HOT TOPICS
The Foundation for Child Development will host a July 21 webinar on preparing early educators and the role research plays in their daily practice. The 90-minute roundtable will explore Getting it Right: The Conversation Guide for Preparing the Next Generation of ECE Practitioners, a guide developed to help higher education faculty conduct conversations with students about effective ECE practices and policies; NIEER co-Director for Research Milagros Nores authored a chapter of the guide. The event will be moderated by Beverly Falk of the City College of New York, with speakers Tonia Renee Durden of Georgia State University, Jennifer Gilken of the Borough of Manhattan Community College, Diane M. Horm of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, and Yasmin Morales-Alexander of Lehman College. The webinar begins at 1 p.m. EDT. Register here.
When School Doesn’t Start at Age 5: Elementary Principal Leadership of Pre-K Programs in Schools
Although about half of elementary schools in the U.S. have a pre-K program located in the building, empirical literature contains little about pre-K principal leadership, according to a systematic review. The researchers noted that the limited amount of evidence available reveals principals are not getting much in terms of preparation, “leading them to make sense of pre-K classrooms either as offshoots over which they have limited authority and expertise or as extensions of the existing school system that can support student learning through elementary school.” Read the entire review, by Michael Little, Timothy A. Drake, Lora Cohen-Vogel, and Jessica Eagle, here.
Cultures Crossing: The Power of Habit in Delaying Gratification
Cultural habits shaped children’s ability to delay gratification, according to researchers. The study found that 4- and 5-year-olds in Japan could wait longer to eat food than to open a gift, while children in the U.S. were able to wait longer to open gifts than to eat food. Waiting to eat is emphasized more in Japan, while waiting to open gifts is emphasized more heavily in the U.S. “These findings suggest that culturally specific habits support delaying gratification, providing a new way to understand why individuals delay gratification and why this behavior predicts life success,” the researchers concluded. Read the study here.
NIEER ACTIVITY
Including PreK in Comprehensive Systems-Building Activities
NIEER Senior Research Fellow Lori Connors-Tadros will co-facilitate a webinar for the National Center for Preschool Development Grants Birth Through Five (PDG B-5 TA Center) on July 14 from 3:00-4:30 p.m. EDT with Debra Andersen of ICF and a TA specialist for the center. The webinar, Including PreK in Comprehensive Systems-Building Activities, will include presenters who represent states that serve 3- and 4- year-olds in mixed-delivery systems, including New Jersey, North Carolina, and New Mexico. Presenters will share best practices and experiences with mixed-delivery systems. Register for the webinar hevre.
ECE RESEARCH
Increased attention should be paid to what fosters children’s social-emotional development in future research on early childhood classroom quality, according to a synthesis of the literature. Researchers identified four areas for developing quality assessments to measure the social–emotional well-being of children in early childhood education: teachers’ classroom behavior-management strategies; their scaffolding of peer interactions; aspects of personal well-being that shape their ability to support children’s social–emotional development; and indicators of bias-free and culturally responsive ECE environments. Read the abstract here.
Early childhood education teachers who received training and resources as part of a STEM Lab intervention demonstrated better quality teacher-child interactions during STEM Lab lessons compared to what was observed in regular classroom experiences, researchers reported. The abstract of the study, by Hope K. Gerde, Gary E. Bingham, Melody Kung, Arianna E. Pikus and Hannah Etchison can be accessed here.
Pre-service Teachers’ Perspectives on Transition to Kindergarten Practices for Autistic Children
A survey of pre-service teachers found many complete their training without gaining the knowledge and skills needed to effectively help children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) transition to kindergarten. A majority held misconceptions about the characteristics of ASD, the research found; however, those obtaining special education certification had higher levels of knowledge of ASD compared to those obtaining other certifications. Read the study, by University of Houston researchers Emily Jellinek, Milena Keller-Margulis, Sarah S. Mire and Weihua Fan, here.
A Systems Perspective on Early Childhood Development Education in South Africa
Increasing the quality of early childhood development (ECD) programs could produce larger increases in school readiness than boosting ECD enrollment. Decreasing poverty might produce even more gains. Lieschen Venter of Stellenbosch University used a simulation model to estimate the effects of alternative approaches to investing in the development of young children in South Africa. Read the study here.
OPPORTUNITIES