tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1 2010-03-12T14:31:52Z Welcome to EarlyStories, a weblog by Richard Lee Colvin and Liz WIllen at the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, Teachers College, Columbia University. It contains commentary on coverage of issues (in newspapers, magazines, television, radio, blogs) related to early childhood education, broadly defined, inside and outside of schools, preschools, subway cars, living rooms and the dining table. Movable Type 3.33 tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.584 2010-03-12T13:55:28Z 2010-03-12T14:31:52Z

Consider the way Betsy Hammond of The Oregonian told the story of how one state is attempting to help young children with developmental delays. Hammond visited a center that operates seven preschool classes for students and described how teachers encourage a 3-year-old named Luca to use his words: They place items he loves both out of reach and out of sight until he asks for them. Here is an excerpt from the story: "Bubbles," he [Luca] requests of speech pathologist Nancy Turner, who retrieves a jar of bubble soap she had set at the end of his table. "Blow," he says, then reacts with delight as she does, sending tiny bubbles flying all around him. This description allowed readers to truly understand the strategies Oregon is developing in a state where the number of children with developmental delays has gone up. If problems aren't dealt with early, these children will have far more academic difficulty once they arrive in kindergarten. Oregon, Hammond notes, has lagged in identifying and helping the number of children under the age of three who get special education services. Her story did an excellent job of focusing one state's efforts to solve this, with the help of the Oregon Pediatric Society. The group, according to the story, trained doctors and nurses in how to screen for developmental delays and how to refer them to get the kind of help that is turning around Luca's life and getting him ready for school. EarlyStories finds it refreshing to see education journalism that goes beyond simply telling a story. This story also shows readers what kinds of solutions work....

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ The Oregonian told the story of how one state is attempting to help young children with developmental delays. Hammond visited a center that operates seven preschool classes for students and described how teachers encourage a 3-year-old named Luca to use his words: They place items he loves both out of reach and out of sight until he asks for them. Here is an excerpt from the story: "Bubbles," he [Luca] requests of speech pathologist Nancy Turner, who retrieves a jar of bubble soap she had set at the end of his table. "Blow," he says, then reacts with delight as she does, sending tiny bubbles flying all around him. This description allowed readers to truly understand the strategies Oregon is developing in a state where the number of children with developmental delays has gone up. If problems aren't dealt with early, these children will have far more academic difficulty once they arrive in kindergarten. Oregon, Hammond notes, has lagged in identifying and helping the number of children under the age of three who get special education services. Her story did an excellent job of focusing one state's efforts to solve this, with the help of the Oregon Pediatric Society. The group, according to the story, trained doctors and nurses in how to screen for developmental delays and how to refer them to get the kind of help that is turning around Luca's life and getting him ready for school. EarlyStories finds it refreshing to see education journalism that goes beyond simply telling a story. This story also shows readers what kinds of solutions work. ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.583 2010-03-11T18:54:27Z 2010-03-11T20:30:14Z

Teacher preparation is high on the list of top qualities for pre-kindergarten teachers, so it was interesting to see a story highlighting one state's efforts to improve its teaching force. Turns out Nevada developed licensing requirements for teaching students from birth through kindergarten in 2005. The spotlight on Nevada comes at a time when pre-k advocates are noting that any success in kindergarten can be enhanced by the education that comes beforehand. "Having educated, prepared teachers is the single most important factor of having pre-K quality,'' Marci Young, project director of Pre-K Now, is quoted saying in the Reno Gazette-Journal. The story followed a Pew Institute report that advocates raising the salaries of pre-k educators and providing both uniform training and measures to retain teachers. According to Education Week coverage of the report: "Teachers with bachelor's degrees and specialized training in early education are more effective than those educators who don't hold such credentials. In other words, it's not enough to be good with kids or to like working with them; teachers benefit from specific training,'' the Education Week story noted. The report also found that states vary widely when it comes to how much training is required of early childhood teachers -- some require only high school. What makes Nevada stand out? The state requires a bachelor's degree and early childhood education certificate or endorsement, and has a federally funded grant of $3 million to help train its pre-k teachers. It would be interesting to spend time in classrooms there and observe the trained teachers. What have they learned, and how are the children doing once they get to kindergarten? Do the children respond differently to a better trained teacher? What does the training consist of and how does it build a better teacher?...

