As required in 105 ILCS 5/2-3.47a, the Illinois State Board of Education shall develop and maintain a continuing comprehensive strategic plan for elementary and secondary education. The 2020-2023 Strategic Plan consists of goals for equity, student learning, learning conditions, and elevating educators. The Strategic Plan leverages the wide range…

Research shows that process quality in early childhood education (ECE) programs--specifically teacher-child interactions--is the strongest predictor of children's gains in learning and development. Due to a number of factors associated with the city's early childhood infrastructure and the budgets of the current Head Start grants, it has been…

The racial mismatch between teachers and students has become a salient issue in efforts to counter the historical failure of children of Color in American (pre)schools. To address this mismatch, scholars have argued for the critical need to recruit and retain teachers of Color. In this article, we propose that to successfully prepare teachers of…

Over the last decade, California leaders have made tremendous progress on supporting kids in some crucial areas. They have vastly increased the percentage of children enrolled in health insurance and made paid family leave available for most workers. They have also invested in free school meals, committed to universal transitional kindergarten,…

This occasional paper is the sixth in a series on the National Quality Framework (NQF). It examines trends in quality improvement from the perspective of services rated Working Towards National Quality Standard (NQS) under the 2012 NQS. In this paper, a service is considered to have improved its quality at reassessment where it: (1) receives a…

This article reports the results from a study on reasons for choosing social education for a profession when you are a man. The study concluded that multiple job opportunities and caring for others is a strong motive for men along with possible further studies. The study also disclosed that many men still encounter incomprehension when stating…

This article proposes that there exist "glass doors" impeding men from entering and participating in ECEC work. Across developed countries, men's participation as carers and teachers in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services tends to be viewed as highly desirable and much has been written about the importance of men in ECEC.…

The rapid rise of Asian economies has increased the popularity of learning Chinese language worldwide. Although CIP have become popular in the United States, research into these programs is scant. This study explores the practices and challenges of one such Chinese immersion program by using a case study methodology to gain in-depth insights. The…

Moldova's public expenditures on education as a share of GDP and total public sector spending are higher than in most countries in the European Union (EU) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Moldova's challenges to improve the quality and efficiency of education provision need to be addressed in a context of…

"Millennial Teachers of Color" explores the opportunities and challenges for creating and sustaining a healthy teaching force in the United States. Millennials are the largest generational cohort in American history, with approximately ninety million members and, of these, roughly 43 percent are people of color. This book, edited by…

Success in a PK-12 educational environment begins at the top with school leadership. Due to economic problems, poverty and added responsibilities, leaders in rural communities throughout the United States face sensitive and distinctive challenges. Based on research and years of administrative experience as school and school system leaders, the…

Research has shown that the school-based engagement of Latino families is lower compared with other racial and ethnic groups. One possible barrier to school-based engagement of this heterogeneous group of families might be the lack of cultural match between families and schools. Addressing this under-researched area, the current study examined…

For the first time, the nation's most important federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), prominently features early childhood education. State and local leaders now have ample flexibility and opportunity to focus on early education as a foundational element of ESSA while advancing their state's vision and goals for early…

Professional development (PD) for early childhood educators has received increased attention as a means of bolstering young children's learning and development. Theory and research indicate that educators' characteristics play roles in both their own learning and that of children; however, little research has explored who participates in PD. This…

Background: Occupational stress for early childcare educators is an area of apparent understudy in the literature. The present study attempted to address this gap and provide some updated data regarding the experiences of this occupational group. Methods: Early childhood workers across a variety of early childhood education settings (N = 69)…