Looking back over 2015, it’s been a year packed with action around early childhood education at NIEER, in the states, and across the country. US News wrote here about their 5 biggest stories in early education, including the expansion of NYC UPK (we ad

We hope you have enjoyed our blog forum on Common Core State Standards. There are a lot of people paying attention to this issue. On day one, we outlined some concerns: Rigorous standards may lead to reduced play and less rich activity in preschool and

April 20, 2015 Kyle Snow, Ph.D, Director, Center for Applied Research, National Association for the Education of Young Children, discusses Common Core State Standards and Developmentally Appropriate Practice. The numerous, and diverse, entries in this

This response on literacy standards, conversation, and the Common Core State Standards is from Sharon Ritchie, Ed.D., Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute-UNC CH. I am a strong supporter of the Common Core. From the outset let me qualify t

Douglas H. Clements, preschool and kindergarten teacher, Kennedy Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Learning, Executive Director, Marsico Institute for Early Learning and Literacy, and one of the members of the Common Core work groups, responds (with ass

In this post, Jere Confrey, Joseph D. Moore Distinguished University Professor, Science, Technology,  Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Department, College of Education, North Carolina State University, discusses why the Common Core State Standards fo

Dorothy Strickland, NIEER Distinguished Research Fellow, responds to specific issues raised in various venues by questioners, considering whether literacy standards and related assessments can be developmentally appropriate. Concern: Kindergarten stand

This response is by Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers. Assessment related to reaching standards will not be developmentally appropriate, and results may be misused. I sat down with a group of prekindergarten educators in New

Vincent Costanza, Executive Director, Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, New Jersey Department of Education, and parent, responds on the issue of Parents don’t understand the CCSS and are concerned about what they mean for their children. As a s

The first responses addressing concerns about CCSS in early childhood education are from Kathleen A. Paciga, Columbia College Chicago;  Jessica L. Hoffman, Winton Woods City School District; and William H. Teale, University of Illinois at Chicago. Lite

The first responses addressing concerns about CCSS in early childhood education are from Kathleen A. Paciga, Columbia College Chicago;  Jessica L. Hoffman, Winton Woods City School District; and William H. Teale, University of Illinois at Chicago. Rigo

There’s been lots of discussion about the Common Core State Standards recently, and their impact on classroom activity and child outcomes. Common Core is a major policy initiative to reform K-12 classroom practices, raise expectations and implement a n