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ story highlighting one state's efforts to improve its teaching force. Turns out Nevada developed licensing requirements for teaching students from birth through kindergarten in 2005. The spotlight on Nevada comes at a time when pre-k advocates are noting that any success in kindergarten can be enhanced by the education that comes beforehand. "Having educated, prepared teachers is the single most important factor of having pre-K quality,'' Marci Young, project director of Pre-K Now, is quoted saying in the Reno Gazette-Journal. The story followed a Pew Institute report that advocates raising the salaries of pre-k educators and providing both uniform training and measures to retain teachers. According to Education Week coverage of the report: "Teachers with bachelor's degrees and specialized training in early education are more effective than those educators who don't hold such credentials. In other words, it's not enough to be good with kids or to like working with them; teachers benefit from specific training,'' the Education Week story noted. The report also found that states vary widely when it comes to how much training is required of early childhood teachers -- some require only high school. What makes Nevada stand out? The state requires a bachelor's degree and early childhood education certificate or endorsement, and has a federally funded grant of $3 million to help train its pre-k teachers. It would be interesting to spend time in classrooms there and observe the trained teachers. What have they learned, and how are the children doing once they get to kindergarten? Do the children respond differently to a better trained teacher? What does the training consist of and how does it build a better teacher? ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.582 2010-03-05T18:57:03Z 2010-03-05T19:40:47Z

How often have you heard children answer "recess,'' when asked the following question: What is the best part of your day at school? Who can blame them? EarlyStories wouldn't mind running and jumping around outdoors in the middle of the day if given the opportunity. What's interesting about the concept of recess, however, is the new life and attention it is getting from the media and from bloggers, including my excellent colleagues over at Early Ed Watch and Birth to Thrive. The discussion started anew last month after the New York Times ran a piece about how much sense it might make to reschedule recess for before, instead of after lunch. Writer Tara Parker-Pope last year in a column looked at new research findings that children who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none. This week, Paul Nyhan noted on his blog that some 30 percent of students in a study published in the journal Pediatrics have little or no recess at all. At a press conference this week at Scholastic headquarters, Beth Prince, a kindergarten teacher in Washington, D.C., said that many of her students show up at kindergarten unable to focus in class because they've spent too much time in front of television, computer and video game screens. Prince noted that while she can't control the technology they are exposed to at home, her preferred solution is more outdoor time. "These kids need to run around,'' she said....

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ EarlyStories wouldn't mind running and jumping around outdoors in the middle of the day if given the opportunity. What's interesting about the concept of recess, however, is the new life and attention it is getting from the media and from bloggers, including my excellent colleagues over at Early Ed Watch and Birth to Thrive. The discussion started anew last month after the New York Times ran a piece about how much sense it might make to reschedule recess for before, instead of after lunch. Writer Tara Parker-Pope last year in a column looked at new research findings that children who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none. This week, Paul Nyhan noted on his blog that some 30 percent of students in a study published in the journal Pediatrics have little or no recess at all. At a press conference this week at Scholastic headquarters, Beth Prince, a kindergarten teacher in Washington, D.C., said that many of her students show up at kindergarten unable to focus in class because they've spent too much time in front of television, computer and video game screens. Prince noted that while she can't control the technology they are exposed to at home, her preferred solution is more outdoor time. "These kids need to run around,'' she said. ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.581 2010-03-04T14:03:42Z 2010-03-04T14:52:39Z

At the end of a lengthy Associated Press story on a battle for pre-kindergarten funding in Virginia, a quote stood out that begs for an answer and a response. Republican Kirk Cox of Colonial Heights, who is a member of the legislative panel working to finalize the state's budget, said that Virgina has more than doubled funding for its pre-K program in recent years. “It’s not a core function of education,” Cox is quoted as saying. “Every dollar you put into pre-K is a dollar you take out of the classroom.” The quote came at the end of a story similar to one being written by statehouse reporters all over the U.S., as states are under pressure in a weakened economy to slash budgets and make painful choices. The story detailed how teachers and advocates for a program that puts low-income children in Virginia testified before lawmakers and urged them not to cut the Virgina Preschool Initiative. They described how the program helps get children ready for kindergarten and helps level the playing field with those from more advantaged homes. There were plenty of clear arguments quoted about the value and benefits of of pre-kindergarten, an issue the state continues to debate even as the new Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell has urged that pre-k programs not be cut. So what about the "core function,'' quote? It's important to hear from both sides in any debate about education spending, but EarlyStories still would like an explanation of what is a core function. How exactly would funding pre-k take other dollars out of the classroom? What specifically would have to be cut? Those making arguments on the other side have to be ready to answer and defend the role of pre-k as "a core function,'' at a time when every dollar...

