HOT TOPICS
Expanding Access to Outdoor Preschool in Publicly Funded Programs
Outdoor preschool has gained in popularity in recent years, and the global pandemic, with high indoor transmission rates, only boosts the appeal. Few outdoor preschools are licensed or meet regulatory standards to receive funding from child care subsidy systems or state-funded preschool programs. However, Washington state recently developed standards for licensing outdoor preschools that can serve as a model for other states. Read NIEER’s Alex Kilander’s policy brief about the key issues related to including outdoor preschool in state-funded preschool and subsidized child care programs here.
Infant-Toddler Teachers’ Early Adversity, Current Wellbeing, and Engaged Support of Early Learning
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and depression in infant-toddler teachers were associated with teachers’ well-being, according to researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park. Furthermore, work-related wellbeing was associated with the number of years teachers intended to continue teaching in their centers. “These findings show that infant and toddler teachers may need more resources to support their psychological wellbeing so that they can support children in the classroom,” the researchers concluded. Read the study, by Cassandra Simons, Brenda Jones Harden, Kerry A. Lee, and Christy Tirrell-Corbin, here.
Children with developmental and behavioral concerns identified by the Survey of Well-being of Young Children (SWYC) scored significantly lower on the STAR Early Literacy exam in kindergarten than those without, a study found. Researchers used early developmental and behavioral screening results for children between ages 24 and 48 months to predict their literacy scores in kindergarten. Read the study, by Lauren E.Schlichting, Patrick M.Vivier, Blythe Berger, Danielle Parrillo, and Christopher Sheldrick, here.
ECE RESEARCH
Consistent child routines (e.g., at bedtime, mealtime, and in the mornings) positively predicted the school readiness skills of preschool-age children in China. Researchers also found interparental dynamics (i.e., marital and coparenting relationships) indirectly impacted school readiness, but that the pathways from interparental functioning to child school readiness differed for mothers and fathers. Read the study, by Lixin Ren, Courtney Boise, and Rebecca Y. M. Cheung here.
Pre-kindergartners with good sleep habits — consistent sleep routines, earlier bedtimes, longer sleep at night, and less caffeine near bedtime – performed better on school readiness assessments than classmates without them, researchers found. Read the abstract here.
An examination of states’ center-based child care licensing exclusionary discipline regulations found considerable variation in terminology, researchers reported. “Vague regulatory language allows for imprecise policy development and implementation,” wrote Martha Buell, Rachel Fidel, Jason T. Hustedt and Stephanie Kuntz of the University of Delaware and Gerilyn Slicker of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Access the study here.
Early education teachers with a more positive initial perception of a curriculum had better implementation of it, researchers found. Public preschool teachers also had better implementation than private or faith-based teachers. “Leaders and intervention developers should involve teachers in the decision making around designing, selecting, and implementing an intervention or curricula to ensure teachers are on board,” wrote University of Virginia researchers Kelsey A. Clayback, Amanda P. Williford and Virginia E. Vitiello. Read the study here.
OPPORTUNITIES