At the start of the unprecedented 2020-2021 school year, many schools prioritized or re-prioritized social and emotional learning (SEL) to foster the competencies and learning environments that students and adults need to reunite, renew, and thrive. Entering the second half of the school year, many students will make new transitions -- from…

Whenever the author explains the brain to her second-grade students, the look on their faces is one of simultaneous fascination and relief. What caught her off guard was the relief. In retrospect, it makes pure sense. Of course it was a relief for them to realize that they could affect their brains and its abilities--that nothing was set in stone.…

This article evidences the existing inter-relations between the rights perspective, the listening approach and participatory research with children, emphasising its contributions to the ECEC research field. Specifically, the contributions of visual participatory research in the field of early years transitions are discussed to illustrate the…

In Problem-Based Learning (PBL), a problem is posed before students have learned how to solve it. Language and PBL pair well for effective learning environments. Informed by language-based theories of learning and strategically adding methods for working with English Language Learners (ELLs), we developed an approach called Problem-Based…

This study describes a strengths-based blended personalized learning model, the implementation of the model over a 4-year period, and the results of an impact study focused on measuring its effectiveness. The model includes many commonly-used features of personalized learning, including (a) competency-based progressions, (b) flexible learning…

Background: South African learners have performed consistently poorly in reading assessments. This paper addresses two key components in improving reading literacy: vocabulary development and teacher knowledge and skills required for quality vocabulary instruction. Aim: This small-scale exploratory study reports on the English vocabulary teaching…

The Big Lift is a collective impact initiative extending from preschool to third-grade in San Mateo County, California. The initiative is a partnership of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the San Mateo County Office of Education, and the County of San Mateo. Launched in 2012, the initiative aims to boost children's reading proficiency in…

To address the lack of research in early science learning and young children's informal science experiences, this exploratory case study investigated a 7-year-old girl's (Abigail) emergent science competencies and how they are related to her science experiences in everyday family contexts. Data sources included observations, interviews, parent…

NGSS Early Implementers is a six-year initiative created to help eight California school districts and two charter management organizations, supported by WestEd's K-12 Alliance, implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Administrators need learning opportunities if they are to adequately understand the substantial shifts of the Next…

Although rapid automatized naming (RAN) is one of the best predictors of reading across languages, its nature remains elusive. In the present study, we aim to elucidate the nature of RAN by examining the cognitive and environmental correlates of RAN. One hundred forty-one second-year kindergarten Chinese children (71 girls, 70 boys; mean age =…

Exploration of making and changing sounds is part of the first-grade performance expectation 1-PS4-1, "Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate" (NGSS Lead States 2013, p. 10; see Internet Resource). Early learning experiences build toward…

Issues of standardization, student achievement, and diversity have dramatically altered teaching within early childhood programs across the United States. This has created a situation in which teacher educators need to assist practicing and preservice teachers working in these contexts with formulating instructional responses that address…

This study explored the lived experiences of three third grade emergent bilinguals learning English literacies such as speaking, reading, and writing in school using a post-intentional phenomenological approach (Vagle, 2014). Learning what is unfamiliar, especially academics can be challenging for emergent bilinguals. Young elementary children are…

Teachers often recommend that families engage their children in shared book reading to support literacy learning at home. When teachers purposefully provide families with home literacy activities there are benefits for everyone involved. The purpose of this article is to report the findings of a study that examined parental participation and…

In this qualitative study the researchers explored children's perceptions of their participation in a science class in which an elementary science curriculum, the Full Option Science System (FOSS), was combined with an innovative teaching model, Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving (REAPS). The children were capable of articulating views…