Reviews the Child Development Associate (CDA) program for training child care professionals, and suggests changes for both its immediate and long-range future. (Author/CM)

This report explores efforts in California to generally support nontraditional students, and early care and education (ECE) nontraditional students in particular. It is recommended that institutions of higher education and local planners work together to assess the needs of nontraditional students in their ECE programs, the adequacy of existing…

The Early ON School Readiness Project is an emerging community-based model aimed at promoting the school readiness of 3- to 5-year-old children in a metropolitan area with a predominantly Latino (Mexican-American) population. Using an ecological approach, the multi-component program seeks to enhance school readiness opportunities for children at…

This project came about after discussions with the general manager of the Wellington Region Free Kindergarten Association and Jeanette Clarkin-Phillips (University of Waikato) about setting up a research partnership to support the teachers at Taitoko Kindergarten in Levin. The teachers were establishing an integrated community centre (the whanau…

Briefly describes the national Head Start Teaching Center model, the implementation of this model in the New England region, the outcome evaluation plan, and results from the first year of training. Finds that training significantly increased trainees' knowledge, skills, and expertise. (EV)

Twenty-six Head Start preschool classrooms participated in a yearlong intervention designed to link the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework with authentic assessment practices. Teachers in intervention and pilot classrooms implemented an assessment approach that incorporated the use of a curriculum-based assessment tool, the development of…

Learning to read becomes a difficult task for many children, particularly if they have not been reared in early childhood settings where literacy-based activities, interactions, or materials are prevalent. This study examined the impact that providing a college-level course in research-based instructional strategies for literacy development to…

This practicum was designed to heighten preschool teachers' awareness of gender bias in the classroom and provide information on gender equity issues and the pursuit of the study of mathematics by girls. Its goal was to enable 20 preschool teachers in 3 preschool programs to increase their knowledge of gender equity and to use this knowledge in…

Eight Head Start teachers were asked to be consultants in an assessment of the Head Start program and their role in it. The teachers met with a seminar leader from the Evaluation and Research Center at Boston University for seven consecutive 2-hour taped sessions. The topics for discussion included (1) the administrative structure of the agency in…

Intellectual functioning of a lower class kindergarten class exposed to the introduction of a Piaget-oriented curriculum was compared with intellectual functioning of one comparison lower class and one comparison middle class group of children taught in a traditional, activity-centered kindergarten program. Change scores between the beginning and…

With increased discussion of universal preschool in California, and the possibility of increased educational standards for early childhood educators, it has become critically important to assess the capacity of the state's higher education system to meet rising demands for teacher preparation. Thus far, the discussion is moving toward raising the…

The Preschool Teacher Survey was designed to gather information on the experience of preschool teachers in the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) and their perceptions of program effectiveness regarding student cognitive development, school readiness, parent involvement, and stability of classroom enrollment. The 12-item survey was distributed,…

Recounts the development and implementation of a new language and literature program into the kindergarten curriculum at the Lincoln-Eliot School in Newton, Massachusetts. (BB)

Examined differences in teacher qualifications, inservice training, program quality, and children's development in Head Start, public school, and private nonprofit early childhood classrooms. More formal education for public school teachers was offset by better inservice training for Head Start teachers, as programs achieved equal levels of…

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) collects data on a nationally representative sample of Head Start programs, classrooms, teachers, parents, and children examining the quality and effects of Head Start. Three waves of data collection have occurred: in 1997, 2000, and 2003. Information presented in this publication is…