Understanding the rapid and episodic learning and development of young children is a complex undertaking. In the early years, each child experiences the most dramatic developmental and learning period in his or her lifetime. In addition, there is marked variability among children in the rate and pattern of typical development. Motor,…

A Michigan elementary school has developed an unusual six-tier grading structure to accommodate the needs of children at different stages of development. They provide half-step classrooms that allow students to move forward in school at a rate that allows success. (MD)

The High/Scope curriculum differs radically from typical K-3 teacher-directed instruction in emphasizing the child as a self-initiating active learner. This curriculum differs from other child-centered curricula by using cognitive-development theory to stress problem-solving and independent thinking, rather than social development and…

Addresses the difficulties in assessing the receptive capacity and learning style of a child and matching it to the instructional aspects of schooling. Describes a teacher sensitization course that has been developed to make such matching possible. (WD)

Young children think and learn differently, yet early childhood education is now subject to new pressures. Many believe that early exposure to technology accelerates mental development and improves sensory and mental capacity. There is no factual support for this idea. Children who grow up with technology are not necessarily more proficient with…

Student achievement gaps among racial and ethnic groups are large and persistent. They mirror gaps in life and school conditions that have been found to be closely related to cognitive development and school achievement. The road to parity begins with understanding the nature of the gaps and their trends. One way the size of the gap has been…

Discusses the environmental, sociological, physical, and psychological elements of learning styles as well as how to put learning styles to work in the instructional program. (WD)

The place of kindergarteners in academia has grown more important in recent years. Increased emphasis on learning at the kindergarten level, however, should not blind educators to the developmental levels of four- and five-year-olds, who may learn most effectively by playing creatively and exploring new language skills. (PGD)

Discusses Piaget's theory of constructivism and its practical application in schools. Gives evidence for the value of constructivist teaching and the importance of offering different kinds of education within the same system. (WD)

The arts are an equal and essential part of the curriculum if understood as rigorous disciplines of the mind and necessary vehicles of thought, no less than the sciences. (Author/IRT)

The arts should be part of the core curriculum because human cognition is wider than discourse and because the forms one is able to use define the scope of the reality that one can know. (Author/IRT)

Long term studies of students who participated in preschool education programs show that the differences and effects are not in test scores but in children's ability to meet teachers' expectations and to avoid being labeled failures.(MD)

Discusses problems in both the "unfolding from within" and "enforcement from without" theories of children's cognitive development. Suggests that "mediation from above," which assumes that children are not independent beings, at least in the beginning, offers additional insight into children's interactions with adults. (WD)

The Parents as First Teachers project successfully teaches Missouri parents to enhance their children's cognitive development. The project recruited 300 first-time parents in its first year, then provided them with educational support and guidance during their children's first three years, while monitoring the children's progress. (PGD)

A longitudinal study of the ego and cognitive development of boys and girls revealed that sex-different socialization practices cause the two sexes to create different premises about the world, develop different competencies, and use different cognitive structures to deal with new experience. (Author/WD)