Sharing Web Resources

NIEER

I decided to follow the NIEER blog..."Preschool Matters...Today!"

  I found an article called (Almost) Everything You Wanted to Know about Pre-K in the Federal Budget".  The Department of Education is requesting $75 billion over 10 years.  State funding would be based on the number of families with 4 years olds at or below poverty.  The budget also asks for $750 million in discretionary funds for Preschool Development Grants for the 2014 year.  This money would be for states to create or expand a high quality preschool system serving 4 year olds from low and moderate income families.  The Department of Health and Human Services budget has $1.4 million for Early Head Start, $200 million to support high quality care, and $15 billion over 10 years to support home visiting programs. 

I then followed a link to see "What's New".  Here I found an interesting article called, "The Push for Pre-K: Has the time come for universal early education?"  This article gave information on both sides of the argument.  The first contributor, Rachel Sheffield, is a research associate from the conservative Heritage Foundation.  She co-wrote a paper stating that pre-k and head start do not get the results to justify spending in Obama's preschool initiative.  She goes on to say that we should focus on the children being delayed because they are brought up in single parent families rather than focusing on programs.  More discouraging, is a report by the Department of Health and Human Services which suggests academic gains made in early head start fade by third grade.  W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institution for Early Education Research at Rutgers University rebuts by pointing to the recent Chicago Child-Parent Center Study.  This shows children of preschool programs graduated at a higher rate.  It showed a 7 - 1 return on investment.  He adds that it keeps a child from being put into a costly special education program when they reach kindergarten or first grade.

I get very angry when I read articles like this that slam the early education field.  I noticed that the two sources against funding for early programs don't have the early education background that W. Steven Barnett has.  Background is a great indicator of knowledge, and, in my opinion, I would much rather take the advice of those in the field such as W. Steven Barnett. 

I also noticed many of the links on the home page of the NIEER site where very familiar topics - - access, assessment, outcomes, English Language Learners, Governance and Accountability, Quality and Curriculum, and  State Pre-K Evaluations to name a few.  Every topic we are discussing can be found on this website.  It is a wealth of information. 

Getting to know your international contacts -- Part 2

     Through my correspondence with Lucy, my international contact in Spain, I am discovering  that I am a little confused by some of the terms she used.  We recently discussed what the qualifications are to be an early childhood educator in Spain.  I also asked if there were any kind of regulations or rating system. Again, Lucy said it is very different between public and private schools. She said there is a curriculum to regulate the Infant Education Stage. Then, if a teacher wants to work in a public school, they must take an official exam (oposicion) to become an Infant Education Teacher.  The private schools (concertadas) are like companies - - you just have to pass the interview to be hired there.  However, she does say that generally a University degree is needed there too.  Children under 3 go to (guarderia) which seems to be childcare. In order to work at Guarderia, you only need to take a "modulo FP de Education Infantil" which is like a short professional course. 
    This is all the information I was able to get.  I was a little confused when she says there is a curriculum to regulate the Infant Education Stage.  I don't know if it is one curriculum that everyone must use, or if there are different curriculum for different schools.  Also, I thought it was interesting that "Infant Education Teachers" can teach in the public schools.  I believe the term "Infant" here is referring to children older than 3 since those younger than 3 go to "Guarderia".  I did not get a response when I asked her if anyone can attend Guarderia. If I get a reply to my other questions by tomorrow, I will post an update. 

Update:
Anyone can attend guardia and children with special needs are helped by a government paid "de apoyo". 

Sharing Web Resources -- NIEER

     The entire NIEER website relates to what I am currently studying.  Because it is an early education research website, I am most drawn to the News and Events section. This section provides articles from newspapers and blogs across the country regarding early education,  The Star Ledger in NJ, The Jamestown Sun in ND, The Boston Globe in MA, and The Charlotte Observer in NC are just a few of those represented.  Blogs include those from The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.  I really enjoy these articles because they are current.

     The article from The Jamestown Sun caught my attention by it's title, "Childhood Education to get Second Hearing".  I read about how supporters of early education are urging the House Committee to provide state funding to create preschool programs around the state.  With the federal funding eliminated, states are now being asked to help with funding.  To my surprise, the committee chairman, Rep. Mike Nathe said that if early education is such an important issue, why can't the local districts levy a tax to fund it?  He continued by saying, "the House doesn't have the appetite for using state funding" and he feels communities should support the funding if they think it is such a good program. 

