A child's transition from pre-K to kindergarten is an important time. It builds the foundation for academic, behavioral and social-emotional skills, as well as positive family-school connections, for years to come. Starting kindergarten is also a big shift for many children, one that requires them to adjust rapidly to new routines and…

"The How and Why of Laboratory Schools: Innovations and Success Stories in Teacher Preparation and Student Learning" is an eagerly anticipated exploration crafted by esteemed researchers and practitioners from some of the foremost Laboratory Schools across the United States and internationally. These institutions, also recognized as…

This report offers insight into a reflective and critical practitioner's role in carefully planning an environment that reflects young children's need for independence. Education as an agent of liberation is the key to the child obtaining that freedom and achieving independence. It is argued that liberation can only be achieved when an effective…

In this column, I consider the important supporting players for an early childhood music educator: classroom teachers, administrators, support staff, parents and caregivers, and children. I argue that it is vital for early childhood music educators to view these individuals as part of their "village" and reach out to make connections…

Teacher shortage in all subjects, including music, has been an ongoing concern in the United States since the 1980s. The shortage is especially acute in urban and rural schools that serve economically disadvantaged students. This article examines (a) music teacher shortage in relation to P-12 public schools in general, (b) the demand for music…

In the current research, Reggio Emilia, an alternative application model based on the problems experienced within the content of communication and cooperation in preschool education, was studied. In this purpose, the history, values and principles of Reggio Emilia, its curriculum, teacher-child, teacher-parent, child-child, teacher-teacher…

The family--school relationship develops largely during face-to-face interactions between parents and teachers. Research shows that reciprocal and informal communication reinforces collaboration, especially between schools and families from minority groups. Yet, teacher practices regularly express a reluctance to implement reciprocal…

This paper analyses the importance, role, and methods of cooperation between parents and preschool institutions through the different concepts of preschool education and different educational approaches and formal frameworks. Through educational approaches, the authors analyse how cooperation affects the implementation of preschool education in…

This paper explores how a teacher preparation program in a liberal arts institution built upon the foundations of dialogic, relational pedagogy utilizes strong alumni connections to improve teacher education curriculum and support preservice, inservice, and teacher educators as they work to teach against the grain. Best visualized as an infinity…

Student parents face significant challenges that can limit their ability to enter, persist in, and graduate from college. Innovative partnerships between Head Start and the higher education system is a promising strategy to bring together essential supports to meet the needs of student parents and set them up for long-term success. This briefing…

The start of kindergarten signifies the beginning of elementary school and everything that may come with it: a new building, new teachers, new expectations, and a different routine and culture. These new students transition into kindergarten from different settings, bringing with them a variety of assets and experiences. From a holistic…

One-third of U.S. children ages 0 to 5 are Dual Language Learners (DLLs), meaning they have at least one parent who speaks a language other than English at home. These children speak an increasingly diverse range of languages and have the potential to thrive as multilingual and multicultural individuals, given the right support. But while years of…

This article highlights autoethnography as an arts-based methodology in early years research, giving consideration to its challenges and critics as well as the power of its application to elicit voices in a way that other methodologies do not. It embraces and models autoethnography through sharing a performative autoethnographic narrative of one…

Collaboration and consultation in early childhood settings is essential in supporting early literacy development; however, building partnerships can be difficult. In this article, we describe a large-scale project entitled Children's School Success (Odom et al., 2003) as a context from which to discuss collaboration and consultation related…

This paper explores how to develop teacher leaders across the career span. It offers a conceptual framework with three central tenets of teacher leadership: an emphasis on inquiry, a social justice imperative and an expanded understanding of teachers' roles in schools, communities and society. This model foregrounds the primary role that teachers…