The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is committed to the cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development of all children in Illinois. ISBE's Multilingual Department is focused on ensuring that students with diverse linguistic repertoires and those who may benefit from additional support have equitable access to academic instruction…

This exploratory study examined the changing role of music education and the availability of musical experiences for students attending Montessori schools in the Midwestern United States. On a survey instrument designed by the researcher, Montessori school directors (N = 36) from eight states shared descriptions of the current role of music at…

After first discussing the ideologies (standard and monolingual) implicit in language education in the United States, we argue for a necessary ideological shift in the way multiple languages and other forms of semiotic communication are understood, used, and supported in preschool for emergent bilinguals. We present examples from a preschool study…

Simply put, children with poor English skills are less likely to succeed in school and beyond. What's the best way to teach English to young children who aren't native English speakers? In this article, Lisa Barrow and Lisa Markman-Pithers examine the state of English learner education in the United States and review the evidence behind different…

The purpose of the CASEL State Scan is to support the development of high-quality standards for social and emotional learning (SEL), preschool through high school, across the country (Dusenbury, Zadrazil, Weiss-berg & Mart, 2011). This brief summarizes recent findings from CASEL's State Scan (Dusenbury, Newman, Weissberg, Goren, Domitrovich…

There are three practical ways to incorporate the principles of choice into early childhood classrooms: choice of language, choice of time, and choice within the curriculum. Early childhood educators need to reflect upon their instructional practices, document the types of decisions students make every day to foster their own learning, and examine…

The central message of this report is that teachers across America understand that social and emotional learning (SEL) is critical to student success in school, work, and life. Social and emotional learning involves the processes of developing competencies, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and…

The central message of this report is that teachers across America understand that social and emotional learning (SEL) is critical to student success in school, work, and life. Social and emotional learning involves the processes of developing competencies, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and…

Observation and documentation are integral to the early childhood classroom. Observation provides the information necessary for adults to build meaningful relationships with individual children. Documentation panels including photographs, teacher's notes, transcriptions, and artifacts, artfully and prominently displayed, serve as a visual archive…

Publicly funded prekindergartens are programs that most states use to promote school readiness, especially of 4-year-old children at risk for academic problems due to poverty. Despite large public expenditures, these programs have not been widely evaluated. We examined 240 randomly selected pre-kindergarten programs in six states with mature…

This article involved a series of investigations influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach to early education as well as ideas of Paulo Freire. Within a Reggio-influenced classroom, teacher professional development is seen as essential, whereas for Paulo Freire, both teacher and the student are learners. These 2 ideas were brought together in a…

Background: To explore whether social or emotional outcomes for high-risk early adolescent youth that attended an established preventive intervention called the Chicago Child-Parent Center Preschool Program (CPC) are moderated by individual, family and program variations. Purpose: Two questions are addressed: (1) Do the effects of CPC preschool…

This is a report on the research evaluation of an educational program for very young children initiated under the conviction that adult illiteracy might be prevented through intervention into the "cycle of poverty." The method of intervention was to provide a group of preschool children from public assistance families with a training…

THIS DOCUMENT EXAMINES 3 METHODS OF PRESCHOOL INTERVENTION, (1) HOME TUTORING SERVICES, (2) HOME TRAINING OF THE INFANT BY THE MOTHER, AND (3) CLASSROOM (NURSERY SCHOOL) INTERVENTION. THE RESULTS OF PROVIDING 1 YEAR OF TUTORING IN THE HOME OF DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN WAS ENCOURAGING. THE TUTORED AND NONTUTORED CHILDREN WERE COMPARABLE ON THE CATTELL…

THE GOAL OF THE BEREITER-ENGELMANN PRESCHOOL PROGRAM IS TO GET DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN READY FOR THE LEARNING TASKS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL BY TEACHING A TEACHING LANGUAGE. THIS IS DONE BY MEANS OF A HIGHLY ORGANIZED AND STRUCTURED DIRECT LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION DESIGNED TO TEACH THAT A SENTENCE IS A SEQUENCE OF MEANINGFUL PARTS. THE CHILDREN BEGIN WITH…