focus, significant classroom experience in basic education, and eligibility for Pennsylvania Certification in Early Childhood Education.  Send application information to Dr. David A. Wiley, Chair, Education Dept.

HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION – Responsibilities for this position incude some combination of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in health care accounting, finance, operations management and generic health administration.  Qualifications include earned doctorate or ABD in Health Services Administration or related field, interest in a research agenda, and relevant work experience is required.  Previous college teaching is desirable.  Send application information to Dr. James Grana, Chair, Health Administration Search Committee.

HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION – Responsibilities include some combination of teaching graduate courses in human resource administration, compensation and benefits, evaluative research methods, employment law and human resources planning. Qualifications include earned doctorate of ABD in Human Resources or related feild, interest in a research agenda, and relevant work experience.  Previous college teaching is preferred.  Send applicaton information to Dr. Marie George, Chair, Human Resources Search Committee.

NURSING – Responsibilities include continued program development toward NLN accreditation of the new Family Nurse Practitioner/Rural Health master’s program as the Director of the Nurse Practitioner Graduate Program, and teaching in both the graduate and undergraduate programs.  Qualifications include Master’s degree from an NLN accredited program as a Family Nurse Practitioner, with appropriate clinical experience and earned doctorate in Nursing or related field.  Experience in graduate
education, classroom and clinical teaching at the graduate level desired.  Send application information to Dr. Patricia Harrington, Chair, Dept. of Nursing.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY – Two positions.  Responsibilities for one position include teaching OT practice and related courses in Pediatrics; the second position is in Psychosocial Rehabilitation. Qualifications for both positions include a Master’s degree in OT or related field, doctorate preferred, current certification as an OTR, eligible for licensure in PA, and relevant experience in direct service and teaching.  Send application information, including which position is of interest to you, to Dr. Jack Kasar, Chair, Dept. of Occupational Therapy.

PHYSICAL THERAPY – This position will complement teaching in the neurological track of our five-year master of physical therapy curriculum.  Opportunities to teach in areas of adult and pediatric rehab (including spinal cord injury, head injury, prosthetics/orthotics) and basic patient mobility techniques; and to assist ACCE in clinical education seminars and site visits.  Possession of a doctoral degree is desirable, however, master’s-level candidates are encouraged to apply.  APTA specialty certification is a plus.  Eligiblity for licensure in PA is required.  Send aplication information to Prof. Maria Zichettella, Chair, Search Committee.

 

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THE EDUCATION SHELF

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Drawing on the experiences of an award-winning model preschool program, Early Childhood Education: Blending Theory, Blending Practice is a groundbreaking volume offering strategies for curriculum development that will enhance children’s participation through implementing developmentally and individually appropriate practices. It provides educators, professionals, and parents with a solid foundation of early childhood education basics like play, learning theories, and environmental factors. Specific chapters delve into practical issues such as group structures and formal/informal assessment and intervention techniques. Helpful features include chapter previews and summaries, vignettes, discussion questions, and student activities. Early Childhood Education is ideal for curriculums for early childhood education students, service providers, teacher-trainers, and an invaluable guide for parents to the future of early childhood practices.

Academic research needs to be carefully planned if it is to reach conclusion and gain the recognition it deserves. A Practical Guide To Academic Research shows how to plan, fund, research, analyze and publish the results of a research project, and in the process, illustrates how to manage a research project successfully, detailing the wide array of research techniques available (both qualitative and quantitative). A Practical Guide To Academic Research provides invaluable information on obtaining funding and access to conduct research, research methodologies, using literature sources, researching within organizations, and getting published. A Practical Guide to Academic Research is a practical book, ideal for all research students and academic staff, especially those researching in the fields of education and the social sciences. Highly recommended.

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Research Requested on Importance of Fathers in Early Childhood

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

“Research on flexibility and children’s well-being has shown that better levels of flexibility exist when there are two parents present. Better flexibility is linked to lower levels of destructive parent-child interaction, the absence of a juvenile offender in the home, lower reports of sexually abusive behavior, decreased levels of psychopathology, and less chemical dependence.”  _Chapter Four: Social Fatherhood and Paternal Involvement: Conceptual, Data, and Policymaking Issues.  In NURTURING
FATHERHOOD: IMPROVING DATA AND RESEARCH ON MALE FERTILITY, FAMILY FORMATION AND FATHERHOOD.   Report of the Working Group on Conceptualizing Male Parenting. Randal D. Day, Ph.D. (Co-chair). V. Jeffery Evans, Ph., D., LLD (Co-chair). Michael Lamb, Ph.D. (Co-chair). June, 1998.

