The Ontario Human Rights Commission's (OHCR) "Right to Read Report" calls for school districts to implement early literacy interventions that have been scientifically proven to be effective for young children with reading difficulties. The acknowledgment of early intervention as an essential service for young children experiencing…

The transition to school can be a complicated process for families of children with exceptionalities (Janus, Lefort, Cameron, & Kopechanski, 2007). Little is known about the transition to school specifically for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH). The aim of this study was to examine the communication that occurred among early…

This article reports on collaborative action research in twelve northern rural and Indigenous communities in four Canadian provinces. Pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, grade one, and Aboriginal Head Start teachers worked with university researchers in three universities to create action research projects with the aim of supporting children's oral…

We assessed the availability and accessibility of early childhood development (ECD) services to ethno-cultural communities in the Tri-Cities region of British Columbia. Primary participants were recent immigrant and refugee parents from three ethnic communities: Chinese (both Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking) and Korean-, and Farsi-speaking groups…

This paper explores ways in which frequent feedback and clear assessment criteria can improve students' essay writing performance in a first-year English literature course. Students (n = 68) completed a series of three scaffolded exercises over the course of a semester, where they evaluated undergraduate essays using a predetermined assessment…

Despite the stated importance of a successful kindergarten transition (TTK) for future school success, no research has addressed this transition for culturally/ethnically diverse families having children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). To address this gap, six focus groups (three with ethnically diverse parents, one with kindergarten…

This research utilized a blend of quantitative and qualitative research designs to explore the perceptions held by early interventionists regarding family-centred care, cultural diversity, and cultural sensitivity. The Executive Directors (N = 11) of early intervention programs in Nova Scotia completed the Cultural Diversity in Early Intervention…

A study examined whether a beneficial effect on children's literacy development accrues from the use of the Little Books with kindergarten children, and identified differential effects on kindergarten achievement according to treatment type, community status, and school type. From a sample of 40 Newfoundland schools, schools were grouped into…

This paper describes a collaborative effort aimed at province-wide dissemination and implementation of pivotal response treatment (PRT) for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Nova Scotia, Canada. Three critical components of the associated training model are described: (1) direct training of treatment teams (parents, one-to-one…

The psychometric properties of the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) (Bricker & Squires, 1999) used in a French-Canadian preschool population were compared with psychometric data derived from U.S. normative studies. The ASQ was translated into French (Bonin, Robaey, Vandaele, Bastin, & Lacroix, 2000) and used in four early childhood…

A study of Newfoundland's and Labrador's Direct Home Services Program (DHSP) for families of developmentally delayed infants and preschool-age children evaluated current efforts and obtained data for use in the development of strategies for future interventions. The study had six purposes: (1) to examine parents' early experiences pertaining to…

The "literacy.ca" newsletter is a vehicle for literacy workers and supporters to share information, ideas, resources and research on emerging literacy issues. This issue of "literacy.ca" contains the following sections: (1) Profiling Partnerships; (2) Research; (3) Research Spotlight; (4) Literacy and Disabilities; (5) Health…

The focus of this article is a research and development project underway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The project is Toronto First Duty, reflecting that the "first duty of a state is to see that every child born therein shall be well-housed, clothed, fed, and educated, till it attain years of discretion," according to 19th century…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Conference on Education and New Developments 2015-END 2015, taking place in Porto, Portugal, from 27 to 29 of June. Education, in our contemporary world, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the human being, in the way one thinks, feels and…