Despite considerable evidence on the links between average classroom quality and children's learning, the importance of variation in quality is not well understood. We examined whether three measures of variation in observed classroom quality over the school year -- overall variation in quality, teacher-specific trends in quality, and instability…

This article is an empirically grounded contribution to the understanding of how digitalization in education is interpreted and made into being by actors in everyday lives, in this case children and teachers in Swedish early childhood education. The focus is on interactions in an early childhood classroom upon and around a digital interactive…

This study examines associations between the literacy environment of early childhood classrooms and children's engagement. Children's language development relies on quality educational practices in preschool and kindergarten. The literacy environment includes a physical dimension (e.g., books, writing materials, environmental prints) and an…

Although research illustrates the benefits of biliteracy, most bilingual students will not have access to a bilingual education program in which they receive official instruction in all their languages. However, the English language arts can become a space where any teacher can support students' biliteracy through purposeful curricular,…

Supporting children's schemas in play-based activities and curricula are a valued and embedded part of early childhood practice in many education systems (Meade, A., and P. Cubey. 2008. "Thinking Children, Learning About Schemas." Berkshire: Open University; Nutbrown, C. 2011. "Threads of Thinking Schemas and Young Children's…

Early childhood education programs (ECE) invest in assessments of classroom quality to enable accountability and to enact efforts towards quality improvement. The "Early Childhood Environment Rating System -- Revised" (ECERS-R) and "Classroom Assessment Scoring System" (CLASS) are two widely used classroom quality assessments…

There is considerable concern regarding our nation's literacy skills. Research has repeatedly shown that the literacy trajectory is well established very early in the school career. Early childhood educators (ECEs) have the ability to influence a child's literacy skills provided they have the required knowledge and tools. Professional development…

This paper takes its starting point in a shared problem of concern, formulated in terms of what might be produced--or not--as effects of encounters between neuroscientific research and preschool practices. The aim is to show what emerged in collaborative encounters, in what is theorized and practised as Deleuzo-Guattarian-inspired cartography…

Beginning in May 2014, all education program graduates in New York State (NYS) must pass new and/or revised certification exams in order to become certified to teach in NYS. Early childhood teacher candidates enrolled in an approved NYS teacher preparation program are required to pass the Academic Literacy Skills Test (ALST), Content Specialty…

Standardised testing in early childhood education has a direct impact on how teachers teach. In 2015, Western Australian early childhood teachers were invited to complete a questionnaire to provide feedback on their perceptions of standardised testing in the context of the "Early Years Learning Framework for Australia" (EYLF)…

Today, children with hearing loss are often identified at birth, fitted with advanced hearing technology, and enrolled in family-centered early intervention. Most of these children have the opportunity to enter kindergarten or first grade with language competencies that rival their hearing peers. For these children to be successful communicators…

Research Findings: This study uses data from a comprehensive meta-analytic database of early childhood education (ECE) program evaluations published between 1960 and 2007 in the United States to examine the incremental effects of adding enhancement program components to ECE programs on children's cognitive abilities, pre-academic skills,…

In this article, a class of preschool children completed a week of lessons on worms in preparation for a visit by real worms. Prior to the real worm visit, the students learned about the bodies of worms. They also learned vocabulary words such as "segments." They documented thoughts and predictions about worms using drawings. Preparing…

Research shows that teaching sign language to all young children has a wide range of benefits, from enhancing social-emotional and preliteracy skills to supporting positive parent-child relationships. With "Sing & Sign for Young Children," early childhood professionals will have a fun, easy, and highly effective way to teach and…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine parent involvement practices of the Early Beginnings Head Start program and to determine the impact that parent involvement has on the early language and literacy development of preschool children. Although parent involvement practices are evident throughout Head Start programs, the specific…