“Extensive research has been conducted on the effects of divorce for children’s well-being (Kelly, 1993; Furstenberg and Cherlin, 1991; Wallerstein, 1991; Chase-Lansdale and Hetherington, 1990; Hetherington, 1981, 1979) and the problems experienced by children growing up in single-parent families (McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994). Such research has found that children are better off financially, psychologically, and emotionally when they are raised by two parents.”  NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS: Statistical Analysis Report: Fathers’ Involvement in Their Children’s Schools.  October 1997.

“A large body of social science research indicates that any child growing up without a responsible, involved father is more likely to encounter difficulties than a child growing up in a two-parent family. Fatherless children in poverty face even greater risks. During this first year, therefore, the Commission chose to devote most of its attention to the issues of low-income, often unwed, fathers whose families are under the greatest economic pressure and at the highest risk.”  The Massachusett’s Governor’s Advisory Commission on Responsible Fatherhood and Family Support. August 1998.

The Effects of Fatherfullness

According to a Gallup Poll, 90.3 percent of Americans agree that “fathers make a unique contribution to their children’s lives.” –Source: Gallup Poll, 1996. National Center for Fathering. “Father Figures.” Today’s Father 4.1 (1996):8. Source: The National Commission on Children. “Speaking of Kids: A National Survey of Children and Parents.” Washington, DC, 1991. A study on parent-infant attachment found that fathers who were affectionate, spent time with their children, and overall had a positive attitude were more likely to have securely attached infants. –Source: Cox, M.J. et al. “Prediction of Infant-Father and Infant- Mother Attachment.” Developmental Psychology 28 (1992): 474-483.

A study assessing the level of adaptation of one-year olds found that, when left with a stranger, children whose fathers were highly involved were less likely to cry, worry, or disrupt play than other one-year olds whose fathers were less involved. –Source: Kotelchuk, M. “The Infant’s Relationship to His Father: Experimental Evidence.” The Role of the Father in Child Development. by Michael Lamb. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 1981. Father-child interaction has been shown to promote a child’s physical well-being, perceptual abilities, and competency for relatedness with others, even at a young age. –Source: Krampe, E.M. and P.D. Fair-weather. “Father Presence and Family Formation: A theoretical Reformulation.” Journal of Family Issues 14.4 (December 1993): 572-591.

A survey of over 20,000 parents found that when fathers are involved in their children’s education including attending school meetings and volunteering at school, children were more likely to get A’s, enjoy school, and participate in extracurricular activities and less likely to have repeated a grade. –Source: Fathers’ Involvement in Their Children’s Schools. National Center for Education Statistics. Washington DC: GPO, 1997. Using nationally representative data on over 2,600 adults born in the inner city, it was found that children who lived with both parents were more likely to have finished high school, be economically self- sufficient, and to have a healthier life style than their peers who grew up in a broken home. –Source: Hardy, Janet B. et al. “Self Sufficiency at Ages 27 to 33 Years: Factors Present between Birth and 18 Years that Predict Educational Attainment Among children Born to Inner-city families.”Pediatrics 99 (1997): 80-87.

In a 26 year longitudinal study on 379 individuals, researchers found that the single most important childhood factor in developing empathy is paternal involvement. Fathers who spent time alone with their kids performing routine childcare at least two times a week, raised children who were the most compassionate adults. –Source: Koestner, Richard, Carol Franz, and Joel Weinberger. “The Family Origins of Empathic Concern: A Twenty-Six Year Longitudinal study.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58 (1990): 709-717.

 

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The Cuban Education System

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Cuban education system: lessons and dilemmas  
Document Type: LAC Human & Social Development Group Paper Series

The Cuban educational system has long enjoyed a reputation for high quality. This paper highlights ways in which the Cuban educational system, despite the dismal economic picture of the past decade, adopted features that research has identified as characterizing a high-quality education system. The papers sees what has allowed Cuba ‘ s education system to perform so well is the continuity its education strategies, sustained high levels of investments in education, and a comprehensive and carefully structured system, characterized by: 1) quality basic education and universal access to primary and secondary school; 2) comprehensive early childhood education and student health programs; 3) complementary educational programs for those outside school; 4) mechanisms to foster community participation in school management; 5) great attention to teachers; 6) low-cost instructional materials of high quality; 7) teacher and student initiative in adapting the national curriculum locally; 8) carefully structured competition; 9) explicit strategies to reach rural students; 10) strategies to link school and work; and 11) an emphasis on education for social cohesion and values education.

