January 10, 2002
Education Week, Vol. 21, Issue 17
Education
Early Learning: Quality Counts 2002
Data on state early-childhood policies and programs have large gaps.
Education
Children Attend Variety of Settings
Although Americans continue to debate whether very young children should receive
care and education outside the home, the reality
is that most already are being cared for by people other than their parents for at
least part of the day.
Education
Sweden Combines Learning and Care
Today in Sweden, the concept of combining learning and care for even young children is a given. With generous leave benefits for new parents and a nationwide system of government-supported child-care centers, Sweden is widely praised for its attention to the needs of its youngest citizens.
Education
R.I. Adds to Existing Child-Care Subsidies
When Rhode Island set out to improve the way it supports its neediest children, state policymakers decided not to reinvent the wheel.
Education
Ohio Builds on Head Start Model
More than a decade has passed since Ohio bolstered its involvement in Head Start by adding $4 million in state money to the federal dollars spent on the comprehensive preschool program for poor children.
Education
Head Start Programs Must Gauge Children’s Progress
In the realm of early-childhood education,
no program has more stringent accountability
demands than Head Start.
Education
Court Orders N.J. Preschool Program
New Jersey's expansive preschool program
for needy children, which is the result of a
school finance lawsuit, is changing the state's
education landscape and may be a harbinger of
things to come in other states where school aid
is being litigated.
Education
Georgia, New York, and Oklahoma Move Toward ‘Universal’ Preschool
Wherever children live in the United States, and whatever their families' incomes, public schools are available free of charge. The same is not true of early-childhood education.
Education
State Policies on Kindergarten Are All Over the Map
While more states are offering full-day kindergarten,
and some go so far as to make attendance
compulsory, others don't require districts
to offer the earliest grade at all.
Education
Adequate Financing
As interest in early-childhood education grows, states struggle to build upon a patchwork funding system.
Education
Starting Early
Children’s experiences before kindergarten can help build a solid foundation for future learning.
Education
Vast Responsibilities, Minimal Pay
As a nation, the United States pays about as much to people who watch its cars as to those who take care of its children, according to the latest wage figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Education
North Carolina Investment in Teaching Pays
Early-childhood experts in North Carolina were near desperation when they hitched their hopes to a tiny pilot project aimed at improving the training of child-care workers.
Education
Nurturing Caregivers
Low pay, minimal training requirement, and high turnover characterize those who care for preschoolers.
Education
In Early-Childhood Education and Care: Quality Counts
State interest in early learning is growing, but large gaps in access and quality remain.
Education
The State of The States 2002
States continued to forge ahead on a standards-based agenda in 2001.
Education
Programs Address the Whole Child
Young children develop in many different ways. But leaps in one area--a slew of new vocabulary words, perhaps--are often followed by frustratingly slow steps in others, such as shyness around new children or a refusal to be toilet trained.
Education
Michigan Measures Youngsters’ Needs
Every fall, every kindergartner in Michigan
sits down with his or her teacher to read a book. The child might not recognize the event
as a test. But the teacher is trained to look for clues to the child's emerging literacy skills.
Does he hold the book right-side up? Can he identify the front and back covers? Does he recognize
letters and words that rhyme?
Education
States Try to Specify What Young Children Should Learn
What should children be expected to know and to learn before they arrive at school? Despite an increasing body of research suggesting that children's early experiences are important to their ability to succeed in school, the debate persists about just what adults should expect from very young children and when.
Education
Measuring Results
There’s a growing demand to assess the results of early-childhood programs, but what’s appropriate?
Education
In Massachusetts, Local Collaboration
Riverway Early Learning Center in Lawrence, Mass., exemplifies the state's approach to providing high-quality care for its youngest children by encouraging collaboration at the local level.
Education
U.S. Military Tackles Child-Care Quality
Once derided as the "ghetto" of child care, the system of early-childhood centers serving all branches of the U.S. military has become a national model after more than a decade of intensive reforms and unprecedented resources.
Education
Defining Quality
States are adding program standards that go beyond health and safety to focus on academic knowledge.