     Since we just read how economists, neuroscientists, and politicians are supporting the Early Childhood field, I was a little taken aback by Nathe's comments.  I applaud Sen. Poolman who rebutted by saying that there needs to be a compromise and that "a compromise between $4.7 million and zero is not zero!"

     This article has reinforced my opinion of politicians.  They say one thing - - Yes, early education is important and worth investing in.  Then do another - - No, you can't have state funding.  Ask your community for money.

    UGH! 

                                          Reference
Jerke, TJ (March, 2013).  Childhood education to get second hearing.  NIEER  Retrieved from:
          
       http://nieer.org/news-events/early-education-news/childhood-education-get-second-hearing

Getting to know your international contacts -- part 1

Well, I finally did it!

 I was able to find a contact in Spain through a community blog, Early Childhood Educators.  Her name is Lucy Moretti and she teachers ESL to children ages 3-12 in Madrid.  It is an extracurricular English class in both a Catholic (semi-private) school and in a public school.

 She told me that she has lost 25% of her students because of the crisis.  She said prices for the English classes are extremely low and they are set by the school parent association.  Even with low prices, they are still seeing a drop in enrollment.  Many families have only one working parent.  In the public school, children eat breakfast and lunch in the canteen, but due to the rising costs of this service, the school is currently meeting with families to discuss changing the times so that children can have lunch at home.  In the semi-private school, it is not such a problem because it is mostly wealthy families who choose to send their children to this school.  She also states that in Europe public schools are free and every child must go.  Madrid has taken many initiatives to provide food to children and has also done fund raising for this purpose. 

I was a little shocked to learn that the public schools were considering restructuring times so that children would be home at lunch time. I know that would never work here because most of our families have 2 working parents.  They already make a big stink about half-day kindergarten and trying to find care for the kindergarteners. 

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)

The organization that I chose to research is the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).

It can be found through the following link:

http://nieer.org/

This organization conducts research and gives advice to policy makers, journalist, and educators.  They work at the state level as well as the national level in the hope of attaining  excellence in the field.  They monitor and evaluate progress.  They develop and analyze standards, policies and legislation. Their online newsletter provides updates on what’s new in the field. 

In the March 8 (volume 12 issue 5) edition of their online newsletter, the NIEER has articles on new policies, bills, and legislation introduced as the result of Obama’s state of the union address.  There are also articles on media misrepresentations, the effects ofsequestration on education, full-day kindergarten options, ADHD interventions, and universal pre-k.  They have a calendar of events for conferences and a round-up of the nation’s headlines in the early childhood field. 

The resources provided by NIEER offered a small piece on Dual Language learners and how they are assessed.  The link to this brief is:

http://www.teachstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CLASS-DLL-White-Paper.pdf

This article reiterates what we have been learning about - - that 20% of school age children speak a language other than English at home.  It also discusses the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the requirements of observers.  The CLASS measure focuses on three main areas: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. 

The NIEER website is so vast and provides so many links, it will be a long time before I navigate through the entire site!  There is so much to learn and explore.

 

 

 

 

Expanding Resources

I have chosen to research the National Institute for Early Education Research because it is one that I am not so familiar with.  I have subscribed to their newsletter as well as their feed: http://nieer.org/publications/rss.xml

Since we are learning about issues and trends in Early Childhood, I thought I might be kept up to date on the latest and greatest in the field with this website.  I'll let you know what I discover!

Establishing professional contacts

The two people I have tried to make contact with are Mrs. Bimbo Are in Nigeria and Mr. Eric Atmore in South Africa.  So far, I have not heard back from either. 
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Niger Delta Academic Foundation
Daniel Ibigoni Semeniworima, Director/CEO
Ajoke International School
Mrs.Bimbo Are
New Jericho G.R.A.
P.O.Box 679, Dugbe, Ibadan
Nigeria
Tel: 080-23236933
Email: arebimbo@yahoo.com
South Africa
OMEP South African National Committee
The National Early Childhood Development Alliance
Mr. Eric Atmore
P.O. Box 2363
Clarinch, 7740
South Africa
Tel: 27 21 683 2420
Email: cecd@iafrica.com

I have also subscribed to a community blog:

Community

- Early Childhood Education (Discussion)
I think I will probably get more feedback here and I noticed some of the members of this community are outside of the US.