 

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Outcome of House Vote on IDEA cuts

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The House voted on the Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations bill for FY 1996 and it passed 219 – 208.  There were no amendements from the floor, so all cuts to IDEA in special education research and teacher training remained.  The Senate taks up the issue when it returns from August recess.

To reiterate, this bill does not cut from IDEA funding to States to support special education services, but eliminates all funded research in areas like early childhood and severe and profound disabilities. Many of the leading researchers in this area rely on these funds as their primary source of funding to conduct research and develop programs.   Here are some of the currently funded programs that would be cut: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Staffing Patterns for Young Children Attending Natural Group Environments for Early Intervention (Dr. Mary Beth Bruder, Univ. of Conn)…the project will expand current knowledge and practice in the effects of receiving early childhood intervention in natural group environements.

Efficacy of Early Intervention:  Long Term Effects (Dr. Carl Dunst, Western Carolina Center): project will produce a database on the effectiveness of early intervention. Differential Characteristics and Effects of Family-Oriented Approaches to Early Intervention (Dr. Jackqueline Epstein, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) Examine the best ways to approach family-oriented early intervention services.

Prenatal Cocaine Exposure and Social Development of Young Children (Dr. Scott McConnel, Univ of Minnesota).  Examine effective strategies for education of children exposed to cocain in utero. Investigations of Early Motor Procedures (Dr. Gerald Mahoney, Kent State).  Investigates the relative effectiveness of two motor intervention approaches (NDT and Peabody Developmental Motor program) fo children with Down Syndrome and children with cerebral palsy. Proactive schooling:  Preventing Dropout in Highest Risk Adolescents (Dr. Katherine Larson).  Examining procedures to prevent dropout among Hispanic students in the LA area.

Transition to adulthood for students with developmental disabilities: The role of Siblings (Dr. Russell Gersten, Eugene Oregon)  examine ways that siblings influence educational outcomes. And, I would be less than forthcoming if I did not confess that one of our very own projects will be cut: Is there a causal relationship between self-determination and positive adult outcomes for youth with mental retardation?  A follow-up study…part of the work we are doing in self-determination for youth with mental retardation.

I give you these to provide a sense of the types of research that is impacted.  I don’t think I have to illustrate the difficulty in recruiting and retaining good teachers in special education if the personnel training funding disappears. Nothing is more effective than a family member telling his or her Senator that these cuts are impact their son or daughter.  It puts a face to those budget cuts.  The Senate takes their appropriations bill up in Septemeber.  Contact them at their home office during the recess and let them know that these cuts represent a failure on their part to support the nations responsibility to educate all students.

 

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New early childhood education centres of innovation

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Education Minister Trevor Mallard announced today a new early childhood education initiative that will create six Centres of Innovation, which will be used to build a strong research base to inform and develop models of best teaching practice. “Investing in quality early childhood education is crucial to children’s learning and their opportunities in later life,” Trevor Mallard said.

“The good teaching and learning practices these centres are currently using will be further developed in collaboration with researchers and that information will then be available to other services.”The initiative will provide $2.102 million over three years to support the six centres. After that, another six centres will be chosen to undertake research and development for a further three years.

“This investment is part of the Government’s commitment to increasing participation, improving quality and promoting collaborative relationships in early childhood education. This is particularly important for Maori and Pacific children who currently participate less than others.”

The six Centres of Innovation are:  A’oga Fa’asamoa, Auckland – provides quality Pasifika early childhood education Roskill South Kindergarten, Auckland – widespread and integrated use of information technology, with good levels of parent involvement. Te Kohanga Reo o Puau Te Moananui a Kiwa, Auckland – showcases Maorilanguage based learning Wycliffe Nga Tamariki Kindergarten, Napier – good collaboration with Maori and Samoan communities, and good parent involvement through use of information technology Wilton Playcentre, Wellington – displays a strong commitment to education and involvement of parents, and the innovative use of schema learning theory New Beginnings Preschool, Christchurch – innovative use of Reggio Emilia approach and commitment to development “The proposals we received showed a very vibrant early childhood education sector.  The Centres of Innovation initiative aims to capitalise on the experience of those most likely to provide innovative ideas, the people working in ECE services,” Trevor Mallard said.

The first allocation of funding includes $170,000 of capital funding to support the participating services.  Further operational funding will be the focus of contract negotiation in the near future.

 

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