July 21, 2023 – Volume 22, Issue 29

HOT TOPICS 

🔍 Missed the NASLEE Office Hours with Experts on Early Intervention and Special Education Equity? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! 

👉 Catch up on the insightful discussion about “The State(s) of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education: Looking at Equity.” Access the presentation slides to stay informed about the crucial issues addressed during the session.  

🎥 Couldn’t attend the live presentation? No problem! 📺 Watch the recorded session at your convenience.  

Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your understanding of equity issues in early intervention and early childhood special education. 🚀 Happy learning! 📚✨ 

📢 Unlocking the Enigma of Universal Pre-Kindergarten Policies: What Drives Adoption in Early Childhood Education? 📢 

Discover the intriguing insights behind the adoption of Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) policies in Wisconsin! 🧠🏫👶 

🔍 Delve into the findings of a comprehensive study incorporating more than two decades of data from Wisconsin. 🤔 Is UPK mainly geared towards educational objectives or child care for working parents? 🏫👩‍💼 The results might surprise you! 

Don’t miss out on an illuminating report with crucial insights for policymakers. 🚀  

Read the full report now.  

👶🏽 Did you know that nearly half of prekindergarten (pre-K) children miss a significant amount of school time, potentially harming their academic and social-emotional development? 

🌟 Dive into a Massachusetts study of absenteeism for children in home- and center-based care during the pre-K and kindergarten years.🔬 Explore the implications for policy and practice. 

Access the full report here. 

NIEER ACTIVITY  

🚀 Join us for the upcoming CAYL Catalyst Ep. #29 – MOONSHOT: EVERY CHILD IS INCLUDED! 🌙 Featuring our very own Dr. Allison Friedman-Krauss  

📅 Thursday, August 3, 2023  ⏰ 4:00 PM ET 

📣 Calling all changemakers and advocates for inclusive education! 🌟 Children with different abilities face systemic challenges in accessing appropriate services. Our recent report, The State(s) of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education: Looking at Equity, provides a state-by-state equity audit of EI & ECSE and offers new strategies and information to support these children. 

Panelist  

  • Allison Friedman-Krauss, Ph.D. – Assistant Research Professor – National Institute for Early Education Research  
  • Christy Kavulic, Ed.D. – Associate Division Director of the Early Childhood Team in the Office of Special Education Programs in the US Department of Education 
  • Hanna Gebretensae, Ed.D. – Director – Eliot-Pearson Children’s School at Tufts University  

With guest host Peggy Kemp, Ph.D. – Executive Director of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC)  

Secure your spot now! 

Join Home Grown and the Pre-K in Family Child Care Project Team (Erikson Institute, University of Delaware & University of North Carolina Equity Action Research Coalition) and NIEER, for the 🏠 Advancing Equity in Pre-K Systems: Empowering Family Child Care Providers & Families Webinar! 🧒🏡 

📅 Thursday, August 10, 2023  ⏰ Time: 1:30-2:30 ET 

🔍 Join NIEER Assistant Research Professor, Dr. Erin Harmeyer & Senior ECE Policy Specialist, Dr. GG Weisenfeld, alongside others, to discuss building a mixed-delivery pre-K system that serves diverse families by including family child care. Our recent study found that fewer than 1% of providers in most pre-K systems are family child care. 🌟 We encourage state, county and city leaders and pre-K advocates interested in the role of family child care in pre-K systems to join us. 

Register here.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHILD CARE AND EDUCATION POLICY  

Publish in the International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy (IJCCEP)  

It’s FREE – article processing charges for all articles published in the journal are fully sponsored.  

The journal is indexed by the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and Scopus, making IJCCEP a reputable scholarly outlet recognized by key opinion leaders, funders, and evaluators worldwide. ESCI enables researchers to explore emerging research areas and interdisciplinary content in rapidly evolving fields. All IJCCEP articles are discoverable through Web of Science, complete with citation counts, author information, and other enrichments. Additionally, all articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, allowing authors to retain copyright. 

Recent highly recommended articles include: 

🔍  Non-indigenous preschool teachers’ culturally relevant pedagogy in the indigenous areas of Taiwan 

Authors: Bi-Ching Chen 

🔍  Global tracking of access and quality in early childhood care and education 

Authors: Abbie Raikes, Nirmala Rao, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Caroline Cohrssen, Jere Behrman, Claudia Cappa, Amanda Devercelli, Florencia Lopez Boo, Dana McCoy and Linda Richter 

🔍  Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household survey 

Authors: Pradeep Kumar Choudhury, Radhika Joshi and Amit Kumar 

🔍  The effect of Universal Teacher–Child Interaction Training on Hispanic teachers’ sense of self-efficacy in early childhood education and care settings 

Authors: Alexandra Rivas, Angela Mooss, Christine Hughes Pontier, Jackie Romillo and Emma Muñoz 

ECE RESEARCH 

First Insights into Preschool Teachers’ Instructional Quality in Block Play and Its Associations with Children’s Knowledge, Interest, Academic Self-Concept and Cognitive Aspects 

Recently released research underscores the critical role of preschool teachers in nurturing children’s science knowledge through methods like guided or free play. The study reveals considerable variability in instructional quality during block play activities, which can impact upon children’s science, math, and language skills. Researchers emphasize the urgent need for optimized early learning environments and provide insights into both policy and practice.  

Read more. 

Effect of Augmented Reality Technology on Learning Behavior and Attitudes of Preschool Students in Science Activities 

In a novel approach to teaching complex subjects like “Exploring Space” to preschoolers, a team of researchers has successfully implemented Augmented Reality (AR)-based activity modules, encouraging abstract thinking and imagination among young learners, according to the study’s authors. The study provides evidence to support AR’s potential to influence learning behaviors and the study authors note its high acceptance rate among students which highlights AR’s potential in enhance early educational activities. 

Read more. 

Preschool Programs that Help Families Promote Child Social-Emotional School Readiness: Promising New Strategies 

A new review of developmental research that underscores the importance of prioritizing child social-emotional learning (with attention to self-regulation and approaches to learning) in universal preschool-based parenting programs targeting young children has been recently released. Researchers emphasize the use of intervention strategies in programs that have significantly impacted upon child readiness and school adjustment supported by evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs).  

Read more. 

Digital Competence in Early Childhood Education: A Systematic Review 

A new systematic review has provided critical insights into the understanding and evaluation of digital competence in Early Childhood Education (ECE) from 2012 to 2022. The study focused on the definition of digital competence, derived from three key sources: research, policy documents, and a combination of both. The review found limitations in many studies including small sample sizes and limited assessment methods. The researchers provide recommendations for future research and practice in digital competence in ECE. 

Read more. 

OPPORTUNITIES AND JOB OPENINGS  

Early Childhood Senior Program Manager, SchoolHouse Connection 

Director of K12 Practical Assistance 

Senior Manager/Director, Federal Policy 

Assistant Professor – Early Childhood Education – Berkeley School of Education 

Contract Opportunity, Preschool to Kindergarten Transition Toolkit: The MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in collaboration with the Department of Early Education and Care 

Contract Opportunity, Identification and Approval of Preschool Language and Literacy Assessments: The MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in collaboration with the Department of Early Education and Care