"The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education" aims to support the effort to simultaneously scale up and improve the quality of early childhood education by bringing together relevant insights from emerging research to provide guidance for this critical, fledgling field. It reflects the growing recognition that early childhood…

This book explores research on processes that influence family-school partnerships in support of student learning and education. It highlights research related to culture, contexts, and development as families and schools work together to promote smooth transitions and academic achievement. The volume discusses research related to family and…

This volume focuses on how family-school partnerships are conceptualized, defined, and operationalized as well as the research that is needed to advance these foundational issues. Each chapter integrates prevailing approaches into a research-based framework for supporting learning from pre-K through high school. The book incorporates structural…

Each year, approximately 100,000 refugees arrive in the United States (Refugee Council USA). Nearly half of these arrivals are children. The number of refugees worldwide has more than sextupled since the 1950s, and according to the United States Committee for Refugees and immigrants (USCRI) this number is expected to continue to grow in coming…

This article provides early childhood practitioners a way to develop a common understanding of the importance of play in the early learning experience of young children. Meaningful discussion among teachers, parents, administrators, and teacher candidates regarding play in early childhood education programs is critical to ensure the growth and…

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…

Three self-esteem research guides, based on research data collected for the California Task Force to Promote Self Esteem, are presented. This research supported the belief that low self-esteem is directly related to low school achievement and school dropout. These assumptions are stated: (1) self-esteem can be measured; (2) a person's self-esteem…

Forty-three children participated in a longitudinal study of mastery motivation. Children's levels of mastery motivation (persistence) and cognitive functioning were measured at ages 2 and 8. In addition, academic achievement was measured at age 8. Task persistence was stable across time for girls only, but maternal reports of mastery motivation…

Family-school partnerships are increasingly touted as a means of improving both student and school improvement. This recognition has led to an increase in policies and initiatives that offer the following benefits: improved communication between parents and educators; home and school goals that are mutually supportive and shared; better…

Understanding the effects of maltreatment and trauma on a child and their impact on development is an essential aspect of every teacher's job. It is as critical as the curriculum to the child's learning ability and overall well-being. But the issues involved are not easy, the answers not always clear-cut. And guidance is often hard for teachers to…

Developmental assessment is the process of monitoring a student's progress through an area of learning so that decisions can be made about the best way to facilitate further learning. The unique feature of developmental assessment is its use of a progress map. The progress map, or continuum, describes the development in an area of learning and so…

For more than 35 years, the Yale School Development Program (SDP) has been pioneering the Comer Process for planned change in schools. From initial planning and preparation, through foundation building, transformation, institutionalization, and renewal, the Comer Process provides school leaders with a comprehensive and effective framework for…

This book is intended to help educators understand how students learn and what teachers can do to foster student achievement. It explains how diverse developmental needs, such as lack of self-esteem or cultural alienation, can be at the root of a student's learning difficulties. Case studies illustrate the ways educators can assess and resolve…

Information is provided about the legal developments affecting the educational rights of homeless students that were made by the McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-645). Presented in three parts, Part 1 gives an overview of some of the problems that keep homeless children from attending school or hindering their…

This document presents a program designed especially for behaviorally and academically at-risk children in kindergarten through sixth grade. It includes a collection of experiential activities that provides ways to infuse the elements of success into the regular classroom curriculum. Eight developmental areas are targeted: (1) expressing feelings;…