This paper reviews four studies about the nature of professional thinking among teachers, and its relationship to parents' thinking about children and education. The main question addressed in the literature was when and why individual diversity of views appears more strongly in some individuals, but uniformity appears more strongly in others. The…

Serving as a vehicle for raising the profile of and thereby gaining recognition for the important research and development work being conducted in Canada in support of children and families, the "Research Connections Canada" series compiles research and/or development papers as well as background papers, analytical literature reviews,…

Based on the premise that determining the early childhood curriculum hinges to a certain extent on discovering the nature of children, this chapter explores the origins and practices of early childhood curriculum in the United States. The chapter reveals perceptions shifting over time regarding characterizations of young children's most essential…

"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. The article summarized in this "Data Trends" reports research that revealed mental health consultation has positive impact on teacher and center quality. Research has shown that parents of children,…

This publication, designed for a worldwide readership, contains articles, notes, and book reviews pertaining to educational theories and practices. While the body of the articles are in English, overviews are given in German and French. French and German books are reviewed in their native language; English and other language books are reviewed in…

This policy brief examines programs from California and elsewhere in the United States for attracting and retaining quality preschool and child-care staff and places these programs within the broader context of K-12 reforms. While this brief is specifically aimed at early-childhood-education planners and policymakers, it contains information for…

Equipped with the National Child Care Staffing and the new Profiles of Child Care studies, researchers are close to estimating the number of child care providers in the formal child care system. Estimates of the number of providers in the system, which includes in-home housekeepers and nannies, unregistered or licensed family child care providers…

Reviewing papers on a wide range of issues, this bibliography contains annotations for 794 articles excerpted from 86 journals published in Czechoslovakia, socialist countries, and capitalist countries. Following a brief explanation of future changes planned for the publication, Part I groups articles under the headings (1) Social and Ideological…

Despite dramatic increases in the percentage of 5-year-olds enrolled in full-day kindergarten, initial discussions about whether to offer public full-day kindergarten are still controversial in many communities. This report examines claims about benefits and detriments of full-day kindergarten, presents research findings, and describes reasonable…

The first part of this paper reviews the literature on fundamental issues that relate to the work of teachers as the national curriculum is implemented in the United Kingdom. These issues include: (1) the work day of junior and secondary school teachers; (2) the politics and sociology of teaching; (3) the work of primary school teachers; and (4)…

"A Focus on Professional Development" is the fourth in the Research-Based Practices in Early Reading Series published by the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) at Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL). Because reading proficiency is fundamental to student achievement across all subjects and grades, the preparation of the teachers…

This paper emphasizes the need for early childhood teachers to value themselves more highly in order to better their work with young children. The goal of working with children must be to build their self-esteem so they like themselves as human beings. The document (1) reviews research findings that will help teachers make insightful caregiving…

This policy paper focuses on what emerging research tells policymakers about why it is so important to intervene to help young children at risk for poor social, emotional, and behavioral development, and what kinds of research-based interventions seem most effective. The paper addresses the relationship between early academic learning and…

"Scripts" are ways of describing the knowledge a person must have in order to understand the appropriate response in a given situation. In this document, literature on the ways in which children acquire scripts for social behavior through interaction with others is reviewed, and some departures from script theory are discussed. It is…

Noting that understanding the contexts, continuities, and controversies of early childhood education is especially challenging because of the diversity in the field, this book provides a critical examination of the issues and controversies surrounding early childhood practices, policies, and professional development. Following an introduction…