Parent engagement is one approach to decrease the opportunity gap for Black, American Indian, and all children of color. This report from the field describes the use of the World Café participatory approach to support parent engagement in five early childhood, culturally embedded Montessori programs. Serving the Whole Child (SWC) is a…

What does an Education Diplomat look like in practice? Often, education diplomats find themselves facing unforeseen challenges, which forces them to be reflective about their role and flexible in their approach. In this article, Dr. Ilham Nassar tells the story of her involvement as a consultant to facilitate the design of an early childhood…

The New Zealand Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care (Level 4) programme was designed and developed when a Level 4 early childhood education qualification became mandatory for all educators working with children and families in the New Zealand early childhood education home-based sector. This occurred at a time when Open Polytechnic…

The symposium provides an overview of the Early Years STEM Australia (ELSA) program. The conceptual underpinnings of the program are framed within STEM practices, rather than traditional thinking concerning the integration of discipline content knowledge. We will argue that our focus on practices is more aligned with the play-based and intentional…

Early childhood educators, especially those in preschool centers, are often expected to design and implement movement programs. However, these individuals may not have been taught these skills during their education. The purpose of this study was to determine if early childhood majors could successfully be taught to implement a mastery climate…

A field trip for preschool children can be a rewarding experience, but if not properly planned and executed it can be a legal nightmare for teachers and owners. This article will take teachers through a hypothetical outing. If one spots mistakes before the authors highlight them, great, and if not, one will learn some fine points during this…

Points out accomplishments of Project Head Start and suggests issues to be considered for future program development. (RH)

The handbook offers guidelines for the development of preschool programs for 4- and 5-year-olds. Specific information on the New Albany (Mississippi) program such as staffing, funding, and scheduling is provided. The program rationale is said to be based on cognitive stages identified by Jean Piaget. Program purposes are seen to stress development…

Defines the competency-based approach to teacher education and describes the development of an early childhood program at the University of Houston. (ED)

Project Follow Through involved a diverse and major set of implementation problems: (1) The initial program mandate for an action program clashed with the later switch to an experimental focus; (2) The selection of curriculum rather than structural changes as the major intervention led to greater uncertainty regarding the practices to be…

The discussion of early childhood education for multiply handicapped preschoolers is intended for teachers and concerns certain aspects of educational practice basic to an effective and efficient preschool program and what teachers can do in planning to meet the needs of such children. Broad goals of a preschool program for the multiply…

This guide was developed as part of the Child Care Partnership Project, a multi-year technical assistance effort. The Partnership Project provides a series of technical assistance resources and materials to support the development and strengthening of public-private partnerships to improve the quality and supply of child care. The guide is…

Research tells us that specialized training and education of teachers is one of the strongest predictors of child care quality. In the late 1960s, however, most states did not require preservice training or higher education for teachers in early childhood programs or family child care homes. At that time, Missouri wanted to develop a project that…

Examines the child care for-profit business in terms of recent history, current status, and future prospects. (BB)

The author points out that the experiences of women and children closely affect each other, yet in development programs over the past 20 years projects have been designed either for one group or the other--but seldom with both in mind. She provides examples of successful programs that focus on both groups. (CT)