Noting that one of the biggest challenges in the United States today is the increasing number of infants and toddlers younger than age 3 who are cared for by someone other than their parents during work hours, this issue of NCEDL Spotlights announces the publication of a book examining out-of-home care for infants and toddlers. The book is an…

In 1996, Kansas launched the nation's most sweeping attempt to radically transform the child welfare system by implementing a privatized form of managed care. Four years later, the child welfare system shows signs of instability and seems very much in transition. This report examines the current status of the child welfare system in Kansas and…

This paper provides an overview of the Four Blocks framework, a teaching framework developed by professional educators, that aims to teach all children to read by providing daily exposure to a variety of instructional approaches. Four Blocks is intended for use in regular, heterogeneously constructed K-3 classrooms. It supports individual learning…

This brief is part of a series of technical assistance resources on financing and sustaining out-of-school time and community school initiatives. The brief presents general background information and strategies for maximizing Medicaid funding for such programs and highlights examples of innovative projects throughout the country. The financing…

McCosh Even Start is a federally funded project at McCosh School in an inner-city Chicago neighborhood and is administered as a partnership between Northeastern Illinois University and the Chicago Public Schools. The program's goals are to help parents: (1) become involved with the school by becoming comfortable at the school, making friends, and…

This book describes a literacy program called Teens for Literacy, in operation over 10 years, and explains how readers can set up a similar program in their school or community. The book states that the program is intended to interest middle school and high school students in promoting literacy while improving their reading and writing skills. It…

To help create safe havens and positive opportunities for youth in Native American and Alaska Native communities, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) became a partner with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (B&GCA). This guide describes how the B&GCA proven prevention model can be adapted for use in Indian Country to…

The Education Services Department of the Cherokee Nation develops and supports comprehensive educational programs for Cherokee people. This publication describes services in the following areas: education administration, higher education, adult education, co-partner programs, youth activities, Learn and Serve Program, Talking Leaves Job Corps,…

There has been much discussion about the role and nature of counseling and guidance in the schools. Thus, this book aims to help teachers and others working in and with schools by exploring the development of counseling and guidance in one school situation. The text incorporates the comments of students, teachers, administrators, and parents…

This report describes Neighbours, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Franklin Park, New Jersey, that offers individualized supports for people with disabilities. In addition to the CEO and the director, the agency employs five advisors. These advisors each work to coordinate support for between five and seven people. Advisors, who typically…

Noting that innovative partnerships to give more children access to good quality care and education provide the scaffold for future educational reform, this report details the Partnering for Success project, which identified and documented efforts to enhance school readiness through partnerships among Head Start, child care, and public schools in…

In response to increasing demands for military child care and lack of comprehensive care standards, the Military Child Care Act of 1989 (MCCA) mandated improvements in military child care. Today, the Department of Defense runs a model child care system serving over 200,000 children daily at over 300 locations worldwide. Noting that most of the…

This book presents the history of Project Spectrum, a 10-year research project dedicated to developing an alternative approach to curriculum and assessment that respects the diverse interests and abilities that children bring to the preschool and early elementary classroom. The first chapter presents Spectrum's theoretical roots--David Henry…

This book is a study of the diffusion and transformation of the kindergarten around the turn of the twentieth century, concentrating most centrally on the power of local cultures to respond to and reformulate borrowed ideas. Eleven case studies represent western and nonwestern national histories, various religious traditions, and a range of…

The Free to Grow pilot project, developed by the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and its Head Start project, operated between 1994 and 1999. Following a 2-year planning and development stage, 5 project sites went on to complete the 3-year implementation phase in California, Colorado, Kentucky, New York, and Puerto Rico; the…