One of the poorest and most densely populated countries in the world, Bangladesh has faced many challenges during its almost 40-year history as an independent nation. Yet the country has recently made substantial progress in improving young children's survival and protection. It now provides health care, nutrition, immunization, and education…

Many early childhood educators are seriously concerned about bullying and aggression. Children's negative social behaviors also dominate the media and are the focus of much current research. Recent studies result in some progress in understanding the early origins and harmful effects of physical and relational aggression and designing…

Describes an initiative of the National Association for the Education of Young Children with the goals of helping early childhood professionals prevent child abuse and neglect and promote healthy social and emotional development. Highlights findings from the Phase 1 research project confirming that most educators are willing to participate more…

Hyson briefly describes a number of national fellowships sponsored by professional associations, foundations, and government agencies-some intended for early career professionals, others for mid-career professionals, and still others for graduate students.

Describes NAEYC video training materials "Tools for Teaching" providing guidance on five essentials for early childhood teaching: creating caring communities of learners, teaching to enhance development and learning, constructing appropriate curriculum, assessing children's learning and development, and building reciprocal relationships with…

Delineates newly released revised standards of the National Association for the Education of Young Children for college and university programs that prepare early childhood professionals. Describes the standards revision process and offers highlights of the revised standards. Suggests that challenges to meeting standards relate to access,…

The authors describe the first stages of NAEYC's new initiative, Supporting Teachers, Strengthening Families. This national initiative is intended to help early childhood professionals in preventing child abuse and neglect and promoting healthy social and emotional development. The article reports on responses about these topics from 1,800 early…

Discusses the professional standards established by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Explains the necessity of periodic revision of the guidelines and the benefits of doing so. Outlines the essential elements of NAEYC guidelines: child development and learning; curriculum development and implementation;…

Asserts that the field of early childhood education (ECE) should reclaim some powerful words to reconnect them with ECE traditions and professional values. Includes discussion of academics, assessment, reading, standards, and structure. Concludes that using these words can be beneficial in discussions with other professionals and policymakers…

Presents information on the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education's requirements for a performance-based system of assessing teacher candidates and the similar requirements of NAEYC within its higher education program approval process. Presents questions to create a systematic teacher assessment plan, websites for further…

Maintains that the United States tolerates an ineffective system of early education and professional preparation. Notes challenges to the field, including insufficient teacher preparation, outdated teacher professional development approaches, ineffective use of research findings to improve early childhood programs, and failure to understand,…

Summarizes research on the contribution of young children's emotional competence to their school readiness. Describes ways early childhood teachers can support young children's emotional competence by creating a secure emotional environment, helping children understand emotions, modeling genuine appropriate emotions, supporting children's emotion…