At the preschool level in Malaysia, all preschools, including those from public and private sectors are required to follow the guidelines stated in the National Preschool Standard-based Curriculum (NPSC) issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 2017. However, the NPSC is very general and schools are not provided with any further guidance on…

In the United States there has been a recent movement to expand access to preschool for children aged 3 to 4 through "universal pre-k" in states that fund programs for all age-eligible students. This has caused an increasing number of preschool programs to be housed in public schools and led by principals who often have little or no…

As coordinators of local early childhood coalitions working to improve the quality of early childhood programs, the authors had been looking for ways to support early childhood professionals in their efforts to strengthen partnerships with families, support young children's healthy emotional development, and continue to promote developmentally…

Technology use permeates virtually all aspects of twenty-first century society, though its integration in early childhood settings and recognition as a developmentally appropriate practice remains problematic. A position is taken that education professionals may be "missing the boat" by not embracing technology usage as a developmentally…

This policy brief explores kindergarten readiness observation and its benefits to local and state level stakeholders; highlights efforts by California counties and other states to measure school readiness; and makes recommendations for moving toward statewide use of kindergarten readiness observation tools. Key points include: (1) Early efforts to…

An imaginary interview with Maria Montessori elaborates on three requirements for an effective elementary school. The effective school should match the development and needs of children; be created as a total learning community; and offer an atmosphere and a curriculum that foster children's innate sense of wonder and connection to the natural…

One school system's efforts to improve the quality of its early childhood programs included making early childhood education the top priority; exposing principals to developmentally appropriate practices; creating early childhood collaboratives; training teachers; upgrading classrooms; establishing demonstration centers; providing support for…

Stark County is the 7th largest county in Ohio. In 2001 the researchers formed a P-16 Compact and began looking at the accomplishment of two goals: raising the high school graduation rate and increasing the number of students going from high school to college. Then as now, it was important for them to know the context of Stark County in Ohio and…

Describes the approach to technical assistance offered by one of the groups that has contributed to the ongoing change process in the District of Columbia Schools. Discusses the normal path of outside technical assistance and examines some of the key differences that make the collaboration between Northeast Foundation for Children and the District…

This packet contains four separate documents designed to help elementary schools develop their own action plans for implementing the KERA (Kentucky Education Reform Act) Primary Program, a developmentally appropriate program for young children supported by the Kentucky Department of Education. Fully implemented primary programs are to include the…

In this article, the authors describe their efforts to improve the performance of their middle school students on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). As middle level educators, they knew that in addition to addressing the curriculum, they also had to address the psychological needs of their students. To administer a standardized…

The five-year Georgia Head Start Quality Initiative was founded in 1994 to provide training and technical assistance (consisting of monthly group training sessions and individual on-site consultation) for Georgia Head Start administrators as they pursue National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation. This document…

There is growing consensus among early childhood professionals about the importance of early childhood transition services (activities designed to ensure continuity for young children across different environments, including homes, child care settings, preschools, and schools). Providing such services requires collaboration and linkages among…

The Edison Project provides the design for a new kind of school, one that keeps pace with the social and technological changes children will encounter. The Edison school design, which is highly ambitious and encourages fundamental change in schools, proposes a rich and challenging curriculum for all students; a professional environment for…

The Task Force on Early Childhood and Elementary Education, created by the Texas State Board of Education in January 1993, found that the current system of early childhood and elementary education is struggling to meet the challenges of childhood in today's Texas. This report summarizes the task force's call for schools to reconfigure themselves…