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ Associated Press story on a battle for pre-kindergarten funding in Virginia, a quote stood out that begs for an answer and a response. Republican Kirk Cox of Colonial Heights, who is a member of the legislative panel working to finalize the state's budget, said that Virgina has more than doubled funding for its pre-K program in recent years. “It’s not a core function of education,” Cox is quoted as saying. “Every dollar you put into pre-K is a dollar you take out of the classroom.” The quote came at the end of a story similar to one being written by statehouse reporters all over the U.S., as states are under pressure in a weakened economy to slash budgets and make painful choices. The story detailed how teachers and advocates for a program that puts low-income children in Virginia testified before lawmakers and urged them not to cut the Virgina Preschool Initiative. They described how the program helps get children ready for kindergarten and helps level the playing field with those from more advantaged homes. There were plenty of clear arguments quoted about the value and benefits of of pre-kindergarten, an issue the state continues to debate even as the new Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell has urged that pre-k programs not be cut. So what about the "core function,'' quote? It's important to hear from both sides in any debate about education spending, but EarlyStories still would like an explanation of what is a core function. How exactly would funding pre-k take other dollars out of the classroom? What specifically would have to be cut? Those making arguments on the other side have to be ready to answer and defend the role of pre-k as "a core function,'' at a time when every dollar spent on every program is coming into question. Rhetoric isn't helpful. Facts and explanations are. ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.580 2010-03-03T19:29:40Z 2010-03-03T20:52:25Z

Some fascinating findings came out of a comprehensive survey of U.S. teachers, released this morning at Scholastic headquarters in lower Manhattan. The results of a questionnaire on American education sent to some 40,000 teachers found many teachers have doubts about the ability of their students to succeed after high school. Nine out of 10 teachers said that not all of their students could leave high school prepared to succeed in college. The teachers had lots of ideas and recommendations about how to better prepare them, and the 100-page report that came out of a collaboration between Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is filled with strategies and ideas for moving forward. The report should be required reading for all education journalists, but EarlyStories was particularly interested in what the findings mean for the way the U.S. does -- or does not -- educate children well before they even set foot in a classroom. Beth Prince, a kindergarten teacher at Hearst Elementary School in Washington, D.C. was on hand to share some of her thoughts on the topic. "If you get it right in the early years, from pre-kindergarten to third grade, and look at early learning styles, you can get that spark and love for learning going early on,'' said Prince, who has worked with young children in private child care and public school settings for over 19 years. Prince said she always notices the difference when children arrive in kindergarten without having attended a pre-school, nursery school or a Head Start program. "They don't have that letter and number recognition, or that sense of having been read to,'' she said, adding that children who start kindergarten without any formal sitting have particular difficulty sitting still. Francie Alexander, Scholastic's chief academic officer and a former kindergarten teacher,...

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ comprehensive survey of U.S. teachers, released this morning at Scholastic headquarters in lower Manhattan. The results of a questionnaire on American education sent to some 40,000 teachers found many teachers have doubts about the ability of their students to succeed after high school. Nine out of 10 teachers said that not all of their students could leave high school prepared to succeed in college. The teachers had lots of ideas and recommendations about how to better prepare them, and the 100-page report that came out of a collaboration between Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is filled with strategies and ideas for moving forward. The report should be required reading for all education journalists, but EarlyStories was particularly interested in what the findings mean for the way the U.S. does -- or does not -- educate children well before they even set foot in a classroom. Beth Prince, a kindergarten teacher at Hearst Elementary School in Washington, D.C. was on hand to share some of her thoughts on the topic. "If you get it right in the early years, from pre-kindergarten to third grade, and look at early learning styles, you can get that spark and love for learning going early on,'' said Prince, who has worked with young children in private child care and public school settings for over 19 years. Prince said she always notices the difference when children arrive in kindergarten without having attended a pre-school, nursery school or a Head Start program. "They don't have that letter and number recognition, or that sense of having been read to,'' she said, adding that children who start kindergarten without any formal sitting have particular difficulty sitting still. Francie Alexander, Scholastic's chief academic officer and a former kindergarten teacher, noted that the findings of teachers confirm the importance of establishing trust with parents early on. "It really starts in kindergarten,'' she said. "Parents really want to know how my child is doing." One finding that supported that view came from teachers, who said family support is a critical part of keeping students engaged in school. Teachers cited a lack of encouragement from family and friends as a major obstacle to student success. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, was on hand to hear the results of the survey and called it "one of the most reveting conversations I've experienced. Teachers will tell you their real world experiences if you listen." While the survey was anonymous, excerpts of their remarks appear throughout the report from both elementary, middle and high school teachers that provide insight into their thinking on everything from student achievement to standards, performance pay and retention. Harris Interactive conducted the survey, which also provides an in-depth look at state-by-state data that show how teachers in different states view the issues. Vicki L. Phillips, the director of education, College Ready at the Gates Foundation, said the findings show that teachers support a stronger curriculum that relates to the establishment of clear academic standards and reliable data on student learning. "The survey tells us that what's good for students and student achievement is good for teachers too -- in fact, it's what they want,'' she said. One other interesting note about what teachers think is important to keeping good teachers in the classroom: good leaders. More teachers say it is absolutely essential to have supportive leadership (68%), time to collaborate (54%), and quality curriculum (49%) than it is to have higher salaries. ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.579 2010-03-02T16:22:11Z 2010-03-02T16:58:09Z

