Preschoolers' language abilities are associated with their social interactions in early childhood classrooms. Few studies, however, have examined associations between social interactions and objective measures of children's real-time classroom language environments, information key to informing interventions to support preschool children at risk…

This report uses statistics to examine current conditions and changes over time in education activities and outcomes for different racial/ethnic groups in the United States. This report shows that over time, students in the racial/ethnic groups of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska…

The author answers seven commonly asked questions regarding the provision of early childhood-exceptional educational need (EC-EEN) programing for children under the age of 6 as required by P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) and Chapter 115 of the Wisconsin Statutes. (SBH)

Describes the experience of a five-year-old mainstreamed boy who supposedly had a developmental lag in language. The boy illustrated his understanding of basic functions of written language by competently orchestrating a pretend rental agreement with one of the authors. Illustrates the need to look beyond the surface features of the writing of…

To test the thesis that most magazines for preschool children are not appropriate for the intended audience, an analysis was made of seven magazines published for children between 2 and 6 years of age. Periodicals selected for review were "Happy Times,""Highlights for Children,""Humpty Dumpty's…

Reviews literature on the effectiveness of the Head Start program, with emphasis on the Westinghouse report and the long-term follow-up studies of the Consortium on Developmental Continuity. Discusses the conflict between the child educative and parental development goals of Head Start. Concludes that social competency and significant minority…

Head Start, created in 1965, is designed to prepare low-income preschool children for school by providing a comprehensive set of early child development services primarily through community based organizations. Over the last decade there have been a number of changes in Head Start's operating environment, including a decrease in the number of poor…

Factors effecting the success of preschool early intervention programs for children birth through age five are discussed. Specific issues covered include building a high quality program, maintaining quality instruction, integrating related services, providing the least restrictive environment, identifying participants, designing the delivery…

There are five goal domains in early childhood education that are worthy of evaluation. Three criteria should be used in judging goal statements: intrusiveness (does the goal intrude upon a basic need?); worthiness (what makes the goal worth pursuing?); and source (where do the goals come from?). (Author/LC)

Two politically oriented factors are cited as major impediments to effective conveyance of evaluation findings to decision makers. The first factor, relevance, includes the elements of timing and matching of perceptions. The second, constituency support, includes recognition of reference groups and political benefits. (Author/LC)

The article discusses the rationale for the provision of services to the severely handicapped and the characteristics of the services provided. Five concepts of essential service provision are described in the context of the following age groups: infancy, preschool and elementary years, secondary school years, and postschool years. (PHR)

Reports development of observation system, Preschool Observation Code (POC), for use across phases of preschool intervention design and evaluation. Describes purpose of code, procedures used for code, procedures used for code construction, and two related studies of interrater and criterion-referenced agreement. Discusses practical issues related…

Examines preschool learning efforts by children (aged three to five), which also involved parents to a degree. Reviews results and recommendations. Discusses a model whereby parents, as learner/teachers, start the lifelong learning process of their children at birth. (CH)

This paper examines the availability of Title I funds for preschool programs from both a legal and practical perspective. First, it provides general background on Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the changes that were made to it in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. Second, it provides data on states? use of Title I…

The Coping Inventory, an observation instrument designed to assess the behavior and skills of handicapped children, is described. The 48-item inventory is divided into two categories--self and environment; each category is subdivided into three dimensions--productive, active, and flexible. (PHR)