The relationship between Piagetian theory and its application in three early childhood programs is discussed in two papers with differing points of view. The first paper discusses Piaget's epistemology and presents a critical analysis of the three programs, concluding that only one of them is consistent with Piaget's epistemology. A rejoinder,…

Along with the rapid expansion over the past decade of Head Start, a program providing comprehensive early childhood development services to low-income children, their families, and their communities, has come the demand for rigorous research to demonstrate program effectiveness. This report describes the proposed design of a national study of the…

This report provides highlights and updates regarding state actions on child care, early education, and school-age care issues during 2001. It is intended to serve as a supplement to "State Developments in Child Care, Early Education, and School-Age Care 2000" and various reports published on this issue between 1997 and 1999. Information…

This paper reports on a project that focused on technology integration in P-12 or postsecondary classroom settings. Project objectives were: (1) to assist preservice teachers to develop teaching styles that make effective use of technology; (2) to promote preservice teacher use of technology-enhanced learning in their own education; and (3) to…

Effects of instruction in phonemic awareness during preschool and/or kindergarten on the metalinguistic development and subsequent reading achievement of young children with disabilities were investigated in this project. The main focus of study combined a longitudinal and experimental design in which 79 preschool children with disabilities…

This paper reports the results of a study of 40 student teachers and their cooperating teachers. The initiatives were implemented during one semester in various public school classrooms and sites. Most occurred with preschool and elementary students, with 10 of the student teachers in junior high or high school settings. The preservice teachers…

The present study examines a new battery of nonverbal cognitive measures used extensively with numerous preschool children. Seven nonverbal, individually administered measures of fluid reasoning and visualization were administered to these children. Raw scores were converted to age-corrected scaled scores and subjected to multivariate analysis of…

This paper examines four indigenous language programs to compare common components, problems, and outcomes. The programs are Cree Way in Quebec, Canada, Hualapai in Arizona, Te Kohanga Reo (Maori) in New Zealand, and Punana Leo (Hawaiian) in Hawaii. These programs were chosen for four characteristics: (1) the languages are no longer transmitted to…

The evolution of creative thought was examined, an examination that resulted in the construction of universal criteria for analysis and detailed evidence for the evolution of novelty, i.e. how children create knowledge. The collected data came from 200 students from the United States and 200 from Brazil. Each of the 10 age groups (from 4 to 13…

This case study used a phenomenological approach to explore the experiences of three children starting child care, the adult who accompanied them to the center during the settling-in period, and one of the child caregivers. Data were collected by means of field notes, videotapes, interviews with the mother and teacher, journal entries by the…

In 1995, the North Dakota Head Start-State Collaboration Project (HSSCP) was initiated to create a statewide early childhood system to increase access to comprehensive services and support for all low-income children. This report details the project's accomplishments over its initial 5-year period, emphasizing accomplishments of the final year.…

This issue describes how researchers are studying ways to reduce the overrepresentation of students from minority backgrounds in special education. It begins by discussing problems associated with inappropriate classification and placement of minority students, including being denied access to the general education curriculum, being placed in…

This report provides highlights and updates regarding state actions on child care and early education issues during 1999. It is intended to serve as a supplement to "State Child Care and Early Education Development: Highlights and Updates for 1998" and "State Developments in Child Care and Early Education 1997." The information…

Identifies key components of U.S. Language immersion programs and offers a description of existing partial and full immersion schools. The survey parallels information-gathering efforts in Canada and Europe by providing details and summaries of demographic information, teachers, materials, target language proficiency and use, program structure and…

Compared work environments of NAEYC accredited and nonaccredited centers using the Early Childhood Work Environment Survey. Found that innovativeness, goal consensus, opportunities for professional growth, and clarity accounted for the greatest differences between accredited and nonaccredited centers. Also found differences in staff's job…