Early Ed Watch is taking on a critical and vastly undercovered issue in a series of blog posts on dual language learning in early childhood. The blog hopes to address ways that both policymakers and educators can improve dual language education in the U.S. "The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2030 Latino children will constitute 25 percent of the total student population." a recent post notes. "As of 2007-2008, approximately 26 percent of children enrolled in Head Start Pre-K programs speak Spanish and are classified as dual language learners. And, beyond the booming Latino population in the United States, other immigrant populations are growing too, posing a challenge to teachers in the early grades who provide these students with their first exposure to school and, sometimes, their first exposure to the English language as well." Think of all the challenges these statistics recognize. Early childhood issues get little coverage in the media, and even less space is devoted to how immigrant children will be prepared in U.S. schools as their numbers continue to grow. The list of questions posed in Early Ed Watch are ones journalists across the U.S. should be asking of educators and policy makers. The blog raises lots of good ones....

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ Early Ed Watch is taking on a critical and vastly undercovered issue in a series of blog posts on dual language learning in early childhood. The blog hopes to address ways that both policymakers and educators can improve dual language education in the U.S. "The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2030 Latino children will constitute 25 percent of the total student population." a recent post notes. "As of 2007-2008, approximately 26 percent of children enrolled in Head Start Pre-K programs speak Spanish and are classified as dual language learners. And, beyond the booming Latino population in the United States, other immigrant populations are growing too, posing a challenge to teachers in the early grades who provide these students with their first exposure to school and, sometimes, their first exposure to the English language as well." Think of all the challenges these statistics recognize. Early childhood issues get little coverage in the media, and even less space is devoted to how immigrant children will be prepared in U.S. schools as their numbers continue to grow. The list of questions posed in Early Ed Watch are ones journalists across the U.S. should be asking of educators and policy makers. The blog raises lots of good ones.]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.578 2010-03-01T13:24:43Z 2010-03-01T14:43:53Z

Some troubling research emerged last week from the think tank Demos in England, including a frightening finding: More than one in 10 children begin primary school unable to learn and unwilling to build relationships with their peers. The research has enormous implications for their ability to function in school in years to come and shines a spotlight on how crucial the early years are. The study finds a "disengaged generation waiting in the wings" and recommends far more early intervention even before children enter school. Proper pre-school support, the report says, can help younger children concentrate, connect with others and behave better. The children of parents who are poorly educated and have low income levels gave a greater chance of lagging cognitive development, the report found. Some of the data should not come as a surprise to U.S. researchers who have found similar connections between poverty and early school success. According to the Demos report, the difference between in the success of children from the poorest and the richest families is stark, with a fifth of those identified as "starting school without the behavioral skills" coming from the poorest section of society, and only 4% coming from the richest. The report criticizes the government for not spending enough on pre-school children, according to an article in The Guardian "We have seen from programmes in the US how effectively these schemes work, and there's plenty of evidence now that the first few years are influential in forming habits later on," Anne Longfield, chief executive of children's charity 4Children, told The Guardian....

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ Demos in England, including a frightening finding: More than one in 10 children begin primary school unable to learn and unwilling to build relationships with their peers. The research has enormous implications for their ability to function in school in years to come and shines a spotlight on how crucial the early years are. The study finds a "disengaged generation waiting in the wings" and recommends far more early intervention even before children enter school. Proper pre-school support, the report says, can help younger children concentrate, connect with others and behave better. The children of parents who are poorly educated and have low income levels gave a greater chance of lagging cognitive development, the report found. Some of the data should not come as a surprise to U.S. researchers who have found similar connections between poverty and early school success. According to the Demos report, the difference between in the success of children from the poorest and the richest families is stark, with a fifth of those identified as "starting school without the behavioral skills" coming from the poorest section of society, and only 4% coming from the richest. The report criticizes the government for not spending enough on pre-school children, according to an article in The Guardian "We have seen from programmes in the US how effectively these schemes work, and there's plenty of evidence now that the first few years are influential in forming habits later on," Anne Longfield, chief executive of children's charity 4Children, told The Guardian.]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.577 2010-02-26T16:22:43Z 2010-03-01T18:43:30Z

