Volume 9, Issue 5 (March 12, 2010)

A First: Proposed National Standards for K-12 Math, English
Kindergartners should, among other things, be able to count to 100, says a set of proposed national learning standards released this week. The standards, drafted at the behest of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, are an evidence-based list of what children should learn at each grade level. They are intended to replace the patchwork of standards that now exists across the country and enable more standardization of textbooks and testing. While some have criticized the effort as representing a step toward nationalizing education, most welcome it. Only Texas and Alaska chose not to participate. The public comment period runs until April 2.

Immunizing Kids for Flu Protects the Whole Community
A vaccination trial conducted in isolated Canadian Hutterite colonies found that immunizing children for the flu protected the entire community. Children ages 3 to 15 in 25 colonies received the flu vaccine while children of the same ages in 24 colonies received a hepatitis A vaccine instead. More than 10 percent of the people of all ages in the colonies receiving the placebo contracted the flu while less than 5 percent of those in treatment group colonies came down with it. Experts say the study confirms that when it comes to the flu, vaccinating children goes a long way toward conferring "herd immunity" on the entire community. It also affirms the wisdom of the Centers for Disease Control H1N1 flu shot recommendations that called for vaccinating children.

Impact of Poverty in Early Childhood Lasts Well into Adulthood
A study tracking the lives of children born between 1968 and 1975 found that poverty during the period when children are infants to age 5 has a lasting detrimental impact on outcomes related to attainment such as earnings and hours worked. Negative impacts from poverty during this early period could be measured as late as age 37. Subsequent periods of poverty, when children were older, had fewer effects. Greg Duncan, University of California, and colleagues found that an increase in income of $3,000 per year between a child’s prenatal year and fifth birthday is associated with 19 percent higher earnings and an increase in hours worked.

Pearson Report: Mobile Digital Devices Changing Early Literacy Dynamics
A new white paper by Arizona State University's Jay Blanchard and Terry Moore says that developmental milestones are changing as a new generation of young children approach learning and literacy in ways not thought possible in the past because of the availability of mobile digital devices such as cell phones. Funded by the Pearson Foundation, the report was released at the annual Consortium for School Networking international symposium. Blanchard says new opportunities to develop emergent literacy skills are occurring worldwide, in such disparate places as video game rooms in Mumbai, cybercafés in Nicaragua, and Internet-enabled schools in Senegal.

New Pew Report: Pre-K Teacher Training a Significant Factor in School Readiness
Teachers with bachelor’s degrees and specialized training in early childhood education support stronger social-emotional and cognitive development for children, says Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education at Stanford and co-author of a new report from the Pew Center for the States. She and Danielle Gonzales, formerly of Pre-K Now, examined the research on pre-K teacher preparation, children's learning and program quality to determine how preparedness influences effectiveness. The report recommends that states move toward requiring a bachelor's degree and specialized training in early education, and highlights some models for doing so.

Why School Reform Should Begin With Pre-K
The latest issue of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) quarterly journal American Educator features two articles devoted preschool education, including "The Promise of Preschool," by NIEER Co-Directors Ellen Frede and Steve Barnett. Read about it in today's blog post on Preschool Matters ... Today!

American Montessori Society 2010 Annual Conference
March 25, 2010 - March 28, 2010
Boston, MA – The theme for this year's AMS conference is "Montessori in the 21st Century."

Investing in ECD webcast
April 7, 2010 - April 7, 2010
CANADA – This webcast from the Council for Early Child Development is designed for practitioners and educators who want to learn more about the economic arguments for investing in the early years.

NAESP 2010 Annual Convention and Exposition
April 8, 2010 - April 11, 2010
Houston, TX – The theme for this year's National Association of Elementary School Principals convention and expo is "Mission Possible: Enrich Your World and Beyond."

National Conference on Family Literacy 2010
April 11, 2010 - April 13, 2010
San Antonio, TX – This conference draws together national and international participants to discuss issues of relevance to family literacy.

26th Annual NACCP National Conference
April 20, 2010 - April 23, 2010
Chicago, IL – The theme of this year's conference is "Winds of Change."

The Flat World and Education: What the Nation Can Learn from New Jersey
April 27, 2010 - April 27, 2010
New Brunswick, NJ - The lecture will address educational inequities and discuss how New Jersey's system can be a model for reform.

RIISA Balanced Leadership Summer Institute
June 29, 2010 - July 1, 2010
New Brunswick, NJ – The Rutgers University Institute for Improving Student Achievement's Summer Institute 2010 will begin a series of professional development sessions based on McREL's research on the effects of leadership on student achievement.

March 12, 2010 (The Tampa Tribune)
New voluntary prekindergarten scores released
The latest preschool ratings are out for centers that offer the state's Voluntary Prekindergarten program. The scores, compiled by the state Department of Education, allow parents to compare providers. Known as VPK Provider Kindergarten Readiness Rates, they measure how well preschools prepare 4-year-olds for kindergarten.

