On the premise that hearing other preschool teachers talk about their challenges in creating inclusive settings is a powerful impetus to reflect about one's own teaching practice, this book contains personal narratives by 18 teachers about their journeys toward inclusive, developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood education. The…

Concerns about middle level education began early in this century and will continue to be discussed by researchers and observers well into the next century. This digest examines the evolving characteristics and goals of middle level education, especially in terms of the most recent statements of purpose by major organizations in the field. Noting…

This handbook is a resource for preschool curriculum planning. Chapter 1, "Begin with Yourself," provides checklists, comparative charts, and guiding questions for self-assessment of knowledge and experiences. Chapter 2, "Revitalizing the Environment," provides tools to assess the learning environment and makes suggestions…

Due to a lack of initial orientation training for school-age child care staff, the childcare program for 6- to 18-year-olds, located at an Air Force installation, was not fully acquainting new employees with the developmental needs of school-age children. Because of a lack of financial resources to conduct extensive training, high turnover of…

Noting that many middle schools do not pay sufficient attention to the emotional, physical, and social development of their students, this booklet presents characteristics of successful middle school programs, as recognized by scholars in the middle school movement. Each characteristic is accompanied by an explanation of the "what and…

Accreditation of early childhood programs helps teachers and administrators evaluate and improve their practice, helps parents make informed decisions, and helps children receive quality programming. This manual explains the policies and procedures for accreditation of early childhood programs through the National Association for the Education of…

This Spanish-language teaching guide provides early childhood teachers with a philosophy and guidelines for teaching that address children's social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. The guide describes a curriculum that offers teachers guidance, support, and freedom to be creative and responsive with children, and provides children,…

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…

With the message that parents need to become informed about the educational practices that affect their children, this book offers a guide to different approaches to kindergarten, expectations for incoming students, and ways to obtain needed information for parents new to the process of schooling. Following an introduction that calls for increased…

Within the field of early childhood education, several issues are currently being debated and many new developments are emerging. One of these trends is toward the expansion and redefinition of early childhood education to include all educational experiences for children from birth to 8 years of age. Another trend is the increased interest in…

This book provides teachers of infants and toddlers with an in-depth guide to infant and toddler development, theories of growth and development, and best practices in early childhood education. The chapters are: (1) "Innovations: Infant and Toddler Development," looking at the underlying principles of developmental and interactional…

The National Research Council formed a Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism and charged the committee with integrating the scientific, theoretical, and policy literature and creating a framework for evaluating the scientific evidence concerning the effects and features of educational interventions for young children with…

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) has developed recommended practices for the ECSE field in the area of personnel preparation. This book provides guidance to higher education faculty and professional development specialists on how these recommended practices can be implemented in preservice and…

The Step by Step program was begun in 1994 as an experiment linking sound early childhood educational (ECE) practice with concepts of democracy to create classrooms in which children practice choice and learn critical thinking skills, and in which parents actively participate in their child's education. This manual extends the concepts of…

This report summarizes evaluation results from AISD's Prekindergarten Expansion grant program during 2002-2003.