After years of frenzy, it appears that the insane world of New York City private kindergarten admissions is finally ebbing, just a bit. A baby boom, some good years on Wall Street (before the bad years) and a new vibe of hipness around raising kids in the city contributed to years of unlimited demand for schools that could charge close to $35,000 annually for kindergarten, according to Bloomberg News. The demand started in pre-school, as documented by the hilarious "Nursery University,'' documentary that portrayed the insanity as -- well, insanity. New Yorkers are hardly shunning private schools entirely and flooding into the public system, the largest in the U.S. But with the economy tanking and the city's 9.7 percent unemployment rate, the Bloomberg story notes, fewer children are taking entrance exams for private school and applications in some private schools declined. Does this mean just anybody can get into private kindergarten in New York City? Hardly. The exclusive Trevor Day school still interviewed about 400 applicants for only about 30 to 35 open seats, the story notes. The Bloomberg story did a good job of quantify the issue in the city, but EarlyStories always finds something missing when reading -- and writing -- about this issue. And that question is as follows: What can these private schools do so much better to prepare and education children? They do offer smaller class sizes and quite often better facilities, including gyms and swimming pools and science labs. But the number one factor that contributes to improving a child's education is known to be the quality of the teacher. What evidence is there that private school teachers are better qualified, trained or do a better job? EarlyStories would really like an answer....

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ private kindergarten admissions is finally ebbing, just a bit. A baby boom, some good years on Wall Street (before the bad years) and a new vibe of hipness around raising kids in the city contributed to years of unlimited demand for schools that could charge close to $35,000 annually for kindergarten, according to Bloomberg News. The demand started in pre-school, as documented by the hilarious "Nursery University,'' documentary that portrayed the insanity as -- well, insanity. New Yorkers are hardly shunning private schools entirely and flooding into the public system, the largest in the U.S. But with the economy tanking and the city's 9.7 percent unemployment rate, the Bloomberg story notes, fewer children are taking entrance exams for private school and applications in some private schools declined. Does this mean just anybody can get into private kindergarten in New York City? Hardly. The exclusive Trevor Day school still interviewed about 400 applicants for only about 30 to 35 open seats, the story notes. The Bloomberg story did a good job of quantify the issue in the city, but EarlyStories always finds something missing when reading -- and writing -- about this issue. And that question is as follows: What can these private schools do so much better to prepare and education children? They do offer smaller class sizes and quite often better facilities, including gyms and swimming pools and science labs. But the number one factor that contributes to improving a child's education is known to be the quality of the teacher. What evidence is there that private school teachers are better qualified, trained or do a better job? EarlyStories would really like an answer. ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.576 2010-02-24T12:23:48Z 2010-02-24T13:17:34Z

This news may not be shocking to New Yorkers or those who reside in other urban centers where the cost of attending private kindergarten can be upwards of $30,000 a year. But a Christian Science Monitor story on the price in China may draw some gasps. The Monitor reports that kindergarten prices in China have now eclipsed the cost of college, and the supply, of course, does not meet the demand as the country's economic power grows. Beijing education authorities have already increased class sizes to 40 and added classrooms for another 12,000 places, but even a planned expansion of 12,000 seats won't be sufficient. "It is almost impossible, according to parents and teachers, to find a reputable kindergarten in Beijing that charges less than 1,000 renminbi ($150) a month, which is a quarter of an average salary in the capital," the paper reports. "Some charge five times that, putting intense strain on the budgets of even better-off young parents already burdened by heavy mortgages." While a baby boom is fueling the demand, the story also cited a newfound sense of competition (familiar to New Yorkers of means) about how early childhood education shapes a child's future and has become equally important to some Chinese -- despite daunting costs for kindergarten. "We don't want to spend that much, but if we have no choice, we will have to," one parent told The Monitor, who added that he did not want his son to be behind once he entered elementary school. It would be fascinating to know more about what Chinese programs are considered high quality, what expectations exist for the curriculum and what kind of training kindergarten teachers get. Stories about competition for spots in both public and private programs in the U.S. rarely detail what actually happens inside...