March 12, 2010 (American Educator (American Federation of Teachers))
The Promise of Preschool
Based on our research, and our review of others' research, we have consistently advocated for universal access to high-quality preschool. The United States faces serious problems that effective early education can help alleviate, most notably high rates of school failure, dropout, crime, and delinquency, as well as far too many youth who are not well prepared for the workforce.

March 10, 2010 (Reno Gazette-Journal)
Report: Nevada pre-kindergarten teachers among best trained in U.S.
Nevada is among the states that require the most education and training for pre-kindergarten teachers, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Institute. The report advocates more uniform training to improve early childhood education, raising salaries for pre-K educators and consequently improving teacher retention.

March 9, 2010 (The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, IA)
Bill would consolidate childhood-aid program
A 12-year-old state program to help children in low-income families get off to a healthy start and get ready for school has such scattered oversight that it could be prone to fraud, according to the state budget director.

March 9, 2010 (Education Week)
Better Educated Teachers Needed for Early Ed., Study Suggests
Studies suggest, [a Pre-K Now report] says, that teachers with bachelor's degrees and specialized training in early education are more effective than those educators who don't hold such credentials. In other words, it's not enough to be good with kids or to like working with them; teachers benefit from specific training.

March 4, 2010 (The Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, SD)
Preschool plan rejected
For a fourth straight year, lawmakers have said no to a preliminary step toward state-funded, voluntary preschool programs.

March 3, 2010 (The Daily Advertiser, Lafayette, LA)
Pre-K safe from cuts
While other Southern states are slicing pre-school funding to cover budget deficits, Louisiana's Cecil J. Picard LA-4 Early Childhood Program is safe — for now.

March 2, 2010 (The Daily Reflector, Greenville, NC)
State official: Early childhood programs pay off for state
North Carolina's programs for children younger than age 5 are a national model, said Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton told educators at summit on early childhood education Tuesday.

March 1, 2010 (Honolulu Advertiser)
Hawaii might halt junior kindergarten
Lawmakers are considering a measure that would eliminate junior kindergarten in Hawai'i public schools and move up the date children are eligible to enter kindergarten, changes that would require thousands of late-born 5-year-olds to wait an additional year before they can start school. Despite junior-K's problems, educators, parents and early-education advocates say the program is helpful and that the proposed changes will create a burden for parents at a time when they can least afford it.

February 28, 2010 (The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA)
Editorial: Keep momentum for early learning
Alongside the many millions of dollars Virginia is considering shearing off of its support of public schools is a little nick that would have an outsized impact on children's education. The $1.5 million a year the state now puts into the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation is a small investment in a big initiative, a public/private partnership dedicated to making sure youngsters reach school ready to learn.

The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education
This new book by Diane Ravitch, New York University education historian, re-examines the strategy of achieving education reform through testing and other measures contained in the No Child Left Behind law that garnered bipartisan support in its passage during the Bush administration. "What makes Ravitch's critique so convincing is the historian's attentiveness to facts on the ground, the careful collection and synthesis of data and the demonstrations that what sounds good in theory may not work in practice," writes University of California, Berkeley Professor David L. Kirp in his review appearing in the current issue of American Prospect.

Protecting Children from Exposure to Lead: Old Problem, New Data and New Policy Needs
This issue of Social Policy Report from the Society for Research in Child Development looks at the history of lead research as well as recent findings, the Centers for Disease Control standards and mechanisms of lead neurotoxicity, and the effects of high lead levels on children’s cognition and behavior. Also discussed are the current state of lead control policy, societal costs of lead exposure, and lead abatement.

Exposure to Media Violence and Other Correlates of Aggressive Behavior in Preschool Children
This article examines the play behavior of 70 preschool children and its relationship to television violence and regulatory status. Linear regression analysis showed that violent program content and poor self-regulation were independently and significantly associated with overall and physical aggression. Advanced maternal age, child age, and better self-regulation were independently and significantly associated with pro-social behavior.

WIC Improves Child Health and School Readiness
This brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy looks at the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program's effect on children's health and development, finding that children who are eligible for but not receiving WIC are more likely to be underweight, in poor health and at risk for developmental delays. The program is especially effective at protecting the health of children younger than 12 months. It receives the highest rating from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget's Program Assessment Rating Tool.

The National Institute for Early Education Research supports the development of early childhood education policy with objective, nonpartisan information based on rigorous research. The Institute is co-directed by Dr. W. Steven Barnett and Dr. Ellen C. Frede at Rutgers University.

Copyright © 2010 National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
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This project is made possible with the generous support of The Pew Charitable Trusts.