José, a preschooler in Mrs. Hardy’s classroom, had never talked in class. He was a dual language learner (DLL), and it was already December. His teacher was participating in our SciMath-DLL professional development project where she had been learning a

NIEER is hosting a blog forum on play-based learning in early childhood education, including posts from national experts in the field. Learn more about the forum here. Some worry that the push for quality education even partially driven by a desire to

The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating articletoday about the strategies media companies are using to attract preschoolers to their television content. It points out, among other things, that PBS Kids focuses on cognitive development. As an adviser

For Curious Young Minds Eager to Understand Their World, This Age is Just Right Related Reading Preschool Pathways to Science (PrePS) Facilitating Scientific Ways of Thinking, Talking, Doing, and Understanding Rochel Gelman Kimberly Brenneman Gay Macdo

Children’s math scores at fourth and eight grade haven’t progressed appreciably in most urban school districts over the last two years, says the most recent report from U.S. Department of Education. Only four of the 11 urban districts the National Asse

Let’s face it: Math and science are about more than counting and recognizing shapes, even for 3- and 4-year-olds! The pre-K crowd is curious about exploring everyday math and science and comes to preschool armed with basic concepts. Young children crea

A fascinating piece in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine by Berkeley psychologist Alison Gopnik details recent studies showing that not only do children possess powerful learning abilities at very young ages but by their preschool years, they are cap

According to an article in The Sacramento Bee, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) includes $33 million in stimulus monies to develop paid research positions in the sciences. For the next two summers, these positions will be available for