Examines issues pertaining to the development of a formal knowledge base to guide the thinking and practice of early childhood teachers. Discusses the authors' views on formal knowledge, practice and reflection, and the process of teacher education, and how these views are operationalized in the master's level program at Erikson Institute in…

FAME is an acronym for a four-course program titled Foundations, Adventures, Mastery, and Explorations. Reading Is FAME is a research-based, developmental reading program for adolescents reading below grade level. The program incorporates a series of four courses designed for students in grades 7-12. The FAME curriculum helps students by…

While most of the dialogue in education today is about accountability, standardized testing, and adequate yearly progress, the truth is that student success is deeply connected to the physical, emotional, and cognitive needs that they have at different ages. The best schools already know this and follow practices that are academically engaging and…

This book is an effort to introduce early childhood educators to Vygotsky's perspective, research on young children that has been stimulated by this perspective, and current educational practices emanating from it. The discussion is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of Vygotsky's life, the social conditions in which his…

Noting the separation of child-related policy makers from practitioners who know best what is good and appropriate for children, this anthology is designed as a guide for child-related policy development. The book's chapters are as follows: (1) "Early Childhood Policy" (Dolores A. Stegelin), providing an historical context and…

The Edison Project provides the design for a new kind of school, one that keeps pace with the social and technological changes children will encounter. The Edison school design, which is highly ambitious and encourages fundamental change in schools, proposes a rich and challenging curriculum for all students; a professional environment for…

This report provides an overview of initiatives of the Carnegie Corporation, including its Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Children. This task force was established to promote healthy development and education in children ages 3 to 10, including an emphasis on primary education strategies for improvement in disadvantaged communities. The…

A proposed position statement for a Southern Early Childhood Association (SECA) conference session focusing on children with special needs in the regular educational program is presented in the document. The proposal highlights the importance of inclusion of those children in a regular educational program and the need for caregivers to be able to…

These two newsletters focus on two issues concerning full inclusion for young children with disabilities: the debate over developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in inclusive preschool classrooms, and optimal classroom environments for inclusive early childhood settings. The first newsletter includes: a review of three articles addressing DAP;…

The longitudinal "Competent Children" project is intended to discover what impact children's family resources and early childhood education experiences have on the development of children's cognitive, social, communicative, and problem-solving competencies. This report details findings of the first stage of the project. The report…

The longitudinal "Competent Children" project is intended to discover what impact family resources and early childhood education experiences have on the development of children's cognitive, social, communicative, and problem-solving competencies. This booklet summarizes the main findings of the first stage of this project. The report…

This practicum study sought to increase child care staff's ability to transfer what they learned from training to the classroom and thereby to increase developmentally appropriate educational practice. Specifically, the project sought to increase positive interactions in the child care setting, increase the use of the outdoors as a learning…

A 5-year qualitative study of implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) analyzes the effects on four rural school districts of large-scale changes in state policy. This annual report of the project focuses on five key KERA "strands." First, KERA mandates that grades K-3 be replaced with an ungraded primary program…

This paper examines the preschool programs of the Reggio Emilia region of Northern Italy, describing the role of Loris Malaguzzi in the founding of the municipal preschools in the region after the Second World War and discussing the theoretical and philosophical basis of the child-centered, developmentally appropriate, art-centered Reggio Emilia…

This guide is designed for early childhood educators who are helping their staffs implement the Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood, a curriculum that is based on child development theory and is developmentally appropriate for preschool and kindergarten children. A carefully organized and rich environment serves as the focus of this…