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ $30,000 a year. But a Christian Science Monitor story on the price in China may draw some gasps. The Monitor reports that kindergarten prices in China have now eclipsed the cost of college, and the supply, of course, does not meet the demand as the country's economic power grows. Beijing education authorities have already increased class sizes to 40 and added classrooms for another 12,000 places, but even a planned expansion of 12,000 seats won't be sufficient. "It is almost impossible, according to parents and teachers, to find a reputable kindergarten in Beijing that charges less than 1,000 renminbi ($150) a month, which is a quarter of an average salary in the capital," the paper reports. "Some charge five times that, putting intense strain on the budgets of even better-off young parents already burdened by heavy mortgages." While a baby boom is fueling the demand, the story also cited a newfound sense of competition (familiar to New Yorkers of means) about how early childhood education shapes a child's future and has become equally important to some Chinese -- despite daunting costs for kindergarten. "We don't want to spend that much, but if we have no choice, we will have to," one parent told The Monitor, who added that he did not want his son to be behind once he entered elementary school. It would be fascinating to know more about what Chinese programs are considered high quality, what expectations exist for the curriculum and what kind of training kindergarten teachers get. Stories about competition for spots in both public and private programs in the U.S. rarely detail what actually happens inside the classroom. ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.575 2010-02-22T15:19:15Z 2010-03-01T18:44:03Z

Can how well a baby crawl yield information about how well they learn once they reach kindergarten? A recent story from the BBC about new research on the topic in England found that babies who did not reach expected milestones in areas like crawling and holding objects were more likely to have learning and behavior problems once they started school. The research from London University's Institute of Education looked at 15,000 children in the United Kingdom and concluded that delays in the first year of their lives had a significant impact on their behavior and cognitive development. The researchers also found a gap in ability "between children growing up in persistent poverty and those in families that had never received means-tested benefits." The researchers noted that similar conclusions had been reached in previous research, but said their new work showed for the first time that development delays -- along with the "psychological characteristics of the mother and the quality of her relationship with the child,'' are tied into both cognitive and behavioral development, even in poor families. Some of the research is included in a new book by The Policy Press, Children of the 21st century, available here:...

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ BBC about new research on the topic in England found that babies who did not reach expected milestones in areas like crawling and holding objects were more likely to have learning and behavior problems once they started school. The research from London University's Institute of Education looked at 15,000 children in the United Kingdom and concluded that delays in the first year of their lives had a significant impact on their behavior and cognitive development. The researchers also found a gap in ability "between children growing up in persistent poverty and those in families that had never received means-tested benefits." The researchers noted that similar conclusions had been reached in previous research, but said their new work showed for the first time that development delays -- along with the "psychological characteristics of the mother and the quality of her relationship with the child,'' are tied into both cognitive and behavioral development, even in poor families. Some of the research is included in a new book by The Policy Press, Children of the 21st century, available here: ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.574 2010-02-12T13:32:18Z 2010-03-01T18:44:24Z

In an unusually blunt answer, the founder of Harlem Children's Zone recently described how he defines success at the anti-poverty program he started in Harlem in 2004. "The only benchmark of success is college graduation,'' Geoffrey Canada told Helen Zelon of City Limits magazine, where Zelon's excellent series appears this month. "That's the only one: How many kids you got in college, how many kids you got out. Everything else is interim." Canada's remarks were particularly instructive because the "cradle to college,'' program he began in Harlem in 2004 has been cited as a model for President Barack Obama's "Promise Neighborhoods.'' Obama wants to see 20 poverty reduction campaigns in areas around the country that, like the Harlem Children's Zone, offer services to new parents even before the child sets foot in a school. The best programs support children all the way to college. There's a great deal of interest in how Canada's program works, and the best source for truly understanding both the ideas behind Harlem Children's Zone and the difficulty of succeeding are described in "Whatever it Takes," by Paul Tough, a former New York Times writer. Journalists throughout the U.S. should be learning more about Canada's programs as the communities they cover contemplate similar models, and Zelon's pieces are another great jumping off point. Hope or hype? Zelon asks. Zelon perfectly captured the lockstep approach to Canada's pro-college philosophy in an interview with Patrice Ward, who teaches ninth-grade English language arts, African-American film, and college prep. "Everyone is here for the same greater purpose,'' Ward said. "Everyone exudes it and will support you in it. So the students, from every person they encounter, are going to get the same message: That they can succeed, that they can go to college, and here's what you need to...

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ Harlem Children's Zone recently described how he defines success at the anti-poverty program he started in Harlem in 2004. "The only benchmark of success is college graduation,'' Geoffrey Canada told Helen Zelon of City Limits magazine, where Zelon's excellent series appears this month. "That's the only one: How many kids you got in college, how many kids you got out. Everything else is interim." Canada's remarks were particularly instructive because the "cradle to college,'' program he began in Harlem in 2004 has been cited as a model for President Barack Obama's "Promise Neighborhoods.'' Obama wants to see 20 poverty reduction campaigns in areas around the country that, like the Harlem Children's Zone, offer services to new parents even before the child sets foot in a school. The best programs support children all the way to college. There's a great deal of interest in how Canada's program works, and the best source for truly understanding both the ideas behind Harlem Children's Zone and the difficulty of succeeding are described in "Whatever it Takes," by Paul Tough, a former New York Times writer. Journalists throughout the U.S. should be learning more about Canada's programs as the communities they cover contemplate similar models, and Zelon's pieces are another great jumping off point. Hope or hype? Zelon asks. Zelon perfectly captured the lockstep approach to Canada's pro-college philosophy in an interview with Patrice Ward, who teaches ninth-grade English language arts, African-American film, and college prep. "Everyone is here for the same greater purpose,'' Ward said. "Everyone exudes it and will support you in it. So the students, from every person they encounter, are going to get the same message: That they can succeed, that they can go to college, and here's what you need to do. No, you're not going to fall apart—no, we're not going to let you have a bad day—we want you to succeed, we're going to push you in that direction." ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.573 2010-02-10T22:21:34Z 2010-02-10T23:47:14Z

