Today the infant mental health field includes a multidisciplinary team of practitioners with very different training and education needs. Implementation research has shown that appropriate training is a key factor for successful outcomes of an intervention and that supervision and coaching are crucial. All professionals who work with young…

In a previous publication the authors examined selected aspects of the structure and curriculum of fifteen childcare centers located in three geographically distant locations in North America and determined that contrasts within and between the regions in terms of structure and curriculum guided by the National Association for the Education of…

This article describes collaboration between preschool and university educators focused on adapting the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) standards for Effective Pedagogy for use in early childhood (EC) settings. The CREDE standards are strategies of best practices for culturally diverse K-12 students. Teachers…

Environmental factors play a role in musical development, particularly in the critical period of early childhood. Children have the capacity to learn in the first days of life, long before entering formal schooling. Music education during this period is consequently the responsibility of parents, caregivers, and early childhood teachers. These…

In an era of standards and norms where assessment tends to minimize or dismiss individual differences and results in punitive outcomes or no action at all, Assessment of Young Children provides teachers with an approach to assessment that is in the best interest of both children and their families. Author Lisa B. Fiore explores a variety of ways…

Principals can become more effective supervisors of early childhood programs by understanding how these programs differ from those for upper elementary grades. There are at least seven critical differences involving classroom environment, teacher-student interactions, curriculum, integrated learning, class scheduling, playful learning, and…

Are children learning when they are "messing about" in sand or water? Is it science? In a workshop presented at the ASE Annual Meeting in Birmingham (January 2003), "Messy science: planning for learning in the foundation stage," delegates examined the nature of an early years curriculum through first-hand experience of a…

The transition to elementary school spans several years in a child's life. For children to progress during this critical period, they must have learning opportunities that are appropriate to their changing developmental levels. Unfortunately, measurement technology that currently dominates assessment practice does not lend itself well to the task…

Early childhood educators are increasingly concerned about the trend toward national standards and national testing. This article addresses issues of assessment in the early years of schooling, prekindergarten through third grade--a period when active, engaged, hands-on learning is most appropriate. Documentation of a kindergarten project on a…