To examine how young children learn to read new words, we asked preschoolers (N = 115, mean age 4 years, 8 months) to learn and remember novel spellings that made sense based on letter names (e.g. TZ for "tease") and spellings that were visually distinctive but phonetically inappropriate. Children who were more knowledgeable about letter names…

Excursions, or field trips, are a common component of early childhood programs, seen as a means of enriching the curriculum by providing experiences with people, places, and things in the community. Although excursions have been used as a framework for research on children's memory development, research on the efficacy of excursions in terms of…

Fifteen studies of family-school interventions with preschool children conducted between 1980 and 2002, and published in peer-reviewed journals, were reviewed and evaluated according to the criteria developed by the Task Force on Evidence-Based Intervention in School Psychology (Division 16 and Society for the Study of School Psychology Task…

To expand knowledge about young immigrant populations and to document how the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) affects the education of English language learner (ELL) and limited English proficient (LEP) students, the Urban Institute was funded by the Foundation for Child Development to undertake a series of reports. This policy brief draws on this…

Despite the ubiquity of the term "inquiry" in science education literature, little is known about how teachers conceptualize inquiry, how these conceptions are formed and reinforced, how they relate to work done by scientists, and if these ideas about inquiry are translated into classroom practice. This is a multicase study in which 14 preservice…

Technology can facilitate a pedagogy-based on neo-Vygotskian sociocultural theory, and on developmentally appropriate instruction. This article reviews the basic principles of such a pedagogy, and then presents a detailed case study of one day's instruction in a preschool classroom, that is richly infused with a system employing digital…

Studies suggest that three and four-year old children who are exposed to preschool have a greater chance of academic success throughout their schooling. This article highlights a five-year case study of children of poverty who attended a structured preschool in Salinas, California. The longitudinal study exposed various components of a successful…

Kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong are often criticised for not putting early childhood education theory into practice after their in-service training. It appears that they may be too concerned about academic work and discipline in the classroom and neglect to create a coherent vision of early childhood education. It might be suggested that…

"I know there is something wrong, but what? How do I know if outside help for this child is needed? How do I tell parents that their child could have a learning difficulty?" These are questions that most nursery workers, at some point in their careers, will have to face. Based on the lives of real children and typical situations in early years…

The Webfolio project was developed at James Cook University to extend students' professional learning beyond what is taught in lectures or gleaned through the practicum. The Webfolio project trialled alternative platforms and approaches to teaching and learning. It was developed as an online learning environment that incorporated both real people…

There is a nationwide call to better provide schools with a teaching force equipped with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively teach the diversifying U.S. student population. This series, Collaborative Partnerships Between ESL and Classroom Teachers, edited by Debra Suarez, aims to contribute to the field's responses to this…

The research reviewed and the current responses identified in this paper show that at local, national and international levels there are gaps in programming and policy to engage ideas and mobilise resources to address the needs and experiences of very young children infected/affected by HIV and AIDS. Chapter one identifies some key areas where the…