To make it through the Indian school system, children need to be resilient and feel at ease in learning--qualities that children from poorer backgrounds often lack. As a result, one in four children does not complete primary school. One way to address this issue is by preparing children for school through early childhood education, which can have…

Early language experiences are vital to children's future success in school and quality language-rich interactions can be promoted at home and around the community in many creative ways. Project ELLO (Everyday Language and Learning Opportunities) is a research-based public engagement campaign that began as a novel and efficient way to address…

While the COVID-19 vaccines bring hope about the end of pandemic-related closures, leaders worldwide recognize that a fundamental shift has occurred in the way we work, live, and learn. Though we will always need brick-and-mortar schools, our "new normal" must include hybrid and virtual education options for students who do not have…

Despite the wealth of evidence that early learning opportunities are crucial for young children in crisis, little evidence shows a commensurate commitment to early childhood development (ECD) provision in refugee and humanitarian programming. The Kyaka II refugee settlement in Uganda is a case in point. Home to over 125,000 Congolese refugees,…

Around the world, dedicated professionals are implementing innovative programs to improve access to quality education for children living in poverty and otherwise marginalized communities. This article provides an overview of the work being conducted by BRAC, an international development organization based in Bangladesh that is working to…

Active involvement of multiple stakeholders is vital to ensuring effective implementation of education innovation. The ground-breaking collaboration described in this article addressed barriers to education through effective cross-sector collaboration among civil society, business, and government stakeholders.

Early childhood experiences have a great effect on the course of a child's life. Preschool education can offer benefits for children, particularly those who do not have advantages at home, including benefits related to academic skills, social-emotional development, and communication. Thus, preschool experiences are a potential key to improving…

Many municipalities, armed with research showing the immense benefits of early education, are struggling to ensure children have the opportunity to attend quality preschools (Barnett, 2012; Magnuson, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2007). Birmingham, the largest city in Alabama, is no exception. In developing a profile of Birmingham's efforts to provide…

The transition from preschool to elementary school is an important period for all families but can be particularly difficult for children from low-income families (Pianta, Rimm-Kaufman, & Cox, 1999). Transition involves not only the children's "readiness," especially in terms of literacy, but also how families, preschools, and schools interact and…

Despite significant investments over the past decade in the expansion and improvement of preschool programs, too many children, particularly poor children, enter kindergarten behind their peers. Because it is critical that voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) classrooms offer educational programs that both address the needs and developmental levels of…

Reach Out and Read is an evidence-based nonprofit organization that promotes early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms throughout the United States by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud. The program began in 1989 at what was then called Boston City Hospital, and is now known…

Much of the current debate about children's transition to school focuses on children's readiness for school. Indeed, Boethel (2004, p. 17) describes transition as the "focal point of readiness." Typically, this focus extends to considering children's competencies--particularly their skills and abilities--at the time of starting school.…

This article describes an inquiry project in a pre-kindergarten program at a laboratory school at a public university. The Dance Project took form in the pre-kindergarten class at the laboratory school for a public university's early childhood education program. Fourteen imaginative and highly active 4- and 5-year-old children attended the…

Many parents are concerned with helping their children prepare for the transition to kindergarten. For some children, the anxiety of entering kindergarten is matched by the anxiety of leaving the surroundings in which they have been nurtured and cared for, especially if it is a situation that has been a consistent one for the child over a long…

The kindergarten year symbolizes entrance into formal schooling and is a critical juncture for young children. Easing the transition into kindergarten to ensure the maximum success in that pivotal year merits much attention and careful planning. Since the National Education Goals Panel made public its readiness goals (1997), many states across the…