Research Findings: This study assessed public perceptions of child care and its providers in a Canadian province where government funding for child care includes subsidies and a voluntary accreditation process. In 2007-2008, 1,443 randomly selected adults in Alberta, Canada, completed a telephone survey. Individuals were eligible to participate if…

The relevance of the research problem is due to applying various training programs in the modern education system which are supposed to increase teaching efficiency. In-depth study of some subjects at schools, lyceums and gymnasiums which starts in the elementary school quite often leads to tension and failures of adaptation process in innovative…

This qualitative research study was an outcome evaluation of an alternative kindergarten curriculum to those currently used in most public schools. Tools of the Mind, a Vygotskian, play-based curriculum was implemented during the 2010-2011 school year in four kindergarten classrooms, involving data from approximately 50 students, within a public…

The Grade 3 Informational Text Reading Inventory (ITRI) was developed to address the specific reading challenges that grade 3 students encounter as they move from reading largely narrative textbooks in grade 2 to being expected to read and comprehend more dense and content-driven text in grade 3. This booklet contains all of the information…

This article examines the impact of programming robots on sequencing ability in early childhood. Thirty-four children (ages 4.5-6.5 years) participated in computer programming activities with a developmentally appropriate tool, CHERP, specifically designed to program a robot's behaviors. The children learned to build and program robots over three…

Amargosa Valley School in Nevada could be considered representative of almost any preK-8 school that serves a large proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and is focused on turning around persistently low achievement. Like other schools supported by federal School Improvement Grants, Amargosa is beginning to implement a reform plan…

Professional early childhood educators are often asked for advice about whether or when a young child should learn to play a music instrument. Many educators who do not have a background in music education may not be confident in providing such advice. A range of overseas research has supported learning a music instrument in the early childhood…

While it is clear that reading is critical to children's success throughout schooling and reading instruction research has dramatically increased over the past 2 decades, few early childhood providers have the necessary knowledge, skills and/or confidence to effectively implement evidence-based, emergent literacy strategies in their settings. This…

The phenomenon of using progress monitoring data to inform literacy instruction was explored in the context of four schools during their 2nd year of Reading First implementation. Open-ended interviews and surveys from 10 teachers, purposefully selected for maximum variation in effectiveness and skills and resistance to using data to inform…

In many European heritage early childhood education communities cultural-historical theory has become increasingly influential for informing practice. Yet one of the major challenges facing the field has been the slow mobilisation of new theory into practice. This paper reports on a study of 40 early childhood pre-service students as they moved…

It is widely recognised that teachers' pedagogical practices are influenced by many factors, including their personal experiences, their theoretical knowledge and the institutional context in which they work. Yet little is known about the beliefs held by Singaporean teachers about language and literacy development. Given the significance of early…

This bulletin is the first in a series of summaries of research conducted in reading from 1955 to 1960. The publication includes both published and unpublished research during the 5-year period. The published research has been compiled largely from studies reported in educational periodicals. The unpublished research was made available through a…