SchoolGrants Links Early Childhood Education

Links - Early Childhood Education
As I search the WWW and read a variety of publications, I come across a number of links that I believe may be of interest to educators. These links related to early childhood education may be helpful to you as you develop programs and proposals. All links on the SchoolGrants site open into their own windows.
If you know of links that you would like to share with your colleagues, please let me know. There are vast number of links included on the SchoolGrants site - all were accurate at the time of posting. However, due to the ever-changing nature of the WWW, it is possible that you may encounter "dead links." If you do, please let me know which one gave you problems! If you will include the Web page the link is on, it will be a tremendous help to me in finding it.



Emergent and Early Literacy Workshop	This resource is a synopsis of presentations that were given at the Emergent and Early Literacy Workshop: Current Status and Research Directions in September 2000. Jointly sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of Health, and a number of other national and federal offices, the document provides a synopsis of what researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and university educators consider the current state of knowledge about emergent and early literacy learning. The goal of the workshop was to identify and discuss gaps in current knowledge. Each speaker addressed the following 3 questions: Converging findings and research gaps in emergent and early literacy; Practical concerns that influence research design and implementation in investigations of emergent and early literacy; and Implications for individuals working in different professional roles and disciplines. I found this to be an extremely useful document when preparing a proposal for a pre-literacy program for 3- to 4-year-old children. (excerpted from 9/1/2003 SchoolGrants Biweekly Newsletter.)

From Birth to Three	Zero to Three provides downloadable Healthy Minds handouts that are based on findings from a report from the National Academy of Sciences that examined research on child and brain development to establish what is known about a child’s development from birth until age three. The handouts are designed for parents and suggest ways to use the findings to nurture a child’s healthy development. (excerpted from 9/15/2003 SchoolGrants Biweekly Newsletter.)

Pathways to Effective Teaching	This research is available online through the Early Childhood Research Quarterly. It results from research performed by Carollee Howes, Jolena James and Sharon Ritchie, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at the University of California in Los Angeles. The researchers used classroom observations, clinical interviews, and participant observation as they examined the “pathways to effective teaching within a group of primarily African-American and Latino teachers working in child care programs serving low-income children.” They found that less than 25% of the teachers had bachelor’s degrees or higher and only 20% had had any preservice training. However, they also discovered that over half of the participants had been mentored as they began their careers. If you are writing grants for early childhood education, this document may contain information that will be of value to you as you prepare your needs statements and discussion of teacher preparation and mentoring. (excerpted from 9/1/2003 SchoolGrants Biweekly Newsletter.)

Teaching Our Youngest	Teaching Our Youngest - A Guide for Preschool Teachers & Child Care & Family Providers is a booklet prepared in 2002 by the Early Childhood-Heath Start Task Force, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It draws from scientifically based research about what can be done to help children to develop their language abilities, increase their knowledge, become familiar with books and other printed materials, learn letters and sounds, recognize numbers and learn to count. (excerpted from 9/1/2003 SchoolGrants Biweekly Newsletter.)

Business Roundtable and Early Childhood Development	The Business Roundtable (BRT) and Corporate Voices for Working Families (CVWF). discusses six principles that they will use – and encourage others to use – in assessing existing early education programs, considering philanthropic priorities, evaluating policy proposals for early childhood programs, and formulating policy positions. The principles are: Learning as a central mission Standards for learning and program quality Qualified staff Options for parents Accountability for measurable results Crosscutting partnerships

State Preschool Yearbook	Produced by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), the State Preschool Yearbook examines state-funded preschool programs for children ages 3 and 4 during the 2001-2002 school year. This first yearbook establishes the baseline against which future progress will be measured. Information is presented on three key characteristics of prekindergarten programs: access, quality standards, and resources. The study finds that in 2001-2002 most state-sponsored preschool programs were failing through lack of funding and inadequate standards. Total state spending for preschool programs was about $2.4 billion; ten states accounted for 83% of that spending with Georgia and Oklahoma providing the greatest access.

The Effect of Kindergarten Program Types and Class Size on Early Academic Performance	Education Policy Analysis Archives released The Effect of Kindergarten Program Types and Class Size on Early Academic Performance in Feb 2004. The paper examines the connections between class size, length of school day, and kindergartners’ cognitive score gains.









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The dynamic nature of the Internet means that links may be gone tomorrow. Sometimes unscrupulous individuals and companies purchase popular links and put pornographic materials on those sites. Please let me know ASAP if you come across such a link. Please include the name and URL of the SchoolGrants Web page where you found the bad link.

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