This paper details the development, implementation and evaluation of the South Lanarkshire Framework for Supporting Children with Severe and Profound Learning Needs ("The Framework"). The document assists Scottish schools in taking forward the Curriculum for Excellence for this group of learners and in building capacity amongst staff.…

Research Findings: The National Association for the Education of Young Children's guidelines for developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) have been imported and researched by others across the globe. A central issue that has arisen for these international early childhood educators is whether these best practices are sensitive to the…

Immigrant populations are growing and permanently changing the demographic profile of the United States. Diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds are imposing demands and challenges upon agencies serving young children and families. Culturally sensitive assessments are not always available for these populations, and psychometric properties of…

This study examines the effect of certain socio-cultural factors of the family environment on the language of toddlers and children in early childhood. The sample included 86 families with one- to six-year-old children. The data on the social, economic, and cultural factors of the family environment, parental reading literacy, parental knowledge…

Children's active involvement in storytelling develops diverse lifelong skills for critical thinking, cognitive, social, and emotional skills. Central to the success of attracting the attention of students for storytelling are the social-emotional roles that teachers play in children's lives. This study investigated 23 kindergarten teachers' views…

Background: Emotional and behavioural disorders in early childhood are related to poorer academic attainment and school engagement, and difficulties already evident at the point of starting school can affect a child's later social and academic development. Successful transfer from pre-school settings to primary education is helped by communication…

Despite the remarkable awareness in Zimbabwe of the importance of Early Childhood Development and Education (ECD), there is insufficient motivation for communities, local authorities and central government to make strategic plans for universal position. The study was to unpack dilemmas and challenges related to the implementation of the ECD…

Successful multicultural adult orphans who were not adopted pose an interesting challenge in their history, their physical, psychological, social emotional and personal identity development. One must understand their journey from orphanhood to adulthood and their current prominent status in life to build a contextualized personal story (Banks,…

Nearly half a million children in the United States are currently being served by the foster care system. Infants and toddlers represent the largest single group entering foster care. While these very young children are at the greatest peril for physical, mental health, and developmental issues and tend to spend the longest time in the foster care…

This paper reports the results of a study concerning the expectations for the transition from kindergarten to primary school amongst teachers, parents and children in Hong Kong. It probes the expectations that teachers and parents have about children's competence in five specific areas of child development thought to be essential for a smooth such…

This paper describes an exploratory evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership "Room to Play", an innovative and experimental "drop-in" service seeking to attract and engage "hard-to-reach" families in one of the most deprived areas of a Midlands city. Located in a shop unit of a busy community shopping…

The authors present the feasibility and acceptability of a parent sexuality education program led by peer educators in community settings. They also report the results of an outcome evaluation with 71 parents who were randomized to the intervention or a control group and surveyed one month prior to and six months after the four-week intervention.…

This interdisciplinary cross-cultural research project surveyed teachers in elementary schools in five countries: South Africa, Australia, Jamaica, England, and the United States. This study attempted to define and identify best practices used in teaching children considered to be "at-risk" in these five countries: Three research…