This article presents an interview with Barbara Thompson, the Director of the Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In the interview, Thompson talks about trends in military child care in the United States. She shares when the military got into the business of providing child care. She also talks…

The Morrissey, Lekies, and Cochran (this issue) article is a welcome addition to the literature focusing on whether state-funded preschool education negatively impacts child care. Yet, although the study is a step in the right direction, it does not provide the data needed to answer the question at hand or inform state preschool and child care…

During a career spanning five decades, Edward Zigler has combined scholarly research with public service to promote national and state policies that are good for all children. Often called "the father of Head Start," he served on the planning committee for the program in 1965 and became the first director of the Office of Child…

Demonstrating program impact through documentation of child progress is a problem in programs for handicapped children. It is proposed that intervenors consider approaches closely tied to the actual interventions. Four strategies are described: increased magnitude of intervention, increased power of design, refined assessment procedures, and…

Describes the positive mental, physical, and social growth impacts that the camping experience had on the author, and urges camp program evaluation to plan and implement such changes. Sidebar lists steps of effective evaluation: program goals and objectives, goals of evaluation, implementation of evaluation, data analysis, and findings and…

This commentary discusses the wide acceptance of and the expenditure of limited resources on unproven behavioral therapies for individuals with autism. Considerations that need to be reviewed before adopting a behavioral treatment are outlined, including the need to establish whether direct effects can be attributed to a treatment. (Contains 11…

This commentary on the study reported in this monograph focuses on three topics raised by the study: (1) social systems, or individuals in the context of institutions; (2) the study of development through the use of disabled populations as experiments in human growth; and (3) the ability of intervention programs to manipulate development. (BC)

A case study of a child not developmentally ready to handle the linguistic demands of a second language in an academic setting is presented as representative of a subgroup of students. It is suggested that new paradigms for researching suitability of early French immersion for all students are needed. (21 references) (Author/MSE)

Examines the likelihood of children and families being resilient in the face of poverty and its associated risks. Discusses findings from the resilience research literature and provides some recommendations regarding Head Start. Suggests that competence and confidence can flourish even under adverse conditions, if children are provided with a…

Describes the most pressing issues in early childhood education during the past two decades; indicates whether each issue has been settled; and outlines new issues for the present. (Author/BB)

Reviews research on the effects of Montessori schooling on children. Results are presented in six sections: (1) general verbal intelligence; (2) perceptual, motor, and performance IQ development; (3) academic achievement and school readiness; (4) attention, concentration, resistance to distraction, and impulsiveness; (5) Piagetian conceptual…

Overviews the philosophy and theory of camp experiences and discusses the special benefits of camps, including experiences that can lead to significant life-changing outcomes, sound educational goals, a sense of psychological and physical safety, and helping children to deal with social problems such as the degradation of the environment and human…

Collected are four conference speeches which in various ways attack the developmental perspective that views genetics as a source of stability and environment as a source of change. Dr. Bonnie E. Litowitz's discussion of "Context and Continuity: Changing Perspectives on Children" explores differences among development, learning, and…

In 1979 and 1980 "Child Care Information Exchange" ran a series of five articles about what was then called school-age day care: "Getting It Off the Ground," "Designing an Effective Structure," "Developing a Responsive Curriculum," "Selecting and Motivating Staff," and "Managing the Money." These articles from 25 years ago captured the essence of…

Raises concerns about the failure of mental health service providers to address the psycho-developmental needs of people with mental retardation, especially incarcerated individuals with severe behavior disturbances and both mental illness and mental retardation. A "flight from developmental theory" is seen in most service providers to this…