NIEER (National Institute for Early Education Research) provides several ways to follow their research. I have chosen to subscribe through Facebook and to get their newsletter emailed to me. Often when I receive these alerts I will use the links provided to get more information on what was highlighted.
The newsletter is broken down into several categories, Hot Topics, a link to Preschool Matters Today (NIEER’S blog), Calendar, Early Education News Roundup, and Resources.
In Hot Topics this week were the results of a yearlong study in Texas showing an achievement gap in children as young as 3. While 52% of students overall were ready for Kindergarten, in low income area this number dropped to 12% (United Way, 2011). These findings are very much related to my current studies at Walden regarding equity in early education and the influences of poverty on children’s learning outcomes.
The calendar section provides links to conferences, summits and workshops being held throughout the United States and abroad. There is a conference in Estonia, June 18-19th 2012, being held by the International Council of Children’s Play. The keynote speaker is John Wall a professor at Rutgers University which is my home state of New Jersey. More information can be found at http://www.iccp-play.org/conferencetallinn2012.htm
The area I chose to explore more extensively was The Early Education News Roundup. This part of the newsletter provided links to many recently written articles in the area of early education. It was interesting to me that most of the articles discussed the importance of early education and children’s later educational success and productivity as adults or impending budget cuts to early education programs across the United States. Also discussed was constitutes quality education and are we asking too much of young children. All of the articles related to equity and excellence in early care and education. The challenges of balancing equity of access to quality early education and being able to fund that access has been the focus of my studies in my current coursework. I found it very interesting how different states are handling or mishandling early education in their state. The article on California’s transition kindergarten program and funding cut is an excellent example. To read more http://nieer.org/news/index.php?NewsID=3301
A new issue that I read about is developmental psychologist Dr. Gordon Neufeld believes we are asking too much of young children and our approach to early education need to change. We should be focusing on play and not be concerned with outcomes until the children reach the age of seven. He believes that there is a correlation to children going to school younger and losing their curiosity by 12th grade. He believes their prefrontal cortex is not developed and they are much better equipped to work at the age of seven. This was interesting reading and gave me a lot to consider. I have been aware of the pushing down of curriculum and felt that was an issue in early childhood, but not starting formal education until the age of seven was not something I had considered. To learn more of Dr. Neufeld thoughts on this issue follow this link http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/work+play/6109961/story.html
References
NIEER http://nieer.org/
United Way. (October, 2011). Are there neighborhoods where very young children are identified with developmental vulnerabilities? Children’s Optimal Health, Young Children Volume II - United Way Capital Area Success by 6 Partnership. Retrieved from http://childrensoptimalhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/UWay-Map-Report-10-13-11-Small1.pdf
Hi Michele...great post. NIEER is an organization of interest for me. Thanks for the info I will definitely visit their site more often.
ReplyDeleteThe Newsletters that we get are very informative and they have up-to-date information that is very valuable.the achievement gap that was studied in Texas goes to show that education, although it has its challenges,is still worth fighting for. I posted an article about ineuities in schools. You would think that some inequity issues wouldn't exist today, but there are some that still do.
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteWOW! Your blog really hit home! I live in Texas and I learned more about the learning in Texas. I have studied the achievement gap for years and credit my education to that of seeking to close this achievement gap! Thanks for the information!
Dear Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post. I do agree with Dr. Gordon Neufeld that we are asking too much of young children and our approach to early education need to change. I believe, a child needs to be in a environment that will allow them to grow and experience life through their own eyes. The only way they can do that is learning through play. Play is very curial to a child's development, and I hope they figure out a way to keep play alive.
Miclelle,
ReplyDeleteReally interesting!!!!! The environment that children are in will help them to grow and learn. I see this everyday. I know some of my children in my center are low income but they are learning very well. Sometimes it could be the way the information is given to the child in order for them to learn.