Children are growing up in a media-rich digital environment where they are immersed in new technologies in unprecedented ways. Digital games are one of these technologies, and young children play a wide range of digital games. Research studies suggest that digital games support children's learning and development. The paper aims to assess digital…

The development of social-emotional skills is crucial in early childhood. Behavior problems in early childhood are risk factors for difficulties throughout childhood and adolescence and beyond. Considering the importance of developing social and emotional skills during early childhood, this study introduced the Papilio-3to6 program into everyday…

Given the predictive nature of high-quality early childhood programs on children's social and learning outcomes, effective leadership is critical to facilitate program improvement. Recognizing the need for cohesive conceptual frameworks that undergird research-based practice, a 5-year training institute for early childhood program directors was…

This article describes the process teachers at a public elementary school completed to develop and implement a developmentally appropriate, race-conscious, anti-bias curriculum in all K-5 classrooms. The study focuses on the experiences of the teachers and children in three early childhood classrooms using a case study design. Data were gathered…

This study examined Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers' perceptions of ECD programs regarding benefits and opportunities for early intervention. Research indicates that young children with developmental delays and disabilities demonstrate better progress when intervention is offered early and in inclusive classrooms. A mixed method design…

Debates on how best to educate young children have been raging over the last 100 years--more often fuelled by ideological preferences rather than empirical evidence. To some extent this is hardly surprising given the difficulty of examining pupil progress in a systematic and comparative way. However, the introduction of a new child-centred…

Learning gardens can provide dynamic learning and developmental experiences for young children. This case study of 12 early childhood teachers explores how teachers describe (1) learning across numerous school readiness domains and (2) how to support this learning by promoting opportunities for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Participants…

Developmental approaches to autism treatment aim to establish strong interpersonal relationships through joint play. These approaches have emerging empirical support; however, there is a need for further research documenting the procedures and demonstrating their effectiveness. This pilot study evaluated changes in parent behavior and child autism…

Nurturing care in early childhood requires responsive interactions and opportunities to learn; however, there are few large-scale programs in low- and middle-income countries that support parents' ability to provide responsive care and activities that help children learn. The Reach Up training program was developed to increase capacity of…

Many early childhood assessment practices involve table top testing that requires young children to behave like an adult (e.g., follow adult directives, attend to task, and answer questions). Research and professional policy standards have identified and mandated alternatives. Authentic assessment is the alternative to conventional testing…

Excellent teachers in early childhood programs are intentional in all they do with and for children. They do not assume that children's development will happen without support, encouragement, and scaffolding or without presenting appropriate challenges for the children. Intentionality is a key message in "Developmentally Appropriate Practice…

Differential outcome and differential response to research-based interventions are challenging issues for researchers, teachers, and families of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this article, the authors present information on responders to an early education program, Project DATA (Developmentally Appropriate Treatment for…

Performance-based assessments require teacher candidates to demonstrate proficiency on specific teaching tasks and apply knowledge in authentic settings. This article describes the development and use of performance-based assessments (PBAs) for advancing the learning and evaluation of teacher candidates in an early childhood special education…

This paper has been developed by the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children to serve as a companion document to the 2003 joint position statement "Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment and Program Evaluation-Building and Effective, Accountable System in Progams for Children Birth through Age 8" of National…

Many drug abuse prevention programs and materials, such as the "Smart Choices" newsletter for kindergartners, are developmentally inappropriate for young children. Successful preventive measures need to address the mixed messages that society itself gives to children about alcohol and other drugs and present developmentally appropriate instruction…