Research that Benefits Children and Families

This week’s blog assignment was to find and share a positive example of the effects of research on children and/or families. I found an article about Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. “The national evaluation conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and Columbia University’s Center for Children and Families, in collaboration with the Early Head Start Research Consortium, found that 3-year-old Early Head Start children performed significantly better on a range of measures of cognitive, language, and social-emotional development than a randomly assigned control group” (Administration for Children and Families [ACF], 2006, p. 1). The research shows that through early intervention programs like Early Head Start children can thrive despite the negative obstacles that may impact their family’s and/or their lives.

“The Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project involved 3,001 children and families in 17 sites; half received Early Head Start services, while the other half were randomly assigned to a control group that did not receive Early Head Start, although they were free to use other services in the community. Parents and children were assessed when the children were 14, 24, and 36 months old. Families were also interviewed about their use of a wide range of services at 6, 15, and 26 months after enrollment and when they exited the program. The 17 sites were selected to reflect the array of all Early Head Start programs according to geographic region, racial-ethnic status, urban-rural location, program auspice, and program experience in serving infants and toddlers”(ACF, 2006, p. 2). This research will have a positive impact on many children’s lives. It proves the importance of early intervention.

Brandie

References

Administration for Children and Families. (2006). Research to practice early head start benefits children and families. Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/research_brief_overall.pdf

My Personal Research Journey

I have decided that the topic I will use for the research simulation will be, how poverty affects a child’s learning and development. I have chosen this topic because I live in a rural area and many children and their families suffer from poverty. Many children the only food they receive for the day is what they get at school. Just at our local elementary school over 60% of children are on the free and/or reduced lunch program. I am hoping to learn about the effects poverty have on children and their learning and development to find intervention strategies to help children and ways early intervention can help them.

Constructing the research chart has been very enlightening. I really like the section key terms. It has helped me understand the articles I have been reading. It is a wonderful tool to use. To take words I do not completely understand and defining them in my own words has not only expanded my vocabulary but has helped me understand the research articles I have been reading.

I have had some difficulty using the Walden library and if any classmates have any handy tips to make it easier I would love them. I am never sure of which data bases to use. I have found some research articles but it took me quite a while to find them. I have found some wonderful resources and would love to share them. If you have any resources to share that would be wonderful.

Brandie

Resources

Gundersen, C. (2015). Food assistance programs and child health. Future of Children, 25(1), 91-109. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5e7efeb8-0548-44d4-8d99-c2187d9812d3%40sessionmgr4003&vid=5&hid=4104

Simpson, D. (2013). Remediating child poverty via preschool: exploring practitioners’ perspectives in England. International Journal of Early Years Education, 21(1), 85-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2013.771327

Final Blog Wk. 8

This is the final week for this class, EDUC: 6162 Trends and Issues in Early Childhood Field. This has been a wonderful course and I have learned about many important issues and trends affecting the early childhood field; poverty, changing demographics and diversity, influences of economics, neuroscience, and politics, and equity and excellence in care and education of children, families, and EC professionals. I was never able to establish contact with an early childhood professional from another country but I was able to learn a lot of information exploring the different early childhood professional websites.

I really liked the NAEYC website, http://www.naeyc.org/. I really liked all the information you could find on this site. They had information for parents and families and professionals. The links to the other EC websites was very informative. I really liked the link to the common core standards website. I was hearing a lot of different information about the common core standards. I was not sure what was correct and what was myth/ confused facts. The website,  http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/myths-vs-facts/. I recommend this website to anyone who may have questions about common core standards.

I also learned a lot about poverty and that it effects children all over the world. “Poverty is growing in Australia with an estimated 2.5 million people or 13.9% of all people living below the internationally accepted poverty line” (Australian Council of Social Service [ACOSS], 2015, pg. 1), about 603,000 of the 2.5 million are children. In the United States poverty is just as big of an issue.

I really liked this course. It was very informative and made me realize how important it is to keep up with the current trends and issues within the early childhood profession. I look forward to keep exploring the websites I have found. I am also going to keep up and try to contact other early childhood professionals in another country. I think it would be so interesting and informative to learn about what goes on in my profession in other countries.

Brandie

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

 I explored the UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage, http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/, this week. I learned that “UNESCO’s educational objectives are to support the achievement of Education for All; to provide global and regional leadership in education; to strengthen education systems worldwide from early childhood to the adult years; to respond to contemporary global challenges through education” (UNESCO, n.d., p. 1). The UNESCO’s works with government officials to review and develop their policies affecting children from birth to age 8.

I learned that “Africa is a priority for UNESCO and education is key to the region’s development.  UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Education…work to keep education high on the agenda of governments and development partners” (UNESCO, n.d., p. 1). Their focus is on improving the quality of teacher education in the region.

I also learned that the “UNESCO’s three Institutes and two Centre’s in Europe and North America assist countries in addressing specific education challenges at regional and global levels.   
Each institute and center in Europe has a distinct mission: 
International Bureau of Education (IBE) - to enhance curriculum development and educational content
International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) - to help countries design, plan and manage their education systems
The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) - to promote literacy, non-formal education, adult and lifelong learning
Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) - to assist countries to use information and communication technologies in education 
UNEVOC - to improve education for the world of work
UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics (UIS) in Montreal, Canada provides global and internationally comparable statistics on the world of education”  (UNESCO, n.d., p. 1). This website is full of wonderful information and I plan on continuing to delve more deeply into it.