It was interesting to hear Gov. Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania kick off The Campaign for Educational Equity,'' symposium at Teachers College, Columbia University this week. Rendell didn't actually attend the conference, but his words -- captured on a live video feed -- conveyed a passion for boosting education and a commitment to education, including pre-kindergarten, that not everyone in the state shares. Rendell likes to tout how Pennsylvania has morphed from one of the nine states in the country that failed to fund pre-kindergarten to a national leader in early childhood investment, including full day kindergarten programs. He's also clear that this comes a tough time for the state economically. This week, Rendell proposed a $29 billion spending plan for the state that would devote more money to schools, prisons and health care for the poor but would also increase the sales tax on some goods and services. His budget relies on nearly $2.8 billion in federal stimulus money, some of which has yet to be approved by Congress. It will be interesting to see how much continued support there will be for his education agenda while the state's fiscal difficulties are so real. Rendell has been praised for his leadership on pre-kindergarten; but can the funding continue? Not if you ask Steve Miskin, spokesman for Pennsylvania House Minority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson), who told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Rendell's "only solution [for improving education] is money, money, money. . . . There comes a time when Pennsylvanians have to say, enough is enough."...

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ Gov. Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania kick off The Campaign for Educational Equity,'' symposium at Teachers College, Columbia University this week. Rendell didn't actually attend the conference, but his words -- captured on a live video feed -- conveyed a passion for boosting education and a commitment to education, including pre-kindergarten, that not everyone in the state shares. Rendell likes to tout how Pennsylvania has morphed from one of the nine states in the country that failed to fund pre-kindergarten to a national leader in early childhood investment, including full day kindergarten programs. He's also clear that this comes a tough time for the state economically. This week, Rendell proposed a $29 billion spending plan for the state that would devote more money to schools, prisons and health care for the poor but would also increase the sales tax on some goods and services. His budget relies on nearly $2.8 billion in federal stimulus money, some of which has yet to be approved by Congress. It will be interesting to see how much continued support there will be for his education agenda while the state's fiscal difficulties are so real. Rendell has been praised for his leadership on pre-kindergarten; but can the funding continue? Not if you ask Steve Miskin, spokesman for Pennsylvania House Minority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson), who told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Rendell's "only solution [for improving education] is money, money, money. . . . There comes a time when Pennsylvanians have to say, enough is enough."]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.572 2010-02-09T22:42:29Z 2010-02-09T23:26:54Z

Tuesday's New York Daily News carried one of the saddest pieces EarlyStories has ever seen about parental expectations gone wrong. In a story that is likely far more complicated than meets the eye, a U.S. soldier was arrested for waterboarding his 4-year-old daughter because she wouldn't say her ABC's. Army Sgt. Joshua Taylor admitted that he punished his daughter by holding her down on the kitchen counter of their home and pushing her head backward into a full sink of water, according to the story. This is probably not a tale about societal and/or parental expectations for pre-schoolers. It's may be more illustrative of the problems an Iraq war veteran is having adjusting to civilian life. 'He would lay her down on her back and push her head into the water right up to her eyeline. He was open about it," Todd Stancil, the police chief in Yelm, Washington, is quoted as saying in the story. "He did it all the time. To him, that was an acceptable form of punishment - because she wasn't able to say the alphabet." Tabor will be arraigned next month, and is out on bail and restricted to his base. It's difficult to fathom what the father expected of the child and if she had real learning issues that might be identified. Again, this is a story that is far sadder -- and more complicated -- than a few sensational paragraphs about learning the ABC's might convey....

