Continuity and Change in Early Childhood Education

1. Continuity and Change in Early Childhood Education Chapter 1 – part B

2. Importance of Quality in Early Childhood Education

3. What is Quality? • Child Care Licensing Standards – minimum level, varies considerably • Quality Rating and Improvement System – STARS • Accreditation Standards ~ NAEYC • Voluntary, • Relationship among the standards • Focus on Children and teachers, partnership with families/communities, and administration • Military Child Care Act – significantly improved quality and learning outcomes • Head Start Performance Standards – comprehensive services

4. Measuring Quality • Quality includes two interconnected factors: • Structural – features of an ECE program that are relatively easy to measure • Process – Quality of the relationship and interactions among teachers and children and their appropriateness • Development of observation tools • ECERS-R – Environmental rating scale • CLASS – instructional strategies • !!High score = Higher scores on measures of language, literacy , mathematics and social-emotional abilities

5. Effective, Intentional Teaching • Purpose for everything they do • Can explain that purpose • Multifaceted, multidimensional concept that conveys many of the personal qualities of an early childhood educator. • Caring and committed • Enthusiastic and engaged • Curios and creative • Respectful and responsive • Passionate and patient • Purposeful and playful • Focused and flexible • Aware and Accountable • Informed and effective • Listening and learning

6. Culture of Early Childhood Education Culture is the rules and expectations for behavior of members of a group that are passed on from one generation to the next • Shared vocabulary • Shared identity • Shared values (21) - eg. play • Shared beliefs

7. The Positive Effects of ECE • Positive experiences in the early years – literally grow babies’ brains • Negative experiences such as prolonged stress, physical or sexual abuse or exposure to violence can have dire consequences for brain development. • Early intervention including intensive early education and comprehensive support services for families – the earlier and more intensive the better -- can ameliorate the negative effects !! Critical importance of early intervention

8. Closing the Gap • Right from the “starting gate” • At age 4 – children who live below the poverty line are 18 months below what is considered normal for their age group • Children in the lowest socioeconomic group have average cognitive scores that are 60% below those of the most affluent group • Inequality in socioeconomic status is the most important predictor of children’s cognitive skills • Children living in poverty – less likely to have access to high-quality programs; Encounter poor elementary schools • Start behind – stay behind

9. Current Trends in ECE • Universal Prekindergarten Movement • Standards and Accountability: What? How? • No Child Left Behind (NCLB) – public schools accountable for eliminating the persistent gaps in achievement between different groups of children • Report student progress; use scientifically based instructional practices • Alignment of Preschool and K-3 • Higher Teacher Qualifications

10. Continuity and Change • Chapter 1 • Read Chapter • Table 1.3 – Review • Chapter Summary • Concertina Internet Search • Chapter 2 • Read Chapter 2