Research on teaching and learning supports the movement toward new assessment approaches. Educational assessment has an important effect on learners' growth, achievement and self-esteem. International literature includes a series of conceptual models that introduce the means and importance of student assessment from different perspectives. In this…

This multi-year program was based on the premise a digital divide exists between the technology skill levels of public school faculties compared to those of undergraduate teacher education candidates. The Technology Mentor Fellowship Program (TMFP) matched technologically-proficient pre-service teachers with K-12 teachers to model technology as an…

The purpose of this article is to develop, validate, and field test two readiness assessment instruments, "Schools Ready for Children" and "Children Ready for School." The authors first describe the development of the assessment instrument dealing with policies and practices of "ready" schools. The items on this…

The Guidelines are focused on the library services to babies and toddlers, their families and supporting organizations dealing with early literacy and appropriate services for the very young. Early brain development research has shown the unequivocal impact that talking, singing and reading to babies and toddlers can have on their acquisition of…

The authors developed a qualitative study to seek the feedback of service providers with regard to the usefulness of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional as a screening tool for multicultural populations. They addressed provider satisfaction with the tool by surveying a multidisciplinary sample of practitioners who provide a range…

The UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities (CHCFC) has developed the School Readiness Critical Pathways (SRCPs) as an evidence-based conceptual model that links related outcomes and strategies. This helps to organize an array of broad and diffuse evidence regarding the strategies that produce school readiness outcomes for…

As the documented assessment of children becomes a taken-for-granted function of "what teachers do", concerns are rightly raised about the time involved and the usefulness of this to enhance learning and teaching. This article draws on data collected as part of the development of "Kei Tua o te Pae, Assessment for Learning: Early…

Child-staff ratios are an important quality indicator. They are often collected by observing one randomly selected classroom several times during a 2-h period on a single day. However, it is unclear whether these measures represent the ratios that children actually experience during most of their time in care. This study compared ratio data…

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is an approach for assessing the growth of students in basic skills that originated uniquely in special education. A substantial research literature has developed to demonstrate that CBM can be used effectively to gather student performance data to support a wide range of educational decisions. Those decisions…

A current interest in education is the growing awareness that the development of social and emotional skills in children is critical for the foundation of academic knowledge in the classroom. The early childhood educator is in a position to be a powerful nurturer of the social emotional development in young children. It is important, therefore, to…

The Ready School, a concept endorsed by the National Education Goals Panel, focuses on getting schools ready for children to supplement the traditional approach of getting children ready for school. The author cites 10 qualities associated with Ready Schools and describes the eight-dimension Ready School Assessment project now being tested by the…

The "MTP-Math/Science" curricula specifically target the teaching and learning of children at risk of early school failure, a population for whom achievement gaps in mathematics and science are visible even in Pre-K years. "MTP-Math" is based on Focal Areas defined by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)…

The two studies presented in this report were designed to test the effectiveness of a new diagnostic-based reading intervention for classroom teachers, called the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI). This TRI Tier 2 intervention stressed diagnostic teaching as the key to helping struggling readers make rapid progress in reading in the regular…

The Key State Education Policies on PK-12 Education is intended to inform policymakers and educators about the current status of key education policies that define and shape elementary and secondary education in public schools across the 50 states. The report is part of a continuing series by the Council's State Education Indicators program.…

The Saint Paul Public Schools' Project Early Kindergarten program aims to improve the school readiness of Saint Paul children. The program offers a rigorous academic approach and targets children who are English Language Learners, come from low-income families, or need Special Education services. Ultimately, the program intends to help close Saint…