In his testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress, the author discusses what he considers to be the underlying question concerning issues of early childhood education: How to invest in preschool programs so that they have a reasonable chance of being a success. The testimony takes the form of a series of questions…

Kindergarten has changed significantly in the last two decades: children now spend more time being taught and tested on literacy and math skills than they do learning through play and exploration, exercising their bodies, and using their imaginations. Many kindergartens use highly prescriptive curricula geared to new state standards and linked to…

Describes a week of testing 28 second graders. Points out how much classroom time testing consumes, how frustrating it is for teachers, and how emotionally trying it is for young students and their families. Maintains that all children operate at different developmental levels in different skills and should not be compared to each other. (MLF)

The "Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century" provides a mandate for discussion of the spiritual within secular state schooling, but this discussion has never occurred. This is a serious omission given what could be called an "undercurrent of concern" for the ways in which young people…

Making the case that breastfeeding provides essential and long-lasting benefits for children and should be one of California's first investments in the healthy development of every child, this report assists state and county commissions of Proposition 10 (Families and Children First Act) in the development of effective strategies and integrated…

The article proposes more consideration of preventive services as a viable alternative to current service delivery models for special education services. Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention services are described. Reasons for more preventive service delivery systems are identified and the research on risk and child development is reviewed.…

Illustrating major points with specific examples (including a "Doonesbury cartoon), the main article faults schools' organizational efficiency and educators' ignorance of child development for forcing young children to work beyond their developmental readiness. An inset article presents the 19th century kindergarten as a haven for children to grow…

Video games are neither neutral nor harmless but represent very specific social and symbolic constructs. Research on the social content of today's video games reveals that sex bias and gender stereotyping are widely evident throughout the Nintendo games. Violence and aggression also pervade the great majority of the games. (MLF)

Discusses the developmental risks to children of extensive day care. Suggests the following federal family policy: (1) parental-leave policies that enable one parent to remain at home during the child's first critical months; (2) parental option to work part time during the child's first year; and (3) greater availability of quality child care.…

Criticizes Lawrence J. Schweinhart and David Weikart's article on early childhood development in this "Educational Leadership" issue for overemphasizing inadequacies of the direct academic approach. Claims that findings were based on insufficient data and disclosed no significant differences in self-esteem, locus of control, suspension,…

Explores the destructive effects of student drug use on students, teachers, and the learning environment of public schools. Discusses healthy child development and the historical background of illegal drug use, and suggests strategies to produce a drug- and alcohol-free school environment with firm, clear institutional policies. (MLH)

Issues related to training of personnel working with handicapped infants/toddlers and their families center on two major areas: content of training and process of training. Following an analysis of within-discipline and cross-discipline content and within-discipline and cross-discipline training processes, recommendations are offered concerning…

Contends that the concept of levels of moral maturity in psychology focuses on character formation in children's development. Asserts that virtue theory in ethics can be helpful in pointing out the ethical implications of current work with children. Argues for the usefulness of ancient ethical concepts. (CFR)

This document is a model state statute to provide educational entitlements for students at risk of school failure. The statute is predicated on the conviction that children coming from the most impoverished circumstances have the ability to learn and succeed. It is also based on the belief that legislators have a pivotal role to play in…

The mere act of living in today's society is dangerous to the health and well-being of children and adolescents. The concept of the socially toxic environment is offered as a parallel to the environmental movement's analysis of physical toxicity. Social life is more risky than it was just 40 years ago, and the level of social and cultural poison…