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ New York Daily News carried one of the saddest pieces EarlyStories has ever seen about parental expectations gone wrong. In a story that is likely far more complicated than meets the eye, a U.S. soldier was arrested for waterboarding his 4-year-old daughter because she wouldn't say her ABC's. Army Sgt. Joshua Taylor admitted that he punished his daughter by holding her down on the kitchen counter of their home and pushing her head backward into a full sink of water, according to the story. This is probably not a tale about societal and/or parental expectations for pre-schoolers. It's may be more illustrative of the problems an Iraq war veteran is having adjusting to civilian life. 'He would lay her down on her back and push her head into the water right up to her eyeline. He was open about it," Todd Stancil, the police chief in Yelm, Washington, is quoted as saying in the story. "He did it all the time. To him, that was an acceptable form of punishment - because she wasn't able to say the alphabet." Tabor will be arraigned next month, and is out on bail and restricted to his base. It's difficult to fathom what the father expected of the child and if she had real learning issues that might be identified. Again, this is a story that is far sadder -- and more complicated -- than a few sensational paragraphs about learning the ABC's might convey. ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.571 2010-02-08T23:08:55Z 2010-03-01T18:45:03Z

EarlyStories was both horrified and heartened by an expose in the Journal Sentinel of Milwaukee that looked at ways thousands of children from low-income families in Wisconsin are being kept out of kindergarten. The horrifying part were the facts laid out in the story, which found that the $350 million Wisconsin Shares program lets parents keep their 4-, 5- and even some 6-year-olds in day care centers all day - at taxpayer expense - rather than enroll them in accredited kindergarten programs. "In some cases, unscrupulous parents are participating in an easy scam,'' the story noted. "They sign up their children with friends or relatives who provide child care. The state then pays the providers roughly $200 a week, and providers give parents a kickback." The story found that the state's neediest children "often wind up in loosely regulated environments where little learning takes place. Day care providers aren't required to meet the standards of teachers, nor are they accountable for what children learn." Naturally, by the time they do start school, they are lagging way behind. The heartening part? That newspapers are still able to produce the kind of journalism that brings situations like this to public attention....

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ EarlyStories was both horrified and heartened by an expose in the Journal Sentinel of Milwaukee that looked at ways thousands of children from low-income families in Wisconsin are being kept out of kindergarten. The horrifying part were the facts laid out in the story, which found that the $350 million Wisconsin Shares program lets parents keep their 4-, 5- and even some 6-year-olds in day care centers all day - at taxpayer expense - rather than enroll them in accredited kindergarten programs. "In some cases, unscrupulous parents are participating in an easy scam,'' the story noted. "They sign up their children with friends or relatives who provide child care. The state then pays the providers roughly $200 a week, and providers give parents a kickback." The story found that the state's neediest children "often wind up in loosely regulated environments where little learning takes place. Day care providers aren't required to meet the standards of teachers, nor are they accountable for what children learn." Naturally, by the time they do start school, they are lagging way behind. The heartening part? That newspapers are still able to produce the kind of journalism that brings situations like this to public attention. ]]> tag:www.earlyedcoverage.org,2010://1.570 2010-02-05T15:36:24Z 2010-02-05T16:18:52Z

If high quality pre-school teachers were available to assess young children's difficulty with letters early on, problems that grow out of proportion later on might be avoided, former New York City Deputy Chancellor Carmen Farina noted this week at Teachers College, Columbia University. The book entitled "Why cant u teach me 2 read,'' by Berth Fertig, a radio journalist at WNYC, prompted moderator Farina and principals in TC's Cahn Fellows program to engage in a spirited roundtable discussion about what types of interventions work best. The book is an excellent reminder of how students can get through school and still end up lost and unable to navigate signs on city subways and buses, an anecdote Fertig described in harrowing detail. Fertig tells a true story of three students with learning disabilities who fought for the right to learn to read and legally challenged the New York City schools for failing to teach them. The city was ultimately compelled to pay for their private tutoring. If these students, who had chaotic early childhood educations, had been enrolled in quality programs early on with teachers who noticed their difficulty, would they have ended up in such dire and dramatic circumstances?...

Liz Willen http://hechinger.tc.columbia.edu/ New York City Deputy Chancellor Carmen Farina noted this week at Teachers College, Columbia University. The book entitled "Why cant u teach me 2 read,'' by Berth Fertig, a radio journalist at WNYC, prompted moderator Farina and principals in TC's Cahn Fellows program to engage in a spirited roundtable discussion about what types of interventions work best. The book is an excellent reminder of how students can get through school and still end up lost and unable to navigate signs on city subways and buses, an anecdote Fertig described in harrowing detail. Fertig tells a true story of three students with learning disabilities who fought for the right to learn to read and legally challenged the New York City schools for failing to teach them. The city was ultimately compelled to pay for their private tutoring. If these students, who had chaotic early childhood educations, had been enrolled in quality programs early on with teachers who noticed their difficulty, would they have ended up in such dire and dramatic circumstances? ]]>