Brandie 

References

UNESCO. (n.d.). Africa. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/worldwide/education-regions/africa/

UNESCO. (n.d.). Europe and North America. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/worldwide/education-regions/europe-and-north-america/

UNESCO. (n.d.). Mission. Retrieved, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/strategy/

Blog Wk 6

I have been exploring the NAEYC website: http://www.naeyc.org/. I found a link to the Common Core State Standards Initiative website. It was a very informative website. I really liked this website. It explained what common core was, “State education chiefs and governors in 48 states came together to develop the Common Core, a set of clear college- and career-ready standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English language arts/literacy and mathematics” (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2015, p. 1). I also learned that teachers were a critical voice in the development of the standards.

The website has tabs that are full of information like what parents should know and standards in your state. This is a wonderful website full of resources for parents, family, and teachers/caregivers. I found out that the common core standards were adopted by my state of Washington in 2011 and fully implemented in the 2014/2015 school year. I also learned that all but seven states have adopted the common core standards.

The most helpful and informative section of this website was the section myths vs. facts.  “Myths and facts aim to address common misconceptions about the development, intent, content, and implementation of the standards” (Common Core State Standard Initiative, 2015, p. 1). I had heard a lot of information about common core. I really liked reading the facts vs. myths it cleared up a lot of conflicting information that I had received.

References

Common Core State Standard Initiative. (2015). Myths vs. facts. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/myths-vs-facts/

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2015). Frequently ask questions. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/frequently-asked-questions/

Blog Week 5

For this week I explored the Global Children’s Initiative website it was very interesting and informative website. I saw a link on a program from Grand Challenges Canada, Saving Brains. When I saw this title it grabbed my attention and I had to read more. This program “seeks to improve outcomes for children living in poverty through interventions that nurture and protect early brain development in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. The Center on the Developing Child supports a dynamic learning community of Saving Brains grantees to help them advance the impact and scale of their work within global contexts” (Center on the Developing Child, n.d., p. 1). This program is geared to improve early brain and child development in low-and-middle countries. In their programs they are addressing three elements of healthy development, enrichment, health and nutrition, and protection through intervention (Saving Brains, n.d.). Early intervention is imperative to help children learn, develop, and grow to their fullest potential.

A second interesting insight I found on the website was a video, In Brief: Early Childhood Mental Health. This video “explains how improving children’s environments of relationships and experiences early in life can prevent initial difficulties from destabilizing later development and mental health. The 5-minute video provides an overview of establishing l level for life: mental health begins in early childhood, a working paper by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child” (Center on the Developing Child, n.d., p. 1). Early relationships and experiences are vital in building the architecture of the developing brain. When children do not get the experiences and/or have positive relationships this can have negative impacts on their development and learning. Such as, problems relating to others and impairing their abilities for learning.

This website is full of wonderful resources. I found information about Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância (NCPI). This program “seeks to apply scientific knowledge to inform new strategies that will improve the well-being and life outcomes of vulnerable children in Brazil, while also supporting sustainable social and economic development in the country” (Center on the Developing Child, n.d., p. 1) NCPI works with six other organizations to build a scientific community around early childhood development, translate scientific knowledge for submission to social policy, strengthen leadership in regards to early childhood development, and adapting the center’s existing resources for a Brazilian audience (Center on the Developing Child, n.d.). This sounds like a wonderful program that is trying to take the scientific knowledge about early childhood development and put it into media and print resources for the everyday Brazilian. This helps get the vital information about the importance of early childhood across to everybody.

I had a lot of fun researching this website. I believe I have discovered only the tip of the ice burg of information this website has to offer. I will continue to explore and I am sure I will find more wonderful resources.

Brandie

References

Center on the Developing Child. (n.d.).  Applying the science of early childhood in Brazil. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/applying_the_science_of_early_childhood_in_brazi/

Center on the Developing Child. (n.d.). InBrief: Early Childhood Mental Health. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/inbrief_series/inbrief_mental_health/

Center on the Developing Child. (n.d.). Saving brains. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/saving_brains/

Saving Brains. (n.d.). About. Retrieved from http://www.savingbrainsinnovation.net/about/

Sharing Web Resources

I have been exploring the NAEYC website; http://www.naeyc.org/. I have really liked exploring their Teaching Young Children [TYC] journals, past and present. I really enjoyed reading all the different articles. I really enjoyed reading the article in the April/May journal titled Five Questions Asked at Every Teaching Interview. I am currently the CEO of the household, also known as stay at home mom :o). I will soon be headed back into the workforce and really found the information in the article very helpful. They had other interesting articles such as, The Science of Superheroes and Writing Poetry with Preschoolers.

The online journal resource, Voices of Practitioners made me think about how much teachers can contribute to the EC profession but rarely get a chance to. “Its main purpose is to provide a vehicle for publishing the research of early childhood teachers, who are often underrepresented as authors in the educational research arena. This publication includes informative articles, resources, and tools to promote the participation of early childhood teachers in teacher research. In teacher research, teachers engage in the systematic study of their own practice. Deeply involved in the daily lives of children and their families, teachers provide a critical insider perspective through publishing their investigations and reflections on life in their classrooms” (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], n.d., p. 1). This journal is for the everyday teacher to publish their findings on what is working and not working within their classrooms. This is a wonderful resource and will add it to my personal resources.

I had a hard time finding information about how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field. I am going to continue to explore the journals and articles to see if this site has information about this topic. I really enjoy exploring this website and all the wonderful resources that are part of it.

Brandie

References

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (n.d.). About voices of Practitioners. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/publications/vop/about