Comments on "Kappan's" practice of presenting essays by Presidential candidates concerning their mission for education. (MLH)

President George Bush claims to have increased federal spending on education and favors readiness goals, school choice, voluntary national examinations, and increasing Pell grant awards. (MLH)

Presidential challenger, Governor Bill Clinton, critiques President Bush's record, promising to scrap the existing student loan program and deliver a workable educational reform package. (MLH)

Explores current practices in kindergarten education and describes the knowledge base related to kindergarten. Considers implications for making kindergarten a place where children can grow, learn, and thrive. Includes discussion of the kindergarten students, readiness-based interventions, scheduling, and kindergarten activities. (KB)

In this address, Richard W. Riley contends that parents' most important activity is to raise their children. Parents, educators and policymakers can work together to create a healthy and nurturing environment for all children in America. Young children absorb and later imitate adult activities they see, and they observe their parents more than…

The first of six national educational goals, proclaimed by President Bush, to be accomplished by the year 2000 is that all children will start school ready to learn. This booklet examines this goal in terms of what it will take to ensure that all children develop the capacities or readiness to be successful in school. In the introduction, it is…

This paper presents Rudolf Steiner's maturational readiness theory of human physiopsychology and comments on education in the Waldorf Schools. Discussion asserts that Steiner's concept of human development is complex and that intensive study is required for even a superficial understanding of "the four members of man": the physical,…

Cites the high dropout rates for native students in Saskatchewan urban centers and suggests that the inner-city native alternative school may be the best way to return students to some form of education leading to eventual employment. Lists 17 "do's" and "don'ts" for effective alternative schools. (JHZ)

This paper presents an expanded definition of school readiness that includes the skills children possess as they begin formal school as well as the ways that family backgrounds, preschool experiences, and primary-grade classrooms interact with children to point them toward school success or failure. The paper notes five dimensions of school…

The use of readiness assessment rather than chronological age for admission to kindergarten is proposed. The article examines why this approach is needed, how it might be accomplished, and the relative advantages of admitting by readiness assessment compared to chronological age. (JDD)

School-based early childhood centers are high-quality programs using approaches to instruction based on recognized principles of child development and learning for children 3 to 8 years old. The centers are characterized by the active involvement of parents and the community and by a commitment to smooth transitions from home to school and through…

The model presented by the preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, is one of cooperation and collaborations among teachers, parents, and children; curriculum based on the "project approach," and constructivist learning philosophy, which states that children construct their knowledge and values as a result of interactions with and action on…

Presents issues concerning kindergarten, Grade one and Grade two curriculum content, which is now more academically oriented than 30 years ago. Using examples drawn from teaching experience, discusses related issues of school entrance age, the ungraded K-2 classroom, beginning reading instruction, and parent involvement. (NH)

Focuses on the identification of the developmentally young child and the exploration of appropriate placement procedures and programs. Identification of the developmentally young child is essential and can be made through (kindergarten) teacher observations in addition to developmental placement and readiness tests. These children can be helped…

This keynote address examines the relationship between early childhood development and school readiness. The address begins with basic statistical data indicative of the well-being of children in Pennsylvania and Illinois and maintains that advocacy embracing and encouraging interdisciplinary professional collaboration for supporting and…