Grounded in Developmental Systems Theory, especially Ecological Systems Theory, and through the strength-based and whole child lenses, this study examines 15 interviews with Head Start professionals and explores alignment degree of their school readiness perception and practices. Adopting dual mapping, theme screening and in vivo coding, the…

A hopeful path to furthering social justice in America is to support all young children to develop the habits of mind necessary for guiding, and fully living, their own lives. Unfortunately, much of what is known from brain research, psychology, and the learning sciences regarding the contextual and relational ways young children learn is not…

The South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) advocates for the integration of Environmental Education (EE) in all grades and subjects. The purpose of this study was to conduct a review of CAPS documents that guide pedagogy in all three subjects offered in Grade R, namely; English (Home Language), Life Skills and Mathematics.…

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) is preparing to undertake the work of reviewing the state early learning standards - Indiana's Early Learning Foundations (the "Foundations"). In anticipation of this work, staff at IDOE have requested support from the Region 8 Comprehensive Center in identifying approaches states have taken in…

Experiencing large differences between pre-k and kindergarten classroom contexts may affect children's academic development as they start school. This study examined differences between classroom contexts in pre-k and kindergarten (teacher-child interactions, time on academic content, and academic rigor) and associations with literacy, language,…

Iheoma Iruka is founding director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and research professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Her work focuses on supporting the optimal development of children from low-wealth and marginalized communities and ensuring excellence…

With most 4 year olds in the United States now in center-based early care, the need for aligning instruction from preschool through the early grades (PK-3) has become more pressing. Yet so far there has been little guidance on how to create alignment. Research on PK-3 alignment seeks to provide general principles for creating instructional…

"PK--3" has become a rallying cry among many developmental scientists and educators. A central component of this movement is alignment between preschool and the early elementary grades. Many districts have made policy changes designed to promote continuity in children's educational experiences as they progress from preschool through…

School reform is an important national and international concern. The Montessori alternative school system is unique in that it is well-aligned with the science of healthy development and learning, has strong social-emotional "and" academic outcomes, is virtually unchanged in over a century, can be applied across all the school years,…

There are multiple explanations for why many children do not have access to well-prepared pre-K teachers. The five programs profiled in this report show that it is possible to give pre-K teachers rich, research-based training that prepares them to work with young children. However, there is a scarcity of opportunities focused on the developmental…

This report reviews and analyzes California policies that are designed to support early learning in children from birth through age five years. The analysis is limited to early childhood (EC) education-related programs and supports that are likely to directly affect children's cognitive and social development. The information in the report comes…

This testimony was presented before the Committe of the Whole Council of the District of Columbia on February 16, 2012. Experts in child development have long known that the earliest years of a child's life are a critical period of development across a range of domains: physical, socio-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive (Shonkoff and Phillips,…

Every year, the World Bank's World Development Report (WDR) features a topic of central importance to global development. The 2018 WDR--"Learning to Realize Education's Promise"--is the first ever devoted entirely to education. And the time is right: education has long been critical to human welfare, but it is even more so in a time of…

Wisconsin's adoption of the Common Core State Standards provides an excellent opportunity for Wisconsin school districts and communities to define expectations from birth through preparation for college and work. By aligning the existing Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards with the Wisconsin Common Core State Standards, expectations can be…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a federally funded early literacy project that aimed to promote the school readiness skills of preschool-age children from low income families. Through daily, explicit, and systematic instruction, the project targeted to improve preschoolers' oral language skills, phonological awareness,…