Web Resources Continued
When I
originally began this journey, I had chosen the organization National
Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators; but, as I explored the
website more thoroughly, I discovered that I could only access the titles of
articles without actually purchasing a membership. So, for the purposes of the
assignment, I changed websites and chose National Institute for Early Education
Research.
The link
that I decided to follow that led to outside sources was the News and Events
tab. This link allows the visitor to access articles that have been published
by NIEER researchers in a variety of publications as well as articles that have
been printed in newspapers that pertain to early childhood education. (I later
discovered that these could also be accessed from another link on the website.)
This tab also lists upcoming events such as webinars, seminars and conferences
pertaining to early childhood education.
The link
that I chose to thoroughly explore was the Publications tab. NIEER presents the
research in a variety of formats. Research is available as reports, policy
briefs, online videos, and newspaper articles. One of the publications
available on this tab is called the Yearbook, this publication has been
available since 2005 and takes a look at the information available on a state
by state basis. The report is broken down into three sections. The first
section has a summary of data and trends regarding state-funded preschool. The
second section outlines details of individual states in regards to preschool access, and quality as well as the
resources available to fund the preschools. The third section contains all
related appendices (Barnett, 2013).
The Publications tab also includes links to articles that
have been published by NIEER researchers. These articles have appeared in a
variety of journals including Young Children, Science, and Child Development.
The online newsletters can be found here as well. The February 2015 newsletter
included articles referencing topics such as Obama’s budget proposal, the
impact of early learning on special education, Pre - K trends in New York, hope
for early childhood education in fiscal year 2016, the importance of learning
healthy habits in preschool, and a list of upcoming events. The Publications
tab also allows visitors to access videos and titles of books relating early
childhood education research.
I chose look into an article that was included in the
January newsletter about the lack of preparation for dual language learners in
early childhood education. An article published in the Latin Post points to an
apparent lack of commitment by states, and the nation as a whole, to address
the needs of early childhood dual language learners. For instance, only 13
elementary schools offer dual language programs in Washington D.C., but the
demand far exceeds the capacity of these schools. One of the schools had 1,100
applicants for only 20 spots. This is a good example of lack of accessibility
for dual language learners to good programs.
An
article in the newsletter that dealt with equity and excellence in early
childhood education came out of Kentucky. The title of this article was “Half
of Kentucky’s Incoming Kindergarteners Were Not Ready to Learn in 2014”. When I
read the article it pointed out that the largest inequities were in areas where
the children lived in poverty. “At Minors Lane Elementary, only 14 percent
were ready, compared to 89 percent at Stopher Elementary and 90 percent at
Greathouse/Shryock Elementary. At Minors Lane, 96 percent of students qualify
for free and reduced-price lunch and 37 percent have limited English
proficiency.” Note that Minors Lane Elementary had the lowest percentage of
children ready to learn upon entering kindergarten but the largest percentage
of children who qualify for free and reduced lunch – meaning they are from low
income families.
Many
of the articles that we have read regarding quality in early childhood
education point out that teacher’s pay and benefits play a role in the quality
of a program. An article from one of the newsletters was about pay for early
childhood educators in Canada; apparently, the government is calling for a $1
an hour raise this year and another $1 an hour next year. What I really found
interesting was that the raise was only going to affect teachers who earned
less than $26.27 an hour. The amount that teachers earn in Canada seems to be
much higher than what the teachers in the US make; to me, this indicates more of
a commitment to the quality of early childhood education.
National Institute for Early
Education Research http://nieer.org/ (Newsletter: http://nieer.org/resources/newsletter/index.php )
Akoukou Thompson, Nicole. "Many Key US States Lack Early
Development Plans for Dual Language Learners." Latin
Post 25 Jan. 2015. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
Konz, Antoinette. "Half of Kentucky's Incoming
Kindergarteners Were Not Ready to Learn in 2014." 21 Jan. 2-15. Web. 15
Feb. 2015.
Anita,
ReplyDeleteI liked the information provided by your article about Dual Language Learners. I talked about Educators being able to speak to children and families in their native language, I equally think that these families will benefit from learning to communicate in the same way. My current school district has ESOL teachers in most of the elementary schools to help, children master English.
Hi Anita,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the sharing and I enjoyed reading your post. It is very informative about your resource and you implicates some data that making it easy to understand your article. It is interesting that when I search for websites and links, many statistics are relative with North American. That causes my concern on the situation of poverty in this region. Besides, I have the resonance with your insight about the paid for early childhood. As the situation in my region is the same that the salary for early childhood teachers is lower than the ones in the upper level. A call for supporting and respecting early childhood teachers in the society has arisen in these days, and the public consensus now is making influence on the policymakers. Good post!