"Perspective" is a monthly e-newsletter presenting news and views from Achieve. This issue contains a report on the highlights of the fifth annual American Diploma Project (ADP) Network Leadership Team Meeting in Washington, D.C. Achieve's most well attended annual meeting, but also its most successful to date. While a variety of topics…

Maternal education is a strong correlate of children's language, cognitive, and academic development. In most prior research, mothers' education has been treated as a fixed characteristic, yet many mothers, particularly economically and educationally disadvantaged mothers, attend school after the birth of their children. In the present study, we…

Four myths that underlie persistent, but ineffective, practices in early literacy education are analyzed in this article. Such analysis is essential because literacy disadvantage ultimately is an issue of equity--a matter of social justice. Research shows that these practices can be refuted and that optimal early literacy outcomes are possible for…

Research Findings: Child care delivery practices promoting continuous, primary caregiver-child relationships (relationship-focused child care) were evaluated for 223 preschool-age children (45% African American, 55% Latino) attending child care centers serving low-income children. Both relationship-focused and non-relationship-focused centers were…

P-16 initiatives across the nation, with the endorsement of the National Governors Association, are striving to create a seamless education system from preschool through college graduation. P-12 and postsecondary educators are being asked to collaborate on a much deeper level. These efforts are rooted in the belief that "today's education system…

The Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (CSAB) is the readiness test administered to all first graders entering public school in South Carolina, mandated by the State Board of Education. It is an individually administered battery that is not timed, but requires about 25 to 30 minutes per child. Performance on the CSAB provides valuable information…

Notes that achieving school readiness for all children by the year 2000 will require a reconceptualization of the concept of readiness. Reviews some of the relevant history of readiness as an area of inquiry, and details the issues surrounding readiness, including school readiness versus learning readiness, and chronological age of entry versus…

Notes that school readiness screening tests can vary greatly in sophistication, and can easily be incorrectly applied and interpreted. Suggests that normal development is highly variable during kindergarten and first grade and that school programs should be flexible and adaptable to individual characteristics. (HTH)

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

The Early Head Start evaluation included 17 sites drawn from the first two waves of programs started more than a decade ago. By design, the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) selected programs that would reflect the range of service options and context of all extant program rather than choosing a representative sample. The sites…

As the nation has embraced the need to graduate every student ready for college and careers, high school reform has emerged at the top of the education agenda. Many local and state leaders are implementing strategies to address low performance and close achievement gaps. As federal policymakers look ahead to opportunities to support this…

Young children follow a fairly consistent pattern in their acquisition of language. This pattern is important because language develops rapidly and has been shown to affect later school readiness. A study published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, examines for the first time how the quality of childcare affects the development…

In this article, we describe our efforts as project coordinators to negotiate directions and meanings at the initial stages of a childcare curriculum development project for children from birth to age five in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada. Understanding curriculum as a complex relational dynamic that is shaped by the multiple social and…

This annual report highlights SREB's recent achievements and how its services are helping the 16 member states rise to the challenge of improving education at all levels. The report also includes remarks from the Board Chair and President, acknowledges chief contributors and lists members of the Board, Legislative Advisory Council and SREB staff.…

Because sensorimotor and environmental factors have a profound effect on children's learning, every teacher should know how to weave strategies from occupational therapy (OT) into their everyday instruction. This is the guidebook K-3 teachers need to "think like an OT"--and form effective partnerships with OTs in